This week, with the help of Viking Press, Stewart Brand has offered the world an important book on the collision between humanity and the Earth’s limits — on the facts, the problems, the passions, the politics, and the realistic possibilities for better outcomes.
After Whole Earth Discipline appeared in my mail, I opened it and skimmed a few random pages. I consistently encountered substantial — often striking — new information and insights on topics where I’d been reading and following developments for years. Surprised, I did this a few more times, and then more, reading further. Fresh. Important. Wise. Readable and information-dense.
Stewart was the founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, becoming a leading figure in the emerging environmental movement, years before the first Earth Day. Concerns about the whole earth have been a thread woven through a life in which Stewart has engaged areas ranging from sustainable communities to space development, from helping with the first public demo of a hypertext system to helping global corporations formulate business strategies for a turbulent and unpredictable world.
In Whole Earth Discipline his topics include genetic engineering, nuclear power, climate engineering, economic development, and the competing ideologies that surround them. In all of this, Stewart is politically sensitive and (in my view) overwhelmingly correct, yet far from politically correct. He kicks intellectual butt on both sides of most issues, but does so respectfully and from a principled moral center that itself demands respect.
Beyond its presentation of fascinating specific facts, and beyond its treatment of topics that could be books in themselves, Whole Earth Discipline is a book about how to think more coherently and effectively about what may be the greatest challenge of our time.
It may make a difference. I hope so.
Conflict of interest disclosure: I’ve known Stewart for 30 years, we’ve exchanged favors, and the publisher bribed me by sending a pre-publication copy of his book. (My deep approval, however, does not come that cheaply.)
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
James Aach 10.25.09 at 12:09 pm UTC
FYI: Stewart was also kind enough to endorse my insider’s account of nuclear power – the only one out there. “Rad Decision: A Novel of Nuclear Power” is available free online at http://RadDecision.blogspot.com as well as in paperback. It covers the good and the bad. No advertising, no corporate sponsorship and I get no royalties.
It seems to me coverage of nuclear energy has been similar to reporting on a war without ever talking to the soldiers. We hear from pundits, journalists and scientists, but never from the people who actually live this day to day. It’s a lot different at the front. Fiction has proven to be a way capture this reality – and I’ve gotten a lot of good comments at the website from readers who’ve liked getting an inside picture of the people, politics and technology of this industry.
“I’d like to see Rad Decision widely read.” – Stewart Brand
Eric Drexler 10.25.09 at 9:55 pm UTC
No royalties, etc.? Shameless advertising, nonetheless! (Thank you — that sounds like a valuable book.)
James Aach 10.26.09 at 10:38 am UTC
I’m not altruistic as much as stubborn regarding putting something of value out there. I get reminded almost every day of the need for it. And it’s not like I’d rake in the $$$ anyway. There’s more on the publishing angle at http://www.lablit.com/article/83