2008 Woodie Awards
'The World Without Us' proves humans are bad for Mama Earth
Sonia Easaw
Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: A&E
God was probably joking when he appointed Adam as the caretaker of the new world because Mother Earth would have been just fine without this bipedal hominid.
In his recent book "The World Without Us," Alan Weisman uncovers God's secret when he examines what the world would be like without Homo sapiens after all the societies we've built. Weisman challenges readers to picture a world where we suddenly disappeared, not because of a great calamity or man's foolish mistakes, but the unlikely yet not impossible event of a virus that targets only the 3.9 percent of human DNA that distinguishes humans from chimpanzees. Or if space aliens abducted all humans, or perhaps Jesus Himself raptures mankind to another plateau.
The details saturating Weisman's descriptions of what will happen to the average American wood-frame house are every homeowner's worst nightmare. But you have nothing to worry about really - you won't be there 500 hundred years from now when suburbs become forests. And you won't be there to see New York subways flooded with water after only two days without city-saving pumps.
The rampage of details as Weisman penetrates almost every aspect of a world without us can be alarming, especially when discussing what will happen to human remains after scavengers have cleaned the bones. Even bones cannot leave a human legacy behind as they disappear without the chance to fossilize.
Many similar descriptions, from the loss of art to the reduction of modern architectural marvels to dust, illustrate man's possible fate of leaving the earth without any trace of existence.
His discussions of a human-free world permeate with so much daunting detail that the average reader may not be able to sift through its endlessness. Yet the conclusions he draws, especially that the only trace of our existence may be an electromagnetic wave eternally traveling through space, are mind-boggling.
"The World Without Us" dares to remove man's position as pilferer and pillager of nature to a position subject to the awesome power of nature. It is scary to think of a world free from any kind of human control, and depressing to learn that the world may not even remember the age of Homo sapiens. But it is also a reminder that humans are not all powerful. Modern mankind wouldn't be here if chimpanzees never left the forest.
This book reminds us all that, among other things, a good dose of humility can be beneficial. But, of course, life as we know it goes on.
In his recent book "The World Without Us," Alan Weisman uncovers God's secret when he examines what the world would be like without Homo sapiens after all the societies we've built. Weisman challenges readers to picture a world where we suddenly disappeared, not because of a great calamity or man's foolish mistakes, but the unlikely yet not impossible event of a virus that targets only the 3.9 percent of human DNA that distinguishes humans from chimpanzees. Or if space aliens abducted all humans, or perhaps Jesus Himself raptures mankind to another plateau.
The details saturating Weisman's descriptions of what will happen to the average American wood-frame house are every homeowner's worst nightmare. But you have nothing to worry about really - you won't be there 500 hundred years from now when suburbs become forests. And you won't be there to see New York subways flooded with water after only two days without city-saving pumps.
The rampage of details as Weisman penetrates almost every aspect of a world without us can be alarming, especially when discussing what will happen to human remains after scavengers have cleaned the bones. Even bones cannot leave a human legacy behind as they disappear without the chance to fossilize.
Many similar descriptions, from the loss of art to the reduction of modern architectural marvels to dust, illustrate man's possible fate of leaving the earth without any trace of existence.
His discussions of a human-free world permeate with so much daunting detail that the average reader may not be able to sift through its endlessness. Yet the conclusions he draws, especially that the only trace of our existence may be an electromagnetic wave eternally traveling through space, are mind-boggling.
"The World Without Us" dares to remove man's position as pilferer and pillager of nature to a position subject to the awesome power of nature. It is scary to think of a world free from any kind of human control, and depressing to learn that the world may not even remember the age of Homo sapiens. But it is also a reminder that humans are not all powerful. Modern mankind wouldn't be here if chimpanzees never left the forest.
This book reminds us all that, among other things, a good dose of humility can be beneficial. But, of course, life as we know it goes on.
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