Preface

This is a book about humans, the rise of our civilization, and the development of our economic system. It is about our relationship with Earth, the species with whom we share this planet, and the climate that influences Earth’s environment. It covers a diverse range of subjects; its relevance is applicable across disciplines and cultures; its implications are vital. I have tried to convey the scientific evidence, which is frequently buried in research journals inaccessible to the general population, in language that is as nonscientific as possible in an effort to make clear to the reader the brutally pressing reality that what matters most is how each of us lives our life, particularly as it relates to climate, our economy, and the increasing dominance of humans on Earth.

Charles Darwin’s theories of survival of the fittest and natural selection form the dominant paradigm against which recurring new species – “hopeful” monsters – perplexingly arise and, sometimes, survive. Others, like all previous Homo species described in Chapters 2 through 4 , did not survive. Individual examples described in Chapters 11 through 15 , some more hopeful than others, serve as opportunities to review our perspective of Darwin’s theories, which dictate that humanity’s burgeoning presence represents expanding wisdom and fi tness, yet simultaneously feed an omnipresent denial of death and destruction.