Most Popular Books by Alan Weisman

A penetrating, page-turning tour of a post-human Earth In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity''s impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us.In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe. The World Without Us reveals how, just days after humans disappear, floods in New York''s subways would start eroding the city''s foundations, and how, as the world''s cities crumble, asphalt jungles would give way to real ones. It describes the distinct ways that organic and chemically treated farms would revert to wild, how billions more birds would flourish, and how cockroaches in unheated cities would perish without us. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders from rabbis to the Dali Lama, and paleontologists---who describe a prehuman world inhabited by megafauna like giant sloths that stood taller than mammoths---Weisman illustrates what the planet might be like today, if not for us. From places already devoid of humans (a last fragment of primeval European forest; the Korean DMZ; Chernobyl), Weisman reveals Earth''s tremendous capacity for self-healing. As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman''s narrative ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that needn''t depend on our demise. It is narrative nonfiction at its finest, and in posing an irresistible concept with both gravity and a highly readable touch, it looks deeply at our effects on the planet in a way that no other book has.

A powerful investigation into the chances for humanity''s future from the author of the bestseller The World Without Us. In his bestselling book The World Without Us, Alan Weisman considered how the Earth could heal and even refill empty niches if relieved of humanity''s constant pressures. Behind that groundbreaking thought experiment was his hope that we would be inspired to find a way to add humans back to this vision of a restored, healthy planet-only in harmony, not mortal combat, with the rest of nature. But with a million more of us every 4 1/2 days on a planet that''s not getting any bigger, and with our exhaust overheating the atmosphere and altering the chemistry of the oceans, prospects for a sustainable human future seem ever more in doubt. For this long awaited follow-up book, Weisman traveled to more than 20 countries to ask what experts agreed were probably the most important questions on Earth -- and also the hardest: How many humans can the planet hold without capsizing? How robust must the Earth''s ecosystem be to assure our continued existence? Can we know which other species are essential to our survival? And, how might we actually arrive at a stable, optimum population, and design an economy to allow genuine prosperity without endless growth? Weisman visits an extraordinary range of the world''s cultures, religions, nationalities, tribes, and political systems to learn what in their beliefs, histories, liturgies, or current circumstances might suggest that sometimes it''s in their own best interest to limit their growth. The result is a landmark work of reporting: devastating, urgent, and, ultimately, deeply hopeful. By vividly detailing the burgeoning effects of our cumulative presence, Countdown reveals what may be the fastest, most acceptable, practical, and affordable way of returning our planet and our presence on it to balance. Weisman again shows that he is one of the most provocative journalists at work today, with a book whose message is so compelling that it will change how we see our lives and our destiny.

One of Heatmap''s 18 Climate Books to Read in 2025 The award-winning environmental journalist’s extraordinary, long-awaited portrait of hope and resilience as we face a fractured and uncertain future In this profoundly human and moving narrative, the bestselling author of The World Without Us returns with a book ten years in the making: a study of what it means to be a human on the front lines of our planet’s existential crisis. His new book, Hope Dies Last, is a literary evocation of our current predicament and the core resolve of our species against the most precarious odds we have ever faced. To write this book, Weisman traveled the globe, witnessing climate upheaval and other devastations, and meeting the people striving to mitigate and undo our past transgressions. From the flooding Marshall Islands to revived wetlands in Iraq, from the Netherlands and Bangladesh to the Korean DMZ and to cities and coastlines in the U.S. and around the world, he has encountered the best of humanity battling heat, hunger, rising tides, and imperiled nature. He profiles the innovations of big thinkers—engineers, scientists, conservationists, economists, architects, and artists—as they conjure wildly creative, imaginative responses to an uncertain, ominous future. At this unprecedented point in history, as our collective exploits on this planet may lead to our own undoing and we could be among the species marching toward extinction, they refuse to accept defeat. Hope Dies Last fills a crucial gap in the global conversation: Having reached a point of no return in our climate confrontation, how do we feel, behave, act, plan, and dream as we approach a future decidedly different from what we had expected?

