Stewart Brand is a pioneer of the enviromental movement. He is one of the most penetrating and important thinkers, and his brilliant and urgent new books looks to be his most influential - and controversial - yet.
The green movement used to protect the earth from mankind; now they need to protect mankind from the earth. In Whole Earth Discipline, Stewart Brand argues that in order to do this, they urgently need to abandon much conventional environmental wisdom, and embrace new science and engineering. Cities are actually greener than the countryside, he argues, and urbanisation should be encouraged; we must invest massively in nuclear energy; and genetic engineering has the potential to stimulate a second 'Green Revolution.' Combining rigorous thinking and blazing advocacy, this is a powerful and persuasive challenge, and a wake-up call to everyone who cares about the future of our Earth.
Stewart Brand trained originally as an ecologist. His legendary Whole Earth Catalogue won the US National Book Award in 1972. Brand, whose previous books include The Media Lab, How Buildings Learn and The Clock of the Long Now, is president and cofounder of the Long Now Foundation and co-founder of the Global Business Network.