Title
The world without us / Alan Weisman.
Edition
1st ed.
ISBN
9780312347291
0312347294
Imprint
New York : Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2007.
Language
English
Description
viii, 324 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Call Number
GF75 .W455 2007
Dewey Decimal Classification
304.2
Summary
Journalist Weisman offers an original approach to questions of humanity's impact on the planet. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders, and paleontologists, he illustrates what the planet might be like today if humans disappeared. He explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe. As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman's narrative ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that needn't depend on our demise.--From publisher description.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [289]-311) and index.
Prelude : a monkey koan
A lingering scent of Eden
Unbuilding our home
The city without us
The world just before us
The lost menagerie
The African paradox
What falls apart
What lasts
Polymers are forever
The petro patch
The world without farms
The fate of ancient and modern wonders of the world
The world without war
Wings without us
Hot legacy
Our geologic record
Where do we go from here?
Art beyond us
The sea cradle
Coda : our earth, our souls.
