Promotional Information

A FASCINATING GLIMPSE OF THE EARTH IF HUMANS VANISHED TODAY

About the Author

Alan Weisman is a journalist and the author of numerous books. His writing has won several major awards and has appeared in The New York Times Magazine and the Los Angeles Times Magazine.

Reviews

Compelling ... jammed packed with fascinating "what ifs"
*Guardian*

A powerful vision of a possible future for the earth
*Sunday Times*

A fascinating nonfiction eco-thriller
*The New York Times Book Review*

Drawing from hundreds of interviews with engineers, scientists and archaeologists, it unfolds like a thriller
*Guardian Best Books about the Post-Human Earth*

One of the grandest thought experiments of our time, a tremendous feat of imaginative reporting!
*Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy*

Asking "What if" questions has been a proven tool leading to key theories and discoveries in science. The imagined scenario presented here offers a provocative perspective on life on Earth and the degree to which human activity has shaped the planet. If every human on Earth suddenly vanished, what would become of this world? Science journalist Weisman ponders numerous questions, e.g., How long would it take for nature to reclaim dense urban areas, like Manhattan Island? What endangered fauna would recover, and what new species might evolve? What would become of humankind's most enduring pollutants, such as plastics, greenhouse gasses, and nuclear wastes? The book's strength lies in its audacious willingness to confront uncomfortable questions while offering glimpses of answers in areas of recent wars, diseases, and ecological disasters. This is neither a warning to human beings to change their errant ways, nor a wishful paean to returning to the Garden of Eden; instead it is a sober, analytical elucidation of the effects of human dominance on this planet, intriguing if not especially comforting. This book should be broadly read and discussed. For all environmental collections. [Library marketing campaign; see Behind the Book profile on p.112.]-Gregg Sapp, Science Lib., SUNY at Albany Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Compelling ... jammed packed with fascinating "what ifs" * Guardian *
A powerful vision of a possible future for the earth * Sunday Times *
A fascinating nonfiction eco-thriller * The New York Times Book Review *
Drawing from hundreds of interviews with engineers, scientists and archaeologists, it unfolds like a thriller -- Cal Flyn * Guardian Best Books about the Post-Human Earth *
One of the grandest thought experiments of our time, a tremendous feat of imaginative reporting! * Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy *