The World without Us by Alan Weisman
Discover the impact of the human footprint in "The World Without Us". Take us off the Earth and what traces of us would linger? And which would disappear? Alan Weisman writes about which objects from today would vanish without us; how our pipes, wires, and cables would be pulverized into an unusual (but mere) line of red rock; why some museums and churches might be the last human creations standing; how rats and roaches would struggle without us; and how plastic, cast-iron, and radio waves may be our most lasting gifts to the planet. But "The World Without Us" is also about how parts of our world currently fare without a human presence (Chernobyl; a Polish old-growth forest; the Korean DMZ) and it looks at the human legacy on Earth, both fleeting and indelible. It's narrative non-fiction at its finest, taking on an irresistible concept with gravity and a highly-readable touch. Some examples of what would happen are: One year: Several more billion birds will live when airplane warning lights cease blinking; Twenty years: The water-soaked steel columns that support the street above New York's East Side would corrode and buckle. As Lexington Avenue caves in, it becomes a river; 100,000 years: CO2 will be back to pre-human levels (or it might take longer); Forever: Our radio waves, fragmented as they may be, will still be going out.
Alan Weisman is the author of several books, including The World Without Us, which is a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, winner of the Wenjin Book Prize of the National Library of China, and an international bestseller translated in 34 languages. His work has been selected for many anthologies, including Best American Science Writing. An award-winning journalist, his reports have appeared in Harper's, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Discover, Vanity Fair, Wilson Quarterly, Mother Jones, and Orion, and on NPR. A former contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Weisman is a senior radio producer for Homelands Productions. He lives in western Massachusetts.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780312347291 |
| ISBN 10 | 0312347294 |
| Title | The World without Us |
| Author | Alan Weisman |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Thomas Dunne Books |
| Year published | 2007-07-10 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Prizes | Short-listed for National Book Critics Circle Awards: Nonfiction 2008 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |