reductionism

Book review – Biocivilisations: A New Look at the Science of Life

9-minute read
keywords: evolution, philosophy

A recurrent theme in the books that I review is that we underestimate what other animals are capable of and, by extension, overestimate humans. One thrust of Biocivilisations is that many of the hallmarks of human civilisations have parallels in the worlds of plants, animals, fungi, and microbes. Less of a popular science book that marvels at life’s achievements, this is more a full-throated attack on reductive materialism and mainstream biology that leans on philosophy, metaphor, and a substantial dose of unconventional ideas. In turns fascinating and frustrating, there is a lot to unpack here.

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Book review – Alfie & Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe

10-minute read
keywords: ornithology, philosophy

Ecologist Carl Safina needs little in the way of introduction, having written the lauded Beyond Words and Becoming Wild, and a score of earlier books. For me, he ranks right up there with modern science popularisers such as Ed Yong, Carl Zimmer, and the late Frans de Waal for his thought-provoking and intensely beautiful writing. His latest book sees him captivated by a bird as he nurses back to health an orphaned screech owl. But Alfie & Me is far more than a memoir about one man’s friendship with a wild animal, as it sends him on a personal quest to better understand humanity’s relationship with nature throughout history. Come for the owls, stay for Safina’s philosophical reflections and piercing analysis of how the West came to see the natural world as a commodity to exploit and exhaust.

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Book review – Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment

9-minute read

The best way to introduce this book is to quote the first sentence of the blurb: “Techno-Fix challenges the pervasive belief that technological innovation will save us from the dire consequences of the 300-year fossil-fuelled binge known as modern industrial civilization“. Stinging, provocative, and radical, Techno-Fix puts its fingers on many a sore spot with its searing critique.

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