The Big Ratchet

Released on by Ruth DeFries
preview-18

  • The Big Ratchet Book Detail

  • Author : Ruth DeFries
  • Release Date : 2014-09-09
  • Publisher : Basic Books
  • Genre : Science
  • Pages : 289
  • ISBN 13 : 0465080936
  • File Size : 14,14 MB
DOWNLOAD BOOK

The Big Ratchet by Ruth DeFries PDF Summary

Book Description: How an ordinary mammal manipulated nature to become technologically sophisticated city-dwellers -- and why our history points to an optimistic future in the face of environmental crisis Our species long lived on the edge of starvation. Now we produce enough food for all 7 billion of us to eat nearly 3,000 calories every day. This is such an astonishing thing in the history of life as to verge on the miraculous. The Big Ratchet is the story of how it happened, of the ratchets -- the technologies and innovations, big and small -- that propelled our species from hunters and gatherers on the savannahs of Africa to shoppers in the aisles of the supermarket. The Big Ratchet itself came in the twentieth century, when a range of technologies -- from fossil fuels to scientific plant breeding to nitrogen fertilizers -- combined to nearly quadruple our population in a century, and to grow our food supply even faster. To some, these technologies are a sign of our greatness; to others, of our hubris. MacArthur fellow and Columbia University professor Ruth DeFries argues that the debate is the wrong one to have. Limits do exist, but every limit that has confronted us, we have surpassed. That cycle of crisis and growth is the story of our history; indeed, it is the essence of The Big Ratchet. Understanding it will reveal not just how we reached this point in our history, but how we might survive it.

Disclaimer: www.yourbookbest.com does not own The Big Ratchet books pdf, neither created or scanned. We just provide the link that is already available on the internet, public domain and in Google Drive. If any way it violates the law or has any issues, then kindly mail us via contact us page to request the removal of the link.

The Big Ratchet

The Big Ratchet

File Size : 5,5 MB
Total View : 8705 Views
DOWNLOAD

How an ordinary mammal manipulated nature to become technologically sophisticated city-dwellers -- and why our history points to an optimistic future in the fac

Leif Eriksson

Leif Eriksson

File Size : 26,26 MB
Total View : 4499 Views
DOWNLOAD

"Examines the life of Viking explorer Leif Eriksson, including his explorations, his discovery of North America, and his legacy in American history"--Provided b

X-Factor SuDoku

X-Factor SuDoku

File Size : 25,25 MB
Total View : 646 Views
DOWNLOAD

Catch the latest wave in Sudoku-mania! These 275 X-Factor SuDoku puzzles are for the diagonally challenged, in 6 difficulty levels from Simple to Fiendish. X-Fa