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About this book

A powerful investigation into the chances for humanity's future from the author of the bestseller The World Without Us. In his bestselling book The World Without Us, Alan Weisman considered how the Earth could heal and even refill empty niches if relieved of humanity's constant pressures. Behind that groundbreaking thought experiment was his hope that we would be inspired to find a way to add humans back to this vision of a restored, healthy planet-only in harmony, not mortal combat, with the rest of nature. But with a million more of us every 4 1/2 days on a planet that's not getting any bigger, and with our exhaust overheating the atmosphere and altering the chemistry of the oceans, prospects for a sustainable human future seem ever more in doubt. For this long awaited follow-up book, Weisman traveled to more than 20 countries to ask what experts agreed were probably the most important questions on Earth--and also the hardest: How many humans can the planet hold without capsizing? How robust must the Earth's ecosystem be to assure our continued existence? Can we know which other species are essential to our survival? And, how might we actually arrive at a stable, optimum population, and design an economy to allow genuine prosperity without endless growth? Weisman visits an extraordinary range of the world's cultures, religions, nationalities, tribes, and political systems to learn what in their beliefs, histories, liturgies, or current circumstances might suggest that sometimes it's in their own best interest to limit their growth. The result is a landmark work o…

Themes & subjects

About the author

Alan Weisman

March 24, 1947

Alan H. Weisman, an American author, professor, and journalist, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He holds a bachelor's degree in literature and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. From 2004 to 2013 he was Laureate Professor in Journalism and Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona. He has also taught writing and journalism at Prescott College and Williams College and has been a Fulbright Scholar in Colombia. He has written several books and won numerous international awards for his work in journalism and literature. His reports from around the world have appeared in leading magazines, and in several anthologies. He is also a producer of radio docum…