Event

Soundings from Island Press: Paul Ehrlich: 'The Dominant Animal'

In humanity's 100,000-year-plus history, we have evolved from vulnerable creatures clawing sustenance from Earth to a sophisticated global society manipulating every inch of it; we have become the dominant animal. Why, then, are we creating a world that threatens our own species? What can we do to change the current trajectory toward more climate change, increased famine, and epidemic disease? In The Dominant Animal, renowned entomologist and population specialist Paul Ehrlich (author of 1968's seminal The Population Bomb) believes that intelligently addressing those questions depends on a clear understanding of how we evolved, and how/why we're changing the planet in ways that darken our descendants' future. Tracing the interplay between environmental change and genetic and cultural evolution, Ehrlich says humanity can again adaptif we learn from our evolutionary past. Presented by the Town Hall Center for Civic Life and Island Press, in association with IslandWood and Elliott Bay Book Company.