Los Llanos—the rain-leached, eastern savannas of war-ravaged Colombia—are among the most brutal environments on Earth and an unlikely setting for one of the most hopeful environmental stories ever told. Here, in the late 1960s, a young Colombian development worker named Paolo Lugari wondered if the nearly uninhabited, infertile llanos could be made livable for his country’s growing population. He had no idea that nearly four decades later, his experiment would be one of the world’s most celebrated examples of sustainable living: a permanent village called Gaviotas. In the absence of infrastructure, the first Gaviotans invented wind turbines to convert mild breezes into energy, hand pumps capable of tapping deep sources of water, and solar collectors efficient enough to heat and even sterilize drinking water under perennially cloudy llano skies. Over time, the Gaviotans’ experimentation has even restored an ecosystem: in the shelter of two million Caribbean pines planted as a source of renewable commercial resin, a primordial rain forest that once covered the llanos is unexpectedly reestablishing itself. Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez has called Paolo Lugari “Inventor of the World.” Lugari himself has said that Gaviotas is not a utopia: “Utopia literally means ‘no place.’ We call Gaviotas a topia, because it’s real.” Relive their story with this special 10th-anniversary edition of Gaviotas, complete with a new afterword by the author describing how Gaviotas has survived and progressed over the past decade.

"Alan Weisman has come as close as anyone to unraveling one of the big mysteries of the television age: who is the real Dan Rather? Weisman has devoted much time, energy, and talent to that question, and this book is a fascinating read." --Robert Pierpoint, former CBS News correspondent "There is no career in modern television journalism that is more fascinating, complicated, controversial, or accomplished than that of Dan Rather, and there is no one who has focused the attention of colleagues, TV writers, competitors, and, of course, critics to a similar degree over the last twenty-five years. Alan Weisman''s lively account of this remarkable life explains why the quest to understand Rather has remained so vital and important." --Verne Gay, television critic, Newsday "This book is an attempt to take a few steps back from Memogate and examine the whole picture -- the scope and breadth of Dan Rather''s life, career, and times. If he mattered enough to be watched by untold millions of people for fifty years on television, then his story matters enough to be told as fully as possible." --From Lone Star: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Dan Rather

A journalist journeys back to the Ukraine to reveal the truth about his grandfather''s violent death and uncovers the truth surrounding his family''s history.

At nearly every pivotal moment in international politics over the past twenty-five years--from the Reagan-Gorbachev summits, to the Iran-Contra scandal, to the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the decision to go to war in Iraq--if you dug deeply you would find a figure just behind the scenes influencing the action: that of Richard Perle. Largely eschewing senior cabinet appointments and other high-profile roles, the passionate, zealous Perle has been content to operate quietly--behavior which earned him the moniker of The Prince of Darkness. Nevertheless, his influence in Washington has helped to fuel an international disaster in Iraq and the growth of anti-Americanism worldwide. Alan Weisman, a former producer for 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning, and the CBS Evening News, is now shining a light on this major political figure. While Perle has not authorized this biography, he has submitted to interviews with Weisman, encouraged his friends to do so, and provided non-classified material. Such access has granted Weisman a deep and critical insight into Perle''s methods and mindset. Weisman explores how Perle derailed a nuclear arms agreement between the U.S. and the then Soviet Union; his controversial business dealings; Perle''s tenure as Chairman of the Pentagon''s Defense Policy Board during the present Bush Administration; and his role leading up to the Iraqi War, including his dealings with Iraqi exiles like Ahmed Chalabi. From the collapse of the Soviet Union to the current saber-rattling over Iran, Syria, and North Korea, Perle has put his stamp on almost every decisive event in international politics. This is an insightful and incisive study of the highest quality, and one that everyone--not just policy experts--should read.--Publisher description.

Weisman and Dusard bring alive the people and geography of the U.S.-Mexican border, as well as the issues that divide each nation. 48 black-and-white photographs.

