Related Books: Nature and Art,  Ecology

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Reissued on the tenth anniversary of its publication, this classic work on our environmental crisis features a new introduction by the author, reviewing both the progress and ground lost in the fight to save the earth.

This impassioned plea for radical and life-renewing change is today still considered a groundbreaking work in environmental studies. McKibben's argument that the survival of the globe is dependent on a fundamental, philosophical shift in the way we relate to nature is more relevant than ever. McKibben writes of our earth's environmental cataclysm, addressing such core issues as the greenhouse effect, acid rain, and the depletion of the ozone layer. His new introduction addresses some of the latest environmental issues that have risen during the 1990s. The book also includes an invaluable new appendix of facts and figures that surveys the progress of the environmental movement.

More than simply a handbook for survival or a doomsday catalog of scientific prediction, this classic, soulful lament on Nature is required reading for nature enthusiasts, activists, and concerned citizens alike.

The Times Literary Supplement  
McKibben writes lucidly, with extensive reference to the latest scientific findings on global warning deforestation, acidification and population growth. . . . What is problematic about McKibben's thesis is that for all its apparent scientific certainty it misunderstands various cultural and ecological matters. . . . {McKibben} does, though, have an important point to make. . . . {His} theory is within the tradition of the Great American transcendentalist writers of 150 years ago. 'Nature' is giving us the same message as it gave to them. We can only save our species when we realize that we are part of its wondrous creation.
 
Geoffrey Cowley - Newsweek  
No one has made the implications of global warming more vivid than McKibben does in his rousing first chapter. Unfortunately, most of the book is devoted to fatuous pronouncements about the nature of nature and empty prescriptions for reviving it. When dealing with the causes and consequences of the greenhouse effect, McKibben displays a firm grasp of modern planetary science. Yet his larger theme--that human life is different from the rest of life, and that nature ceases to exist once it bears our fingerprints--reflects a willful ignorance of the same science. . . . This isn't a book about solving real-worldproblems. McKibben's ultimate concern seems to be his own state of mind.
 
The New York Times Book Review  
The conventional reply to critics like Mr. McKibben is . . . that better or more cleverly applied technology is a surer answer to environmental destruction than repudiating technical advance. . . . Yet it may not suffice. If theclimate heats up, and if the rate of warming should prove too fast for natural systems to adapt to, then there could be widespread ecological collapse. Mr. McKibben is too glib in assuming this to be an already certain outcome. . . . But for a man preaching apocalypse, he speaks in a measured and civilized voice that deserves a hearing. Even those who reject his idea that humans should not exceed the limits of their small partition may pause to wonder if the balance between man's progress and nature's decline has been struck at the rightpoint.
 
The Christian Science Monitor (Eastern edition)  
One starts out reading this book thinking, 'Oh no, another liberal, guilt-trip Cassandra knocking affluent first worlders for ruining the planet.' . . . A yuppie Thoreau. But with cynicism shucked and once into this deceptively slim and readable volume, the indisputable power and inevitability of the message takes over. . . . McKibben's book is especially valuable because it explains what is likely to be the major environmental issue of the 21st century in clear and very thoughtful fashion, at least what's known about it so far. And in an age when horsepower in cars has been making a comeback and most solar energy companies have folded, that is value enough.
 
Booknews  
McKibben writes of our planet's environmental cataclysm, including evidence about the greenhouse effect, the depletion of the ozone layer, and an array of other ecological ills. No bibliography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)