Fantastic

Charles C. Mann delivers again, he is one of the best science writers going. Bronson Pinchot is fantastic as well (as always).

If you have an interest in ecology, agronomy, energy, poverty, overpopulation, climatology and global warming you will find this book interesting.

The author does a good job of not picking sides and highlights both the pros and cons of each argument.

Highly recommended.

16 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Timely and important

I call this book timely and important because it both hits upon elements of today's global issues that need to be dealt with AND does so in a way that makes the issues understandable and clear. Mann does an excellent job of story telling in this book by giving a coherent background that sets up the issues, then proceeds to walk through those issues pointing out how these two different world views have shaped our societal responses to those issues. I wasn't sure about the narration at first, but Pinchot did an excellent job telling Mann's story with very few (read, almost no) pronunciation issues of the scientific terms (as a scientist I find myself unduly annoyed by those). I have recommended this book to fellow scientists and non-scientists alike; it is good enough that my recommendation is that anyone with a modicum of interest should check out this book.

13 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

balanced and deep

much more than a biography, this volume presents some of the major issues of our times with thought provoking stories.

10 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Brilliant piece of work!

i enjoyed this book so much that i bought the hard copy to re-read and annotate. It will be a lifetime reference.

9 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Good but meandering

The underlying debate between those who favor mastering nature and those who favor husbanding it is fundamental. But the book wonders between biographies about the two main characters and several different subplots to the main debate. As a result it feels longer and less focused than it could have been. A better fit for print than audio, even though the narrator is very good.

8 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Let the listener decide

It’s a rare thing these days to not editorialize issues to the point of condescension. Mann does a great job of laying out his findings in a way that respects the audience.

The book gets a little heavy on biography at times but the subjects are interesting even if their lives aren’t always super relevant to the main point of the book. You’ll learn a lot and enjoy the journey.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

intentionally ignores middle ground

the narration was excellent, but the whole premise was frustrating. it isn't all one way or the other. Also, I know women were systematically held back from positions of power for many years, but I was still surprised by the lack of women noted in the book.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Slow speech, great book

Wonderful eloquently written story and super educational. The non fiction writing of Charles C. Mann is only rivaled in my opinion by Bill Bryson. Has deeply changed my view on the world, I will, and have recommend this to everyone I know who will be interested by its subject matter. The performer of the audio was a little slow for my taste but was fine at 1.25 speed.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Fascinating look at our future and our choices

What did you love best about The Wizard and the Prophet?

Charles Mann does an excellent job of pulling all the various complicated and apposing viewpoints on climate change together and making them understandable for the average guy, like me. His book pulls them together into one interconnected framework and put it on a calm blank canvas where the reader is allowed the room to draw their own conclusion about what might be our best path forward into the future. The story, full of real world scientists and politicians with their brilliant discovery's (and frequent missteps) was not only fascinating to listen to as it unfolded but also forced me to abandon my preconceived biases about conservation and our technical advancements and realize a much broader viewpoint. It was well worth the read and has me still thinking about it's concepts weeks later. Highly recommended!

What other book might you compare The Wizard and the Prophet to and why?

Cosmos. Its ability to make complex and impossible large and slow scientific issues accessible and understandable.I suspect this book will be one of those efforts that 30 years from now will still resonate and will see translations into dozens of languages as countries grapple with these escalating issues.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Very Re-Readable

Writing this review after the 3rd complete listen and 2 regular paper read throughs. This book lends itself to be reread almost as soon as you finish it.

The biographies of Borlaug and Vogt are fascinating each time I hear them retold. The "policy" options sections I've read through separately more times than the book itself. It's a book I would recommend having anyone read, be they environmental policy neophytes or long time devotees. There are dozens of facts, figures, or positions that I have never heard exposited before. Highly recommend.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile