Dr. David Macauley recommends:
In his provocative thought experiment, The World without Us, Alan Weisman explores the kind of scenario most of us have imagined very loosely at some point in our lives: what would happen if we humans should suddenly vanish from the earth.
Weisman proceeds to describe in detail--through research conducted in the sciences and engineering--how the indefatigable elements would systematically corrode and collapse our infrastructures and reclaim buildings, farms and cities, leaving little more of a human legacy than bronze artifacts, plastic, anthropogenic molecules and radio waves. Rural areas would revert to original forests, and in the damp climate of Europe, for example, aspen and birch would hastily take over agricultural fields. Within twenty years, pastures would give way to woodland. Under the protection of this new canopy, spruce, elm, oak, maple would proliferate as birds and other denizens return and multiply.
An interesting read for those curious about a possible post-human future or for those among us who might want to avert this situation for a while longer.
(Interested in a copy? Use "I Want It" in The CAT. Penn State Libraries GF75.W455 2007)
Posted by mhs160 at August 13, 2007 08:10 PM