Monday 6 June 2011

Thoughts: The World without Us by Alan Weisman

This was a most interesting read. Weisman shares a thought experiment with the reader. What would the world look like if every human being would vanish from it's surface this minute? What would happen to our cities, houses and pets? And what would become of all the plastic we produced? Is it possible that in some hundred years microorganisms are able to "biodegrade" plastic products? Weisman has an answer to all that and even more. He also explains how we humans developed till today and if the world would have been a different place without our existence. I thought it to be extremely fascinating to explore all this and liked to follow Weisman on his execution of his gedankenexperiment (another word for my list of German words used in English, too).

Let me tell you Weisman writes in a most entertaining way. I never had to force my eyelids to stay open, although I like to read in bed before going to sleep and sometimes this makes it harder to stay with a book. There were a few chapters I didn't care about as much as I cared about others, but that is all I have to complain about.

During my studies I have gained some scientific background. But I don't think that this is particularly necessary to enjoy this book. Maybe you should show a little curiosity for the world we live in and how we shaped it. If that could be you, go on read it.

★ ★ ★ ★. Well deserved.

1 comment:

  1. That's a really interesting idea. There's a History channel TV show that looks at the same thing called 'Life After People'. If you liked this book, you would love the show.

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