Review by Choice Review
This fascinating book addresses an important issue. Bauer (Stanford Univ.) and Bhan (DePauw Univ.) contend that defining the onset of the Anthropocene by asserting that Homo sapiens became an independent geophysical force--whether by the late 18th or mid-20th century--reinforces the common notion that humans are separate from nature rather than part of it. They claim that establishing the Anthropocene downplays the previous 180,000 years of human activity, which modified environments during the Holocene, thereby implying that modern people are finally civilized and independent of the natural world--that nature is now a product of human activity: i.e., post-nature. This notion, the authors argue, enables most people to see themselves as the ultimate determinants of the Earth's deep future. The philosophical, scientific, and historical arguments are clearly and succinctly described, and are based on the authors' anthropological and archaeological work in the Himalayan region of Gurez. A careful reading of this book will influence the reader's perspective about the utility of extracting the modern world from the Holocene; a valuable addition to environmental studies collections. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. --Paul R. Pinet, emeritus, Colgate University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
