The Wizard and the Prophet

This encyclopedic volume is a great introduction into the two prevailing schools of modern environmentalism and really the way modern society thinks about the future progress of the human race. Filled with interesting facts, history and anecdotes this book was an easy and engaging read although not a quick one, it took me a fair bit of time to work through the 450+ pages.

In the scientific light of men's destructive impact on nature, there are two visions on how to counter it: environmentalism wants to scale back and find a natural balance with nature (the prophet) and techno-optimism wants humans to prosper by overcoming nature's natural limits (the wizzard). Mann describes these two perspectives by portraying two men that were instrumental in the development of these two stances: William Vogt and Norman Borlaug. In between their biographies he looks at the two camps' strategies when it comes to famines, GMOs, clean water, fossil fuels, and the climate crisis.

The book doesn't pick a side and simply presents the facts, demonstrating how both visions can start with good intentions but can lead to setbacks. My vote goes to cautious techno-optimism with enhanced systems-thinking about the consequences new innovations bring along. Fascinating read!

Magisterial and electrifying, as all Charles Mann's books are!

As with 1491 and 1493, this book is a god's-eye-view of some very big issues indeed: here, whether humans are going to survive or not in this (possibly finite?) ecosystem. The “possibly finite?” is the crux of the book: “prophets”, embodied in the book by the father of modern environmentalism, William Vogt, predict that we're on the road to assured self-destruction. “Wizards”, embodied by Nobel Peace Prize-winning, Green Revolution revolutionary Norman Bourlag, believe technology can and will (and should! morally!) save us. Because Mann is so good at everything, even after setting up this dichotomy, he skewers it - maybe humans are (as Kolbert would argue) just biologically predetermined to destroy ecosystems? Mann frequently invokes Lynn Margulis as this third view: maybe ALL species are biologically predetermined to overwhelm their ecosystems, if given half a chance?

Along the way, as Mann explores these competing viewpoints, we learn SO MUCH about (1) agriculture and food production, (2) energy (particularly the history of renewal energy, the history of “Peak Oil”, etc), (3) demography and (4) climate change. Honestly, I would place these books on the shelf with Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, since Robinson's scientist characters perfectly embody these wizards vs. prophets vs. Margulis-style Zen fatalists in their ambitious terraforming projects. (And, actually, Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt is a similarly wonderful companion to Mann's 1491 and 1493 books.) I was VERY excited to hear about these insane geoengineering ideas: let's shoot sulfur into the sky so that it reflects the sun!

As with his other books, this one could be a semester-long course. It was packed so densely with information, and that information was presented with such lively brio, that I wanted to restart it as soon as I finished. The length of it (~500 pages, ~24 hours audiobook) gave me pause. But ugh. IT'S SO GOOD. I love these books. HE'S SO GOOD. He's like James C. Scott - he just completely realigns your brain!

Indeed, so electrified and agitated did I become while reading this that I immediately started researching how to apply both prophetic (COMPOST...) and wizardly (...POWERED BY RASPBERRY PIS) and Zen fatalist (climate change mitigation for the inevitable apocalypse!) projects in my own life.

HIGHLY recommend!!