The World Without Us - Couverture souple

Weisman, Alan

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0312427905 ISBN 13 : 9780312427900

Editeur : Picador USA, 2008

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

"On the day after humans disappear, nature takes over and immediately begins cleaning house - or houses, that is. Cleans them right off the face of the earth.They all go."

Alan Weisman looks to the future to discover what the world might be like, and how it would change, if humans disappeared right now, for good. In the current age of anxiety over our impact on the earth's climate and environment, this timely book offers an intriguing glimpse of what the real legacy of our time on the planet may be.

How would the natural world respond if it were suddenly relieved of the burden of humanity? Would the climate return to where it was before we fired up our engines? Could nature ever obliterate all traces of human civilization? How would it undo our largest buildings and public works, and could it reduce our myriad plastics and synthetics to benign, basic elements? And what about architecture and art? What will be our most enduring legacy?

This groundbreaking book examines areas of the world that have been abandoned or never occupied by humans to see how they have fared without us and looks beyond to discover whether, and for how long, our largest cities, biggest achievements and most devastating mistakes will last after we are gone. In doing so it wrestles with some of the key concerns of our time and reveals a picture of the future that is both illuminating and terrifying.

Revue de presse :

“The book boasts an amazingly imaginative conceit that manages to tap into underlying fears and subtly inspire us to consider our interaction with the planet.” (Washington Post)

“An excellent springboard for an often fascinating look at our planet’s biology and ecology.” (Toronto Star)

“[No] end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it story . . . is more audacious or interesting than Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us.” (Boston Globe)

“A refreshing, and oddly hopeful, look at the fate of the environment.” (BusinessWeek)

“Alan Weisman has produced, if not a bible, at least a Book of Revelation.” (Newsweek)

“Grandly entertaining.” (Time)

“Brilliantly creative. An audacious intellectual adventure. His thought experiment is so intellectually fascinating, so oddly playful, that it escapes categorizing and clichés.” (Salon.com)

“The World Without Us gradually reveals itself to be one of the most satisfying environmental books of recent memory, one devoid of self-righteousness, alarmism or tiresome doomsaying ” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

“An astonishing mass of reportage that envisions a world suddenly bereft of humans.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

“One of the most ambitious ‘thought experiments’ ever.” (Cincinnati Enquirer)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Picador USA
• Date d'édition: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0312427905
• ISBN 13: 9780312427900
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 416