Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum by William F Ruddiman
Traces the historical sweep of human interaction with Earth's climate. This book takes readers through 3 stages of human history: when nature was in control; when humans began to take control, discovering agriculture and affecting climate through carbon dioxide and methane emissions; and, finally, the human impact on climate change.
The activities of Stone Age farmers may have altered Earth's climateThis is the exciting but controversial theory conveyed by palaeoclimatologist William Ruddiman in his well-written book Plows, Plagues and Petroleum... [A]n excellent book summarizing and placing in context the age-old influence of humans on atmospheric composition, climate and global warming. Nature If you're not familiar with Ruddiman's hypothesis, you should be... At a time when some scientist seem to fear that open criticism will give the public the impression that we disagree about the facts on climate change--that it is real, caused in part by humans, and increasingly unavoidable--it is good to read of Ruddiman's faith in the scientific method and his willingness to let the process unfold as it should... Plows, Plagues and Petroleum is excellent reading for scientist and nonscientist alike. -- James White Science What William Ruddiman has done in Plows, Plagues and Petroleum, an attractive, well-written new book aimed at a popular audience, is to explore the geochemical and climatological implications of worldwide deforestation over the past several thousand years... Ruddiman's argument makes it clear that there is no 'natural' baseline of climate in the late Holocene from which to reckon the human impact of the past two centuries. -- Wolfgang H. Berger American Scientist William Ruddiman's provocative but plausible conclusion is that the economic behavior of humans began to profoundly influence global climate roughly 8000 years ago... Ruddiman's book has already begun to spark an important debate--a debate which economic historians should be eager to follow and join. -- Robert Whaples EH.net This well-written book does a great job of summarizing complex topics through simple calculations and examples, and provides the right balance of cultural background and scientific data. -- Matthew S. Lachniet Geotimes The book by Ruddiman is very enjoyable and easy to read. It also takes quite a unique perspective on the relationship between human societies and climate. For Ruddiman, rather than the climate being a determinant of the course of human events, the argument is turned on its head making human economic behavior a cause of climate change, even well into distant antiquity. -- Arlene Miller Rosen Nature and Culture Ruddiman's short book is an excellent primer on the various influences on global climate. He explains scientific concepts clearly and accessibly, and his melding of climate science and human history is fascinating. For these reasons alone, the book is worth reading. -- Erik M. Conway Journal of the History of Biology Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum is a primer on natural variations in Earth's climate and on how human activity is having even more of an impact. While some readers might find it disturbing that people have been influencing the planet's climate for millennia, others may be even more alarmed to think about climate changes yet to come. -- S. Perkins Science News [Ruddiman] reviews the ongoing debate about future climate change and provides a balanced and judicious assessment of the challenges ahead. This book offers valuable new insights into one of the world's most demanding environmental challenges. Population and Development Review The book is instructive and refreshingly non-technical in its prose. It also offers insight to historians as to how they might think about scientific and environmental processes ... and draw on these materials to write history... Given our contemporary industrial capacity, it rises some serious questions and concerns over the fragility of the physical environment and our relationship with it. -- Michael Egan Left History
William F. Ruddiman is the author of "Earth's Climate: Past & Future", and has published many articles in "Scientific American", "Nature", and "Science" as well as various scientific journals. He recently retired as Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, following many years as a Doherty Senior Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780691133980 |
| ISBN 10 | 0691133980 |
| Title | Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum |
| Author | William F Ruddiman |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Princeton University Press |
| Year published | 2007-11-11 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |