A Natural History of the Future, Rob Dunn
A Natural History of the Future, Rob Dunn
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A Natural History of the Future
What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species

Author: Rob Dunn

Narrator: Donald Chang

Unabridged: 8 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 11/09/2021

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

A leading ecologist argues that if humankind is to survive on a fragile planet, we must understand and obey its iron laws

Our species has amassed unprecedented knowledge of nature, which we have tried to use to seize control of life and bend the planet to our will. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life’s overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no human activity can annul. When we create artificial islands of crops, dump toxic waste, or build communities, we provide new materials for old laws to shape. Life’s future flourishing is not in question. Ours is.

As ambitious as Edward Wilson’s Sociobiology and as timely as Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction, A Natural History of the Future sets a new standard for understanding the diversity and destiny of life itself.

About Rob Dunn

Rob Dunn is a professor in the Department of Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University and in the Natural History Museum of Denmark at the University of Copenhagen. He is also the author of five books. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brian on January 20, 2022

Many books with an ecological theme are depressingly doom-laden. The authors delight in pointing out that from a biologist's viewpoint humans are just one of a vast number of species - nothing exceptional - and that we mess with nature at our peril. To be honest, I find such books hard going. So I w......more

Goodreads review by L.G. on March 26, 2023

"An understanding of the law of natural selection [and associated natural laws] is key to human health and well-being and, frankly, to the survival of our species." One thing I found interesting was the "megaplate," a repeated giant Petri dish experiment to examine the law of evolution by natural sel......more

Goodreads review by jrendocrine at least reading is good on August 01, 2022

This chatty, well written, but not very structured book is good enough. If you read, as I do, widely in biology for the masses, there is nothing particularly new here. Lots of examples, some interesting conceptual thinking about islands that aren't islands where life develops and changes - cities fo......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on August 04, 2021

As a biology degree holder and lifelong lover of evolution, microbiology, and genetics, this book was everything I wanted in a look at our future here on Earth. Dunn doesn’t just argue climate change and greenhouse gases; he dives deep into crop diversity (or the lack thereof), biocides resistance,......more

Quotes

“A fascinating, shocking, and inspiring guide to the future by one of the most creative and eloquent biologists of our time. Dunn’s book is packed full of insight from the latest scientific discoveries about the wonders and troubles of the living Earth.”
 —David George Haskell, author of The Forest Unseen

“Speciations in weird urban habitats, viruses chasing hosts around the globe, and the greatest challenge life on Earth has faced for two million years: this is the fascinating and sobering ecology of the Anthropocene.”
 —Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of Kindred

“A timely, thought-provoking analysis, delivered in the affable prose that has become Dunn’s hallmark.”—Thor Hanson, author of Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid

“A stimulating exploration into how the laws of biology can help us ‘understand the future into which we are—arms flailing, coal burning, and full speed ahead—hurling ourselves.’ … Dealing reasonably with the circumstances requires knowledge and imagination. The author avoids the usual implausible how-to-fix-it conclusion… Instead, he offers a book that is less doomsday prophecy and more excellent primer on ecology and evolution. An imaginative, sensible education for those concerned with the fate of the Earth.”—Kirkus

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