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A Natural History of the Future: What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species
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About This Book
A leading ecologist argues that if humankind is to survive on a fragile planet, we must understand and obey its iron lawsOur species has amassed unprecedented knowledge of nature, which we have tried to use to seize control of life and bend the planet to our will. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life's overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no human activity can annul. When we create artificial islands of crops, dump toxic waste, or build communities, we provide new materials for old laws to shape. Life's future flourishing is not in question. Ours is.As ambitious as Edward Wilson's Sociobiology and as timely as Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction, A Natural History of the Future sets a new standard for understanding the diversity and destiny of life itself.
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"The impression all this arcana leaves with the reader is that we live in a much weirder, more disorienting world than we tend to appreciate ..."
"The other will inevitably lead to mass extinction."
"Describing the havoc humans are wreaking on the planet is a fertile subject, but this challenging book focuses on what we think we know about nature but don't ..."
"The biodiversity and versatility on display in the animal kingdom of which we are part have lots to teach us."
"Dunn's pessimism is offset by his belief that people can help mitigate the effects of climate change by 'valuing the rest of life' outside humanity, as well as heeding the lessons that other life has to teach."
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