*Esta edición incluye un nuevo epílogo del autor* Un fascinante recorrido por una tierra sin humanos. Un canto al poder de regeneración de la naturaleza. ¿Qué pasaría en la Tierra si desapareciera el ser humano? Este libro contesta con rigor esta fascinante pregunta y explica cómo nuestras enormes infraestructuras se hundirían; cuánto tardarían las principales ciudades en reforestarse y las llanuras africanas en recuperar el esplendor de su fauna; por qué algunas de las construcciones más antiguas podrían ser las últimas en desaparecer y cuáles de nuestros objetos quedarían inmortalizados como fósiles. Partículas de plástico indestructibles, gatos domésticos que se convierten en depredadores de éxito, plagas urbanas -como las ratas o las cucarachas- que se extinguen y estatuas de bronce que perviven milenios son solo algunos de los elementos que el lector se encontrará en este apasionante recorrido por un mundo tan familiar como extraño. Un libro que toma especial relevancia en el Día mundial del medioambiente. Reseñas: «Fascinante, agudo, profundamente inteligente... Un libro muy importante para una especie que está jugando con su propio destino.» James Howard Kunstler «Uno de los mayores experimentos mentales de nuestro tiempo, un hito fabuloso del reportaje imaginario.» Bill McKibben «Grandiosamente entretenido.» Time «Prodigioso e impresionante.» The New York Times

Una propuesta fascinante para salvar el planeta. Un título que toma especial relevancia en el Día mundial del medioambiente. La cuenta atrás es un libro audaz, inteligente y provocador, que nos explica cuáles son los efectos de nuestro desmesurado crecimiento demográfico y plantea la alternativa más rápida y razonable para restaurar el equilibrio. Una investigación de conclusiones revolucionarias que cambiará la manera en que vemos nuestras vidas y nuestro destino. El crecimiento de la población mundial se ha disparado hasta límites insostenibles: dado que cada cuatro días y medio nace un millón de personas más en un planeta finito, la población actual precisaría de los recursos de tres Tierras para alcanzar un nivel de vida semejante al de los países desarrollados, y con el sobrecalentamiento de la atmósfera y las alteraciones de los océanos, las perspectivas de un futuro sostenible para la humanidad son cada vez más dudosas. Weisman ha recorrido todo el planeta para hablar con personas que viven bajo sistemas políticos distintos, y para saber cómo viven y qué piensan gentes de distintas nacionalidades, culturas y religiones. Quiere conocer para poder dar respuesta a las preguntas que, según todos los expertos, son las más importantes y también las más difíciles de responder.

Un clásico del ecologismo que narra la historia del pueblo que reinventó el mundo. Al norte de la selva amazónica colombiana, Los Llanos, una de las zonas más hostiles de la Tierra, se ha convertido en el sorprendente escenario de una de las historias medioambientales más esperanzadoras que existen. A finales de los años 60, Paolo Lugari, un joven colombiano experto en desarrollo, se preguntó si esta árida región podría transformarse en un lugar habitable. No podía imaginar que cuarenta años más tarde su experimento llegaría a convertirse en un paradigma del desarrollo sostenible, un pueblo llamado Gaviotas. Ante la falta de infraestructuras, los primeros gavioteros inventaron molinos de viento, bombas manuales capaces de extraer agua de acuíferos profundos y paneles solares que podían calentar e incluso potabilizar agua bajo los cielos siempre nubosos de Los Llanos. Con el tiempo, los pobladores de Gaviotas han conseguido recuperar un ecosistema perdido y se está regenerando la selva tropical que una vez cubrió la región. En los tiempos inciertos en los que vivimos, con un crecimiento desmesurado de la pobreza y el agotamiento de los recursos naturales no renovables, Gaviotas es un testimonio inspirador de compromiso, creatividad y esfuerzo comunitario para construir una sociedad autosuficiente y un futuro sostenible. Un clásico del ecologismo que narra la historia del pueblo que reinventó el mundo. Un libro que toma especial relevancia en el Día mundial del medioambiente. Reseña: «Alan Weisman ha conseguido captar lo que siempre hemos sabido pero olvidamos continuamente en nuestras vidas industriales y narcotizadas: que nosotros tenemos la solución.» Charles Bowden

De wereld kan het best zonder de mens af. Geen probleem zelfs, de natuur gaat wel door, en menselijke sporen zullen op den duur uitgewist worden. Maar voor de mens klinkt dat helemaal niet zo geruststellend. Iin Aftellen laat Alan Weisman zien hoe we dit scenario kunnen voorkomen. Dat kan, al moeten we dan wel iets doen. Op dit ogenblik komen er elke drie dagen evenveel nieuwe aardbewoners bij als Amsterdam inwoners heeft. En daar is de aarde op den duur niet tegen opgewassen. Weisman gaat op reis langs plaatsen waar veel mensen dicht bij elkaar wonen om te zien hoe dat gaat, en of dat gaat. Hoeveel mensen kan de aarde aan? En wat kunnen we doen om daar uit te komen? Aftellen is een ontnuchterend, verhelderend en ook hoopvol boek.

