What would nature do? : a guide for our uncertain times / Ruth DeFries.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York : Columbia University Press, [2021]Description: xi, 250 pages : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780231199421
- 0231199422
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 333.9516 D316 | Available | 33111010439681 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Not long ago, the future seemed predictable. Now, certainty about the course of civilization has given way to fear and doubt. Raging fires, ravaging storms, political upheavals, financial collapse, and deadly pandemics lie ahead--or are already here. The world feels less comprehensible and more dangerous, and no one, from individuals to businesses and governments, knows how to navigate the path forward.
Ruth DeFries argues that a surprising set of time-tested strategies from the natural world can help humanity weather these crises. Through trial and error over the eons, life has evolved astonishing and counterintuitive tricks in order to survive. DeFries details how a handful of fundamental strategies--investments in diversity, redundancy over efficiency, self-correcting feedbacks, and decisions based on bottom-up knowledge--enable life to persist through unpredictable, sudden shocks. Lessons for supply chains from a leaf's intricate network of veins and stock market-saving "circuit breakers" patterned on planetary cycles reveal the power of these approaches for modern life. With humility and willingness to apply nature's experience to our human-constructed world, DeFries demonstrates, we can withstand uncertain and perilous times. Exploring the lessons that life on Earth can teach us about coping with complexity, What Would Nature Do? offers timely options for civilization to reorganize for a safe and prosperous future.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
"The twentieth century seemed to offer an unwavering path to prosperity: deadly diseases were disappearing, and breakthrough technologies were starting to solve many problems. But today, certainty about the course of civilization is giving way to doubt and disbelief. The world seems less comprehensible, less predictable, and more prone to surprises from cascading consequences like drought, raging fires, political upheaval, and financial collapse. This book argues that a few counterintuitive strategies can help twenty-first-century civilization weather these uncertainties. The time-tested strategies come from nature itself. They evolved with the grand success of life over billions of years on Earth: networks patterned on leaf veins that provide multiple routes when one gets clogged; decentralized decisions that emulate how ants build their nests; self-correction, a strategy that's pervasive in nature; and diversification, the hallmark of both financial investors and the natural world. These are nature's telltale tactics that maintain life through unknown futures and cycles of renewal. Through narratives and examples, the book makes the abstract science of complexity accessible and tangible"-- Provided by publisher.