Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.37 (689 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B00P2QCN2U |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 231 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-01-24 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
LastRanger said Lessons from the Past:. "Collapse" is my third Jared Diamond book and, as before, he does not disappoint. Combining Anthropology, History and Geography with Environmental studies of how humans use, and misuse, Natural Resources, Diamond draws interesting insights into past societies and how their fates can relate to our modern world. To support his conclusions Diamond cites the findings and thoughts of many specialists, past and present, as well as his own. Well researched case studies on the failure and success of different societies Derek Kim A great read especially for those who enjoyed Guns, Germs and Steel. This book is organized more like an academic paper though not written in an overly academic language. Diamond supports his thesis with several case studies based on evidence from various sciences such as palynology, archaeology and genetics. He argues that societies ability to succeed or fail is based on five variables though not all five are always applicable. The. Jon Sherr said Important environmental history. Jared Diamond combines numerous fields in his exploration for why societies collapse. The chapters on the Greenland Norse and Hispaniola contrasting Haiti and Dominican Republic provide fascinating past and present examples for how environmental issues can drive societies to economic misery, decline and collapse. Diamond provides many other examples, including a discussion on Montana's environmental and social challenges to start th
Environmental damage, climate change, globalization, rapid population growth, and unwise political choices were all factors in the demise of societies around the world, but some found solutions and persisted. Similar problems face us today and have already brought disaster to Rwanda and Haiti, even as China and Australia are trying to cope in innovative ways. Despite our own society's apparently inexhaustible wealth and unrivaled political power, ominous warning signs have begun to emerge even in ecologically robust areas like Montana. In Jared Diamond's follow-up to the Pulitzer-Prize winning Guns, Germs and Steel, the author explores how climate change, the population explosion, and political discord create the conditions for the collapse of civilization. Brilliant, illuminating, and immensely absorbing, Collapse is destined to take its place as one of the essential books of our time, raising the urgent question: How can our world best avoid committing ecological suicide?. Collapse moves from the Polynesian cultures on Easter Island to the flourishing American civilization