Journalist Weisman offers an original approach to questions of humanity''s impact on the planet. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders, and paleontologists, he illustrates what the planet might be like today if humans disappeared. He explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe. As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman''s narrative ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that needn''t depend on our demise.--From publisher description.

Admettons que le pire soit arrivé. Imaginons un monde dont nous aurions tous soudain disparu. Et voyons ce qu''il reste...La nature reprendrait-elle ses droits ? Combien faudrait-il d''années au climat pour retrouver son niveau d''avant l''âge industriel ? Qu''adviendrait-il des réacteurs de nos centrales ? Quels animaux prospéreraient et quelles races s''éteindraient ?... Ces questions, et beaucoup d''autres - des plus sérieuses aux plus saugrenues -, sont celles que le journaliste Alan Weisman, plusieurs fois primé pour ses reportages (The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, Discover), nous invite à explorer. Parcourant les cinq continents, convoquant de nombreux experts - climatologues, botanistes, spécialistes de l''écologie, architectes, géographes... -, il nous offre ici un passionnant reportage - où la réalité dépasse la (science) fiction.

Qu''on le veuille ou non, la population mondiale devra diminuer : soit de manière incontrôlée et dévastatrice, soit au terme de politiques délibérées de contrôle des naissances. Dans ce livre foisonnant, fruit de plus de deux ans d''enquête dans une vingtaine de pays, le journaliste Alan Weisman, auteur du best-seller international Homo disparitus, pose sans détour des questions cruciales : combien d''humains notre planète peut-elle réellement contenir ? Comment convaincre les gens de toutes cultures qu''il est dans leur intérêt de faire moins d''enfants ? Quel mode de vie nous permettra de revenir à un niveau de population viable ayant qu''il ne soit trop tard ?

A study of what would happen to Earth if the human presence was removed examines our legacy for the planet, from the objects that would vanish without human intervention to those that would become long-lasting remnants of humankind.

CABE A NÓS DECIDIR COMO E QUANDO NOSSO MUNDO ACABA. E O TEMPO ESTÁ PASSANDO... Para escrever Contagem Regressiva, o autor Alan Weisman viajou para mais de 20 países para perguntar a especialistas quais seriam as questões mais importantes a respeito da Terra – e também as mais difíceis: quantos seres humanos o planeta suportará sem uma desolação? Quão robusto deve ser o ecossistema da Terra para garantir a nossa existência? Podemos identificar quais outras espécies são essenciais para a nossa sobrevivência? Além disso, como podemos realmente chegar a uma população ideal e estável e projetar uma economia que permita uma prosperidade legítima sem crescimento desordenado? Weisman visitou uma extraordinária variedade de culturas, religiões, nações, tribos e sistemas políticos para descobrir o que, em suas crenças, histórias ou circunstâncias atuais pode indicar que, às vezes, é para benefício próprio limitar o crescimento populacional. O resultado é um relato devastador, urgente e profundamente esperançoso. Sobre o autor: Alan Weisman é um jornalista premiado, cujos relatos já figuraram na Harper’s, na New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Mother Joes e Discover e na NPR. Ele mora em Massachusetts, EUA.

Hva ville egentlig skje med jordkloden dersom menneskene forsvant? Hvilke spor ville bli igjen etter oss da? Dette er tankeeksperiment som tas opp i denne klimaboken litt utenom det vanlige. Boken inneholder en rekke eksempler på hvordan det ville gå med alt fra kunstverk, bygninger og broer til hvilke dyrearter som ville klare seg best. Boken ble kåret til beste dokumentarbok 2007 og er solgt til 20 land. Verden uten oss er Alan Weismans femte bok.