Monday, October 8, 2007

The World Without Us

A few days ago I finished one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. Alan Weisman spent three years researching what would happen to the Earth if humans just suddenly disappeared. Not if we got sick, or killed ourselves via nuclear warfare, or anything like that, just... poof, disappeared Biblical rapture-style. The result, as Weisman details for 336 pages, would be quite stunning.

But this book's value wasn't in merely fantasizing about what would happen to oil fields in Texas or skyscrapers in New York City if humans were no longer around to maintain them. What made it so great to me was learning about how much humans have changed the world. It's a crazy thought, not one many of us often ponder, everything in our civilization, all of it, including us, all came out of the Earth at one point or another.

I loved the way in which the author wrote this book. He somehow maintained the voice of a mere narrator throughout the entire thing even though he clearly has a huge passion on the subject. It was a much more enjoyable read when you're left to make up your own mind on the material without being swayed by the author. I achieved a certain zen-like peace at times while reading this book. There's something very calming, to me anyway, about knowing that, if humans all disappeared tomorrow, eventually the Earth would return to a state that almost exactly resembles a time when humans were still millions of years of evolution away from existence.

You can buy this book here, but I'll mail my copy to the first of you to ask.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sounds pretty good. I'd like to read it.

October 8, 2007 at 3:35 AM  
Blogger Cory Albertson said...

Email me your address.

October 8, 2007 at 10:35 AM  

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