The Wizard and the Prophet - Two Groundbreaking Scientists Their Conflicting Visions of Future of

In forty years, the population of the Earth will reach ten billion. Can our world support so many people? What kind of world will it be? In this unique, original and important book, Charles C. Mann illuminates the four great challenges we face - food, water, energy, climate change - through an exploration of the crucial work and wide-ranging influence of two little-known twentieth-century scientists, Norman Borlaug and William Vogt. Vogt (the Prophet) was the intellectual forefather of the environmental movement, and believed that in our using more than the planet has to give, our prosperity will bring us to ruin. Borlaug''s research in the 1950s led to the development of modern high-yield crops that have saved millions from starvation. The Wizard of Mann''s title, he believed that science will continue to rise to the challenges we face. Mann tells the stories of these scientists and their crucial influence on today''s debates as his story ranges from Mexico to India, across continents and oceans and from the past and the present to the future. Brilliantly original in concept, wryly observant and deeply researched, The Wizard and the Prophe t is essential reading for readers of Yuval Noah Harari''s Sapiens or Jared Diamond''s Guns, Germs and Steel , for anyone interested in how we got here and in the future of our species.

Report

Mann's storytelling skills are unmatched - the sprightly tempo with which this book unfolds, each question answered as it comes to mind, makes for pure pleasure reading . . . [Mann] provides detail enough, and simplicity enough, that anyone who is struggling with these puzzles will be enlightened and informed. And entertained, which, given the subject matter, is no small feat. New York Times

Product details

• Authors: Charles Mann, Charles C Mann, Charles C. Mann, Mann Charles C
• Publisher: Picador Uk
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2018
• EAN: 9781509884179
• ISBN: 978-1-5098-8417-9
• No. of pages: 608
• Dimensions: 154 mm x 234 mm x 35 mm
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); NATURE / Natural Resources, SCIENCE / Global Warming & Climate Change, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Journalism, Climate Change, SCIENCE / Earth Sciences / Geography, popular science, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Ecology, Conservation of the environment, Ecological science, the Biosphere, Population & demography, Population and Demography, Human Geography, Environmentalist thought and ideology, Population and migration geography, Development and environmental geography