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Swimming Lessons David Ehrenfeld (Professor of Biology, Professor of Biology, Rutgers University)

Swimming Lessons By David Ehrenfeld (Professor of Biology, Professor of Biology, Rutgers University)

Summary

This is a study of the shrinking wilderness and the ongoing degredation of the environment, especially its cost to human dignity and potential. The author ruminates on the impacts of short-sighted governmental and economic policies, and of new technologies on human values and communities.

Swimming Lessons Summary

Swimming Lessons: Keeping Afloat in the Age of Technology by David Ehrenfeld (Professor of Biology, Professor of Biology, Rutgers University)

David Ehrenfeld is a highly esteemed writer on ecology and conservation biology. The founding editor of The Journal of Conservation Biology and author of The Arrogance of Humanism and Beginning Again, his new book is an elegant study of the cost to human dignity and potential, of the shrinking wilderness and the ongoing degredation of the environment. He ruminates on the impacts of short-sighted governmental and economic policies, and of new technologies on human values and communities, tracing the human impacts upon the urban, agricultural and wilderness environments. Ehrenfeld has a unique, unmistakable voice as a major spokesperson for the conservation ethic and the human values implicit in environmentalism and conservation biology. This book should appeal strongly to readers of Ehrenfeld's earlier books and essays, and reach and satisfy a broad constituency on the green end of the political spectrum.

Swimming Lessons Reviews

With wit, humor, a calm voice, and great authority, Swimming lessons gives a clear view of what our world has become ... a delight to read. ... David Ehrenfeld fills the chapters of Swimming lessons with remarkable and often moving stories from his own life and the lives of his wife and children, colleagues, and students.--Ethology, Ecology and Evolution Ehrenfeld, who eschews corporate funding, is independent-minded. He writes about big ideas - vanishing species, globalization, genetic engineering and a diminishing sense of place are among his favorite topics. He is not afraid of complexity. ... Throughout, Ehrenfeld conveys a sense of calm and authority. The text is stunning in its use of visual imagery, pace and varying sentence structure.--The Newark Star-Ledger For a world struggling to stay afloat ecologically, morally, and economically, SWIMMING LESSONS, could not come at a better time. And there is no better or wiser author than David Ehrenfeld.--David Orr, Oberlin College, author of The Nature of Design We are entering a perilous century. Our technologies have brought us benefits but also a severely damaged environment. We need such a book of guidance as David Ehrenfeld has written. He understands the natural world, the wonderful gifts it makes to us. He understands our technologies, their limited use. If we would listen to him, both ourselves and our children would know the immense delight of living in the 21st century. We would experience the excitement of swimming safely through oncoming currents. --Thomas Berry, author of The Great Work: Our Way into the Future With wit, humor, a calm voice, and great authority, Swimming lessons gives a clear view of what our world has become ... a delight to read. ... David Ehrenfeld fills the chapters of Swimming lessons with remarkable and often moving stories from his own life and the lives of his wife and children, colleagues, and students.--Ethology, Ecology and Evolution Ehrenfeld, who eschews corporate funding, is independent-minded. He writes about big ideas - vanishing species, globalization, genetic engineering and a diminishing sense of place are among his favorite topics. He is not afraid of complexity. ... Throughout, Ehrenfeld conveys a sense of calm and authority. The text is stunning in its use of visual imagery, pace and varying sentence structure.--The Newark Star-Ledger

Table of Contents

SECTION 1: THE LIES WE LIVE ; Brainstorming ; Pretending ; The Magic of the Internet ; Nothing Simple ; Sherlock, Nero, and Us ; SECTION 2: WRECKING OUR SOCIETY-A MANUAL ; Rejecting Gifts ; Adaptation ; Forecast: Chilly, Overcast, Light Drizzle, No People Left ; Pseudocommunities ; Obsolescence ; Social Evolution Versus Sudden Change ; Writing ; SECTION 3: DEADLY ECONOMICS ; Affluence and Austerity ; Durable Goods ; Spending Our Capital ; Saving by Selling ; Hot Spots and the Globalization of Conservation ; The Gingko and the Stump ; The Death Penalty ; SECTION 4: RELATING TO NATURE IN A MANMADE WORLD ; The Vine Cleaners ; A Connoisseur of Nature ; Death of a Plastic Palm ; Scientific Discoveries and Nature's Mysteries ; I Reinvent Agriculture ; Thinking about Breeds and Species ; Teaching Field Ecology ; More Field Ecology: Rightofway Island ; A Walk in the Woods ; Degrees of Intimacy ; SECTION 5. RESTORING THE COMMUNITY ; The Utopia Fallacy ; Traditions ; Jane Austen and the World of the Community ; Universities and Their Communities ; An Invalid's Guide ; Swimming Lessons ; BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Additional information

NPB9780195148527
9780195148527
0195148525
Swimming Lessons: Keeping Afloat in the Age of Technology by David Ehrenfeld (Professor of Biology, Professor of Biology, Rutgers University)
New
Hardback
Oxford University Press Inc
2002-02-28
266
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
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Customer Reviews - Swimming Lessons