Here On Earth: An Argument For Hope by Tim FlanneryMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the first book of Flannery's I have read. There is something very appealing about his writing. Despite being an unrealistic optimist, a classic humanist, when it comes to the destiny of man, he comes across as being quite rational and reasonably passionate. I don't share his view that mankind's salvation is in mankind's hands nor do I understand fully, let alone totally accept, the climate change bogeyman. Overlooking his ill informed and cynical view of religion, I put forward a couple of noteworthy tidbits from the book.
The highest level of radioactivity ever recorded in a living thing was in a krill in the Mediterranean Sea after the Chernobyl disaster.
The disruption to trade that is an inevitable consequence of war is almost as great a deterrent as war itself.
Here on Earth: full of amazing and interesting facts and alleged facts with enough science and statistics to easily bamboozle feeble minds like mine.
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Some thoughts about your tidbits (by that I mean the tidbits you shared from the book, not actually your tidbits, as such):
ReplyDeleteHow did they find that krill? I mean, isn't a krill really small? And, not to be heartless about krill, but given that it's so small and it's only this one krill that was so affected, how much does it really matter? OK - sorry, no I do actually get it, I was just having fun. Seriously though, what is a krill?
About the 'war comment' - I'd be interested to know the wider context because traditionally war is actually quite good from an economic point of view (if no other). But I suppose that's in a world that isn't so interlinked by trade, and I suppose that's the point. Is it?
One more thing I just wanted to mention, only because it 'tickles my fancy' is your phrase 'alleged facts'. On the face of it I think I know what you mean by that (things that the writer is arguing for) but thinking more deeply about the meanings of both words, it's quite an interesting idea....alleged facts. Or maybe it's just me. It's probably just me.