Too smart for our own good : the ecological predicament of humankind /
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Author / Creator: | Dilworth, Craig. |
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Imprint: | Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010. |
Description: | xv, 530 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. |
Language: | English |
Subject: | |
Format: | Print Book |
URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/7902768 |
Table of Contents:
- List of figures and tables
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1. Scientific ground rules
- Principles of physics, chemistry and biology
- Physical and biological systems
- Genetics and homeostasis
- 2. The new views in anthropology, archaeology and economics
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Economics
- 3. Theoretical background to the vicious circle principle
- The principle of population
- Different kinds of population check
- Population growth pushes technology
- Ecological equilibrium, technological/economic development and economic growth
- 4. The vicious circle principle of the development of humankind
- Presentation of the vicious circle principle
- Explication of the vicious circle principle
- Conclusion
- 5. The development of humankind
- Apes and protohominids 7 million BP
- The first hominids: Australopithecus 4 million BP
- The first humans 2.5 million BP
- The Neanderthals 230,000 BP
- The Upper Palaeolithic in Europe 40,000 BP
- The latter half of the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe 25,000 BP
- The Palaeolithic-Mesolithic transformation 12,000 BP
- VCP analysis of the hunter-gatherer era
- VCP models of increasing complexity
- The hunter-gatherer model
- The horticultural (domestication) revolution 10,000 BP
- VCP analysis of the horticultural era
- The horticultural model
- Mining metals 6000 BP
- The agrarian (plough and irrigation) revolution 5000 BP
- Colonisation and the (capitalistic) mercantile expansion 1500 AD
- VCP analysis of the agrarian era
- The agrarian model
- The (capitalistic) industrial (fossil-fuel) revolution 1750 AD
- VCP analysis of the industrial age
- The industrial model
- 6. The vicious circle today
- Our use of minerals
- Biotic consumption
- Pollution
- Extinctions
- Population growth and checks; morals
- Migration
- Power begets more power: capitalism
- The Third World
- Global military spending and war
- Economic growth
- Disease
- The 1950s-1960s peak and the subsequent lowering of the quality of life of the middle class
- 7. ...and too dumb to change
- Perspectives and worldviews
- Planning
- The pursuit of economic growth
- Innovation
- Nuclear energy
- Agriculture
- Medicine
- Resource depletion
- Pollution
- Energy conservation
- Alternative sources of energy
- Population growth
- Conflict
- The Third World
- Overshoot and the ecological revolution
- Conclusion
- Glossary
- Notes
- References
- Index