Overview

Over the past century, our species has made unprecedented technological innovations with which we have sought to control nature. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life's overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no human activity can annul. When we create artificial islands of crops, dump toxic waste, or build communities, we provide new materials for old laws to shape. Life's future flourishing is not in question. Ours is. A Natural History of the Future sets a new standard for understanding the diversity and destiny of life itself.

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9781399800143

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Reviews

A stimulating exploration into how the laws of biology can help us 'understand the future into which we are--arms flailing, coal burning, and full speed ahead--hurling ourselves.' ... Dealing reasonably with the circumstances requires knowledge and imagination. The author avoids the usual implausible how-to-fix-it conclusion... Instead, he offers a book that is less doomsday prophecy and more excellent primer on ecology and evolution. An imaginative, sensible education for those concerned with the fate of the Earth -- Kirkus A fascinating, shocking, and inspiring guide to the future by one of the most creative and eloquent biologists of our time. Dunn's book is packed full of insight from the latest scientific discoveries about the wonders and troubles of the living Earth -- David George Haskell, author of The Forest Unseen A timely, thought-provoking analysis, delivered in the affable prose that has become Dunn's hallmark -- Thor Hanson, author of Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid Speciations in weird urban habitats, viruses chasing hosts around the globe, and the greatest challenge life on Earth has faced for two million years: this is the fascinating and sobering ecology of the Anthropocene -- Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of Kindred

Author Information

Rob Dunn is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist, focusing on the biodiversity of humans. He is a professor in the Department of Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University and in the Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics at the University of Copenhagen. The author of seven books including Never Home Alone (Basic 2018), he also writes for National Geographic, Natural History, Scientific American, BBC Wildlife, and Seed magazine. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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