The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World by Charles C. Mann (PDF)

Description

From the best-selling, award-winning author of 1491 and 1493–an incisive portrait of the two little-known twentieth-century scientists, Norman Borlaug and William Vogt, whose diametrically opposed views shaped our ideas about the environment, laying the groundwork for how people in the twenty-first century will choose to live in tomorrow’s world. In forty years, Earth’s population will reach ten billion. Can our world support that? What kind of world will it be? Those answering these questions generally fall into two deeply divided groups–Wizards and Prophets, as Charles Mann calls them in this balanced, authoritative, nonpolemical new book. The Prophets, he explains, follow William Vogt, a founding environmentalist who believed that in using more than our planet has to give, our prosperity will lead us to ruin. Cut back! was his mantra. Otherwise everyone will lose! The Wizards are the heirs of Norman Borlaug, whose research, in effect, wrangled the world in service to our species to produce modern high-yield crops that then saved millions from starvation. Innovate! was Borlaug’s cry. Only in that way can everyone win! Mann delves into these diverging viewpoints to assess the four great challenges humanity faces–food, water, energy, climate change–grounding each in historical context and weighing the options for the future. With our civilization on the line, the author’s insightful analysis is an essential addition to the urgent conversation about how our children will fare on an increasingly crowded Earth.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Scrupulous, stimulating, and elegant . . . A beautifully crafted book. Anyone wanting a readable, relentlessly intelligent narrative showing where our environmental ideas and anxieties in the present-day Anglophone world come from will find it here in abundance.” —Robert J. Mayhew, Times Literary Supplement“Brilliant . . . The author’s science journalism shines.” —William Easterly, The Wall Street Journal “An elegantly written, devoted testimonial to the art of the possible.” —Jonathan Hahn, Sierra “Mann’s storytelling skills are unmatched. . . . The great virtue of Mann’s book—and much of his journalism over many years—is that it raises very large questions . . . that are usually either ignored or answered in slogans. He provides detail enough, and simplicity enough, that anyone who is struggling with these puzzles will be enlightened and informed. And entertained, which, given the subject matter, is no small feat.” —Bill McKibben, The New York Times Book Review“Fascinating . . . An inquisitive and gifted science writer.” —Tyler Priest, Science“The most persuasive writers on the environment punctuate their big-picture theses with telling details that bring the relevant issues to life. Like Elizabeth Kolbert and Tim Flannery, Charles C. Mann is one of the masters of this art . . . a stimulating, thoughtful, balanced overview of matters vital to us all.” —Dan Cryer, The Boston Globe“Mann is a compelling and forensic analyst of big tipping points in human affairs.” —Fred Pearce, The Washington Post”Charles C. Mann specializes in deep, comprehensive looks at the past that better elucidate the present.” —Mary Ellen Hannibal, San Francisco Chronicle“Best-selling author and journalist Mann tackles the thorny problem of humankind’s future through the lens of two 20th-century visionaries. . . . A sweeping, provocative work of journalism, history, science and philosophy.” —Library Journal starred review“Without taking sides, Mann delivers a fine examination of two possible paths to a livable future.” —Publisher’s Weekly starred review“An insightful, highly significant account that makes no predictions but lays out the critical environmental problems already upon us.”—Kirkus starred review”The contrast is stark—technological wizardry or romantic prophecy as a lens to view the future path for the planet and humanity. Charles Mann provides a deeply corrugated, richly nuanced, and highly entertaining narrative to make sense of the most consequential decisions facing civilization. Read, think, and enjoy.” —Ruth deFries, author of The Big Ratchet: How Humanity Thrives in the Face of Natural Crisis “Brilliantly conceived and executed, Charles Mann’s The Wizard and the Prophet is the book I have long awaited—thoughtful, balanced and unbiased—to understand the challenges that humanity will face as the twenty-first century progresses. Mann’s historical perspective provides the critically important context for us to understand how we got here and how we might solve the problems presented by a finite world of ten billion humans.” –Gary Taubes, author of The Case Against Sugar “The Wizard and the Prophet is a fascinating portrait of two men who probably shaped your thinking about the future, whether you realize it or not. Charles Mann proves, once again, a masterful storyteller.” – Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction“A rich, elegant, ferociously readable study of our global quandary. Among the many excellent things Charles C. Mann does in The Wizard and the Prophet is give us a fresh, and wholly unexpected, way of understanding today’s political divide.” —Russell Shorto, author of Revolution Song“A fascinating story of two forgotten men whose ideas changed our understanding of humanity’s place in nature. The Wizard and the Prophet is an intellectual history of the clash between techno-optimists and environmentalists, but it’s also the very personal story of two thinkers, Norman Borlaug and William Vogt. Mann offers a sympathetic, nuanced way to understand one of the fundamental debates of our time: How will 10 billion humans live sustainably on Earth, when our demands for energy and food are growing? This book showcases an important new kind of futurism, which looks to the past to understand how we’ll survive. Never preachy nor dogmatic, Mann asks his readers to do the most difficult thing possible: choose a path to a better world, by consulting your own conscience.” —Annalee Newitz, editor, Ars Technica About the Author CHARLES C. MANN, a correspondent for The Atlantic, Science, and Wired, has also written for Fortune, The New York Times, Smithsonian, Technology Review, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, as well as the TV network HBO and the series Law & Order. A three-time National Magazine Award finalist, he is the recipient of writing awards from the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Physics, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Lannan Foundation.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Over the years I’ve read many books on Climate so it’s a topic I’m well aware of and of all of them I’d recommend this book above others. If your seeking a non partisan, non ideological understanding of the future ahead of us (and how we’ll feed 10 billion people) this book will provide it giving history and science (it won’t slow you down) from two perspectives from big solutions (Wizards) to fitting within biological limits (Prophets). It helps that the author is such a good writer and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this book win multiple awards. I originally checked this book out from the library and later decided I needed it on my bookshelf.

