Everything Under the Sun: Toward a Brighter Future on a Small Blue Planet

by David Suzuki, Ian Hanington

Overview

In this compilation of David Suzuki's latest thoughts and writings, the renowned scientist, author, and broadcaster explores the myriad environmental challenges the world faces and their interconnected causes. In doing so, Suzuki shows that understanding the causes—and recognizing that everything in nature, including us, is interconnected—is crucial to restoring hope for a better future. The solutions are there, he argues; we just need the will to act together to bring about change.

Everything Under the Sun delves into such provocative topics as the difference between human hunters and other predators, the lessons we must learn from the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the subsequent meltdown of the nuclear reactors, and our dependence on the sun for all of our food and energy—indeed for our very lives. Suzuki also considers the many positive steps people are making today.

Underpinning it all is the recognition that we are blessed to live on a planet that gives us everything we require to live, under a sun that gives us the energy we need to produce food and transport and modern conveniences. But we must protect what we have if we want to survive and prosper.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781553655282
Publisher:	Greystone Books
Publication date:	07/24/2012
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. He is Companion to the Order of Canada and a recipient of UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for science, the United Nations Environment Program medal, the 2009 Right Livelihood Award, and Global 500. He is familiar to television audiences as host of the long-running CBC television program The Nature of Things . His written work includes more than fifty books, nineteen of them for children. Suzuki lives with his wife, Tara Cullis, in Vancouver.

Ian Hanington is a communications and editorial specialist for the David Suzuki Foundation.

Table of Contents

Preface 1

1 All Creatures Great and Small 6

2 People on the Move 40

3 Healing Energy 56

4 Science Holds a Mirror to Existence 87

5 Is the Economy…Stupid? 101

6 It's Getting Hot Down Here 127

7 Plumbing the Mysterious Depths 154

8 Table for Seven Billion? 176

9 Healthy People, Healthy Planet 202

10 Life, the Universe, and Everything 231

Acknowledgements 269

Index 271

Editorial Reviews

It’s difficult to criticize a volume amassed with good intentions and presented earnestly and succinctly, but prolific activist Suzuki (The Sacred Balance) and Hanington, communications specialist for Suzuki’s foundation, simply tried to cover too much material. Each chapter’s contents, a compilation of policy micro-briefs, at once scientific and moralizing, invite the reader to learn about the myriad environmental challenges we face and to consider what can be done to remediate or reverse them. Abrupt transitions, repetition, and sometimes hackneyed topic summations detract from the central crux of the book: that prioritizing short-term economic gain over the long-term planetary health and sustainability is catastrophic and that a commitment to endless economic growth will lead to collapse. Frustration is apparent as blame is cast upon all levels of society, and though some solutions to environmental problems are included, many recommendations lack concreteness and instead call more broadly for renewed dialogue and action. The need for economic valuation of negative externalities is one of the most persuasive ideas Suzuki and Hanington highlight, along with advocating a precautionary approach to management, but as a whole the admonishments here are both sage and surly. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly