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The big ratchet : how humanity thrives in the face of natural crisis : a biography of an ingenious species / Ruth DeFries ; designed by Pauline Brown.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- DeFries, Ruth S., author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Nature--Effect of human beings on.
- Nature.
- Human ecology.
- Physical anthropology.
- Human evolution.
- Social evolution.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (289 p.)
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Basic Books, 2014.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- <div>A MacArthur ?Genius" and eminent scientist shows how an ordinary mammal manipulated nature to become a technologically sophisticated city-dweller?and why our history points to an optimistic future in the face of environmental crisis<BR></div>
- Contents:
- Contents; Prologue; 1: A Bird''s-Eye View; Civilization's Engine; The Irish Pivot; The Length of the Lens; 2: Planetary Beginnings; Real Estate in the Cosmos; What Goes Around Comes Around; Time to Fill the Pantry; 3: Enter Human Ingenuity; From Genes to Ingenuity; Tools, Fire, and Words; Forager to Farmer; 4: Conundrums of Settled Life; The Great Irony; Bottleneck from Below; Life from Rivers; Another Conundrum; Ancient China Sidesteps the Bottlenecks; Europe Ratchets Up; 5: Ratchets from Afar; Boobies and Cormorants; Sun-Powered Cargo; Traveling Water; 6: Smash Open the Bottlenecks
- Food from AirBuffalo Bones and Buried Coral; Hatchets Downstream; Another Spigot Opens; 7: Monocultures March Across the Midwest; Hybrids Invade the Corn Belt; Short Beats Tall; In Search of the Soybean; Power from the Ancient Sun; More Meat, Less Starch; 8: Competition for the Bounty ; Scarecrows to Strychnine; A Better Scarecrow; Cascading Consequences; Perpetual Pursuit; 9: The Revolution Goes Global ; From Mexico to India; Miracles with Rice; The Dark Side of the Revolution; Back to the Wild; The Next Genetic Twist; 10: Farmer to Urbanite; Fattier and Sweeter
- The Planetary Machinery Lashes BackThe Next Pivots; Into the Cacophony; Acknowledgments; Notes; References; Index
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on print version record.
- ISBN:
- 0-465-08093-6
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