⭐For me, Charles Mann has another home run with ‘The Wizard and the Profit’, 5+ stars! Mann is also the author of (among other books) ‘1491’ and ‘1493’, extraordinary nonfiction/history works. He is on my short list of very fine historians/nonfiction authors.In this book, Mann tells the story of the lives and works of two largely forgotten but extremely influential mid-twentieth century scientists. In 1948, William Vogt (the ‘Phophet’) wrote ‘Road to Survival’. A hugely influential book, it foresaw the planet’s and man’s doom if we continued to populate (over-populate) the earth and ravage its resources unchecked. He espoused among other things population control and severe conservation. Norman Borlaug (the ‘Wizard’) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 as the father of the “Green Revolution”. Borlaug saw hunger and he tried to overcome it through plant breeding and science. Essentially, the two men perceived the same problem (the land’s human carrying capacity was being exceeded) and attempted to solve it in opposite directions.Charles Mann uses the story of these two passionate, brilliant, and hard-working men to address our dilemma as a species and inhabiters of earth. We will approach 10 billion strong in this century. Are we headed for catastrophe or are we capable of solving approaching major problems (hunger, climate change, resource depletion, etc.)? This is a wonderfully written, even-handed, thoughtful, calm examination of our most important questions.Highly recommended!

⭐This is an outstanding book. It presents two outstanding scientists as two ‘ideal types’, in the sense of Max Weber, one a true believer in science and technology fixes (Norman Borlaug) and the second (William Vogt) exhorting humanity to be very careful not to disrupt nature.Also presented, though not central to the text, is an important evolution researcher (Lynn Margulis), who was of the opinion that the human species is bound by evolution and sure to disappear, never mind what it does.Still, the following questions arise:One. Vogt is not a prophet, most of whom promised salvation after deserved suffering. Rather he is a Cassandra, who was cursed to know the future but not to be believed.Two. The Wizard was careful. He did not engage in dangerous science, though he might have failed in his efforts to overcome the Malthusian loop. It is not clear at all whether he would support risky geoengineering.Three. The book present very well two contrasting ideologies. Thus, it sharpens the question who shall decide on which one to base action. But it does not pose this critical question as needed.These and other comments do not impair the quality of the book, which should be pondered by all who are concerned, or should be concerned, about the future of humanity, starting with political leaders.Professor Yehezkel DrorThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem

⭐Anyone who considers themselves even a little environmentally inclined should read this book. It is well researched and incredibly well written. I couldn’t put it down! I had no idea all these years I was grappling between two separate concepts – the wizard vs prophet approach. Fascinating history that leads to today and the future. What I didn’t like was that images couldn’t be enlarged on the kindle and thus were hard to see. There were not many images.

⭐What an utterly brilliant book. No ideology, just facts. An incredible overview of how humans “pick a side” and then refuse to learn properly about any alternative viewpoints or suggestions, and of how they can jump to conclusions without further investigation of the relevant information. Anyone who thinks that they already “have the truth” – about whether we or the environment are doomed, or whether science, or environmental activists, do or do not hold “the answers” to the future of our survival, should know about these details. No, it won’t tell you “what to do”, but it will show you that (a) it’s complicated, and (b) it has often involved recycling arguments or “facts” (e.g. about “overpopulation”) that turned out to be either inadequate or just plain wrong, and (c) reminds you that you never know about unintended consequences, which are unforeseen by definition. It should also give you some reinforcement for any faith that humans, despite all their self-centred short-sighted blundering, can eventually get many things right and make many things better. And, despite often being about stubbornness or the historical obstacles of politics and bureaucracy, it might remind you of something you never think about in connection with “the environment” – that two hundred years ago, slavery was common (and slaves far outnumbered “masters”) and women were not respected or educated, so we have managed to liberate the helpful potential of the intellects and characters of two thirds of the human race, which should naturally help us in dealing with present and future challenges.

⭐That’s an amazing book.The author has an incredible story telling ability. The book is dense, but reads like a novel.The level of investigation on the parts involved is incredible.And to top it all, a very contemporary discussion with arguments that provide both sides with insights and considerations.

⭐Excellent read and well researched. The author unpacks what the future could look like in a world of 10 billion people.

⭐The book is a great piece of work, putting together four of the most important things that we should be concerned with, as we look to the future of our species on this planet, i.e., food, water, energy, and the environment. The two divergent approaches to each of these four areas are presented about as objectively as I think is possible, without taking sides. There are certainly arguments for both the Wizards’ as well as the Prophets’ perspectives. It is important that people have a clear understanding of the issues involved and not form half-baked opinions. Towards that end this book does a great service, as it it lucidly brings out the most complex scientific arguments and concerns and presents them in layman terms. I have finished reading about 350 pages and hope to complete the rest of the book in the next few days.I am sure I will reread the book several times and keep it as a handy reference.

⭐If you’ve ever wondered where statements like “There is only so much we can extract from our planet,” “We can only grow so much food, extract so much oil” on the one side and “Technology will fix things” and “We will always be able to find new resources and new uses for old resources” on the other come from, then read this book. Charles Mann lays out the foundation for these statements presents a very objective view of both sides and lets the reader decide on which side they fall based on the evidence presented. By laying bare the underlying assumptions behind those statements, he really forces the reader to question his/her own thinking on the subject. I found myself vacillating back and forth many times, alternating between being a Wizard and a Prophet, as I progressed through the book.This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in critical thinking on the meaty topic of how best to harness the resources that are available to us. I will not share where I finally landed, or even if I’m going to stay here forever. Let the book guide you through your own personal journey through the stories and evidence presented, so that you may find your own equilibrium.

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