Books by UCSC and UCR authors related to Earth Futures
Anthony Aguirre. “Cosmological Koans: A Journey to the Heart of Physical Reality”. Leading physicist and futurist, Aguirre covers classic cosmic questions from the meaning of quantum theory and the nature of time to the origin of multiple universes. Playful and enlightening, Cosmological Koans explores the strange hinterland between the deep structure of the physical world and our personal experience of it, giving readers what Einstein himself called “the most beautiful and deepest experience” anyone can have: a sense of the mysterious. For more details .
David W. Deamer. “First Life: Discovering the Connections between Stars, Cells, and How Life Began”. This path-breaking book explores how life can begin, taking us from cosmic clouds of stardust, to volcanoes on Earth, to the modern chemistry laboratory. Introducing astrobiology, Deamer connects the origin and evolution of life on Earth to the birth and death of stars, planet formation, the interface between minerals, water, and atmosphere, and the chemistry of carbon compounds. For more details see.
David W. Deamer. “Assembling Life: How Can Life Begin on Earth and Other Habitable Planets?” Deamer describes his studies of organic compounds that were likely to be available in the prebiotic environment and the volcanic conditions that can drive chemical evolution toward the origin of life. The core thesis is that fresh water hot springs on the surface are a plausible alternative to the reigning paradigm that life began near thermal vents at the ocean bottom. For more details see.
Daniel Friedman. “Morals and Markets: An Evolutionary Account of the Modern World”. Provides the layman with the basic conceptual foundations to understand how free markets work, how they developed, their direct relationship with moral codes, and a briefing on previous and catastrophic market failures. A thoughtful analysis of how moral codes and their enforcement shape the modern economic system. For more details see.
Daniel Friedman and D. McNeill. “Morals and Markets: The Dangerous Balance.” Second edition, significantly revised and updated. Friedman and McNeill draw on recent research in evolutionary game theory and behavioral economics to explore the relationship between our moral codes and our market systems. They show how imbalance between morals and markets is at the root of the recent corporate scandals in the US as well as the global financial crisis the world continues to face. For details see.
Julie Guthman. “Wilted: Pathgens Chemicals, and the Fragile Future of the Strawberry Industry”. Julie Guthman tells the story of how the strawberry industry came to rely on soil fumigants, and how that reliance reverberated throughout the rest of the fruit’s production system. The particular conditions of plants, soils, chemicals, climate, and laboring bodies that once made strawberry production so lucrative in the Golden State have now changed and become a set of related threats that jeopardize the future of the industry. For details see.
Julie Guthman. “Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California”. In this groundbreaking study of organic farming, Julie Guthman challenges accepted wisdom about organic food and agriculture in the Golden State. Many continue to believe that small-scale organic farming is the answer to our environmental and health problems, but Guthman refutes popular portrayals that pit “small organic” against “big organic” and offers an alternative analysis that underscores the limits of an organic label as a pathway to transforming agriculture. For details see.
Bahram Mobasher. “Origins”. A fascinating tale of the beginning of the Universe, the origin of life, the start of civilization, and everything in between. The text explores the nature of space and time, the origin of particles, mass, and chemical elements, and the first stars and galaxies. Readers learn about the origin of the planetary systems and Earth, the genesis of life on Earth and the dawning of agriculture, the first cities, civilization, and language. For more details see.
Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams: “View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos”. A renowned cosmologist and an innovative writer of the history and philosophy of science team up to argue that a shared cosmology has been central to the cohesion of past societies and that science has now discovered the modern cosmic myth that we can all share. Their striking conclusion is that we humans are in fact a focal point of the Universe. What does this mean for our culture and our personal lives? For details see.
“The New Universe and the Human Future: How a Shared Cosmology Could Transform the World (The Yale Terry Lectures Series)”. These two cutting-edge authors continue their elucidation of how the new picture of the Universe from modern cosmology has relevance for our time. If the world could agree on a shared creation story based on science, so the authors argue, it would redefine our relationship with Planet Earth and benefit all of humanity, now and into the distant future. They explain how this newfound knowledge offers solutions to seemingly intractable global problems and why we need to “think cosmically, act globally” if we are going to have a long-term, prosperous future on Earth. For more details see.
Nancy Ellen Abrams. “A God that Could be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet”. Abrams argues that God is an “emergent phenomenon” that arises from the complexity of humanity’s collective aspirations. A “God that could be real” is what humanity needs to inspire us collectively to protect our warming planet and nurture civilization on cosmic time. For more details see.
Jenny Reardon. “The Postgenomic Condition: Ethics, Justice, and Knowledge after the Genome”. Now that we have sequenced the human genome, what does it mean? In The Postgenomic Condition, Jenny Reardon critically examines the decade after the Human Genome Project, and the fundamental questions about meaning, value and justice this landmark achievement left in its wake. For details see.
Edward Shanken. “Systems”. Collected texts by eminent artists survey system-based art from its origins in works from the 1950s to the 1970s to its twenty-first century resurgence in works that draw on cutting-edge science. Topics include the connections between advanced technological systems and our bodies and minds; the relation of musical to spatial and architectural structures; and the ways in which systems-based art can alter our experience of time, change the configurations of social relations, cross cultural borders, and interact with threatened ecosystems. For details see.
Beth Shapiro. “How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction”. Could extinct species, like mammoths and passenger pigeons, be brought back to life? The science says yes. In How to Clone a Mammoth, Beth Shapiro, evolutionary biologist and pioneer in “ancient DNA” research, walks readers through the astonishing and controversial process of de-extinction. From deciding which species should be restored, to sequencing their genomes, to anticipating how revived populations might be overseen in the wild, Shapiro vividly explores the extraordinary cutting-edge science that is being used―today―to resurrect the past. Would de-extinction change the way we live? Is this really cloning? What are the costs and risks? And what is the ultimate goal? For details see.
Jill Cody, Richard Nolthenius, et al. “Climate Abandoned: We’re on The Endangered Species List”. Scientists and environmental experts discuss the hard truths, causes and consequences of the climate crisis’ interconnected issues. They shed light on the greenhouse effect, declining biodiversity, our warming oceans, ideology vs. science, and other urgent topics. At the end of each chapter, there are practical tips for what one can keep doing, stop doing, and start doing to make better choices for the future. Let us move ourselves off the Endangered Species list. There is no time to waste. Learn what actions can be taken by individuals to protect our environment. For details see.