This week, I received a parcel in the mail from Amazon. It contained a book and a game, from Patrick and family, for my birthday. The book was Under a White Sky: the Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert. The game was Exit the Game. Dead Man on the Orient Express. (Have not checked out the game, yet)
Kolbert won the Pulitzer Prize for her previous book, The Sixth Extinction. She is a staff writer at the New Yorker. Heather had read the Sixth Extinction, and enjoyed it. “In The Sixth Extinction, Kolbert explored the ways in which our capacity for destruction has reshaped the natural world”. Patrick selected the book because he had not seen any blog references.
Kolbert divides her current book into three sections: Down the River; Into the Wild; Up in the Air. Down the River describes the diversion of the Chicago River, the invasive carp species, and the changes in the Mississippi’s hydrology. Into the Wild includes chapters on the endangered Pupfish in Death Valley, the global threats to the coral reefs, and invasive cane toads in Australia. The final section, Up in the Air, includes a chapter on climate change and the Greenland ice sheet.
In the words of the author:
“This has been a book about people trying to solve problems created by people trying to solve problems.”
My response to Kolbert’s book was to head back to my bookcase. Did not Stewart Brand talk about similar issues in Whole Earth Discipline: an Ecopragmatist Manifesto in 2009 ? On the same shelf, I noticed John Ralston Saul’s The Unconscious Civilization. Where does that fit ?
Another perspective can be found in the current Brain Pickings, February 21st. There, you will find reference to the writing of William Vogt, Road to Survival.
Postscript
Friday morning, we dropped into the Bridgetown Library. I picked up a copy of Paradis Terrestre. It is a history of the village of Paradise, Nova Scotia compiled by members of the Paradise Women’s Institute. I was interested in Chapter 13, Micmac Memories. At the entrance to the Library, I noted a collection of books by, and about Ernest Buckler. Must check out, next time.
Today (Sunday) we skied the Rifle Range Road. It was hard going. Now, that the surrounding trees have been clear-cut, the trail is more exposed to the sunlight. This makes for heavier snow, especially in the late afternoon.
By the way, Edward and I share the same birthday, 14th February.
Acknowledgements
Patrick for the birthday gift. Edward for his artistic support. Heather for sharing the reading and the skiing.
References
Elizabeth Kolbert, 2021, Under a White Sky: the Nature of the Future, Penguin Random House
Stewart Brand, 2009, Whole Earth Discipline: an Ecopragmatist Manifesto, Viking (Penguin Random House).
John Ralston Saul, 1995, The Unconscious Civilization, House of Anansi.
Paradis Terrestre: a History of the Village of Paradise, Nova Scotia. Compiled by members of the Paradise Women’s Institute.
Brain Pickings February 21, 2021, Road to Survival.
Ernest Blair Experiment 
Bob
Thanks as always.
I noted your reference to Stewart Brand — do you know his book “How Buildings Learn?” Typical Brand original thinking and highly recommended.
Brian
Brian Arnott Principal Novita Interpares | Leaf + Branch
novitainterpares.ca >
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