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Nature Magazine reviews EARTH IN HUMAN HANDS

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Earth, The Long View:
Emma Marris relishes a joyous vision of planetary stewardship over the long haul.

“Grinspoon’s writing is clear, informal and funny. He is clearly a book-lover as well as a fan of the cosmos, and he has mined vintage popular-science books as well as science fiction for exciting ideas and key quotes. The result can feel like a pub conversation with a well-read, quick mind.”

“…the vision of taking responsibility for Earth in a joyous and optimistic way is striking.”

Read the full review Here.

 

Excellent review of EARTH IN HUMAN HANDS by WBUR Boston

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Grinspoon Weaves Culture Through A Timeline Of Momentous Scientific Events In ‘Earth In Human Hands’

With an erudite yet appealingly informal style that showcases his nimble mastery of this science, Grinspoon takes you on a deep-time tour through four types of Earth’s changes (aka catastrophes): random (like the great dust-inducing asteroid crash that wiped out the dinosaurs), biological (emerging of new species, dying off of others), inadvertent (unintended effects of industrialization) and intentional (doing something, or not, about those industrialization effects).

In our hyper-technical world, we need science communicators like Grinspoon who can translate their expertise into accessible explanations and interesting stories.  …this book is timely not just for the planet’s environment but for the current political one. …This is one of the great strengths of “Earth in Human Hands”: Grinspoon’s ability to describe and explain momentous Earth and space events and discoveries, and then connect to their cultural and social influence; science as part of everyday life and our cultural history, not separate from it. …makes a vital contribution to one of the most important concerns of our time.

Read the full review here.

Interview with Wow! Signal Podcast: Human Up – The Planet’s Future with David Grinspoon

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A nice relaxed long-form discussion about several of the topics that come up in EARTH IN HUMAN HANDS.The Wow! Signal Podcast

We discuss what I call the Great Promotion: Carl Sagan used to talk about the “great demotions” of the last 400 years which showed us, through a series of scientific revelations just  peripheral, and irrelevant we are in the cosmos, and how unimportant we are to the planet. And yet we are now, by suddenly realizing that we are in this new “anthropocene” age of humans as a geological force, discovering just the opposite. We are no longer peripheral. We’ve been unwittingly getting a “great promotion” to a central role in the drama playing out on Earth right now. We may not be able to handle this job, but the first step is to accept that we really are, in some ways, in control of Earth right now. To deny this is to avoid responsibility.

I also discuss what I call the “anthropocene dilemma” that arises when a species has planet-changing technology but no global system of awarness and control of the effects of this technology.  And I give some examples that suggests we have the capacity to overcome this dilemma and develop the capacity to make intelligent global decisions about how to deploy technology for the betterment of our civilization, of other species and of the biosphere as a whole.

We discuss SETI and its connection to ideas about our own potential longevity as a civilizaiton with planet-altering technology. Can a civilization with planet-changing powers, develop a sustainable long-lived presence?

And we discuss the asinine story that the new president intends to direct NASA to abandon research into Earth science and just focus on outer space.  This can’t happen and here I say why.

These topics and more were covered in this enjoyable conversation.