Mark Lynas
Environmental writer and campaigner; author of Six Degrees, The God Species and Our Final Warning.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
This is a really useful way of trying to figure out why different humans turned out the way they did, while considering the influences of technology and of the environment.
on fivebooks.com · 12 Jun 2009
Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine
For me, Last Chance to See is a real eye-opener, with the idea that you can take a depressing subject – species on the verge of extinction – and present it in a way which is so engaging, so funny and so humane. I would like to be able to do that as a writer.
on fivebooks.com · 12 Jun 2009
Straw Dogs by John Gray
What I like about the book is the anti-humanism. The rejection of this idea we all have, that humanity is at the centre of the cosmos, which is a post-Christian thing.
on fivebooks.com · 12 Jun 2009
The Ages of Gaia by James Lovelock
Yes, James Lovelock wrote The Ages of Gaia, I think, in 1988. It wasn't his first Gaia book, but it is probably the best written one. I have just been re-reading it recently and certain themes that he picked up on are ones that are still considered novel today. Not just the whole idea of the way the earth works, almost as a living organism. But also looking at the way humanity is going to have to reconcile itself with the constraints and the limits of the planet.
on fivebooks.com · 12 Jun 2009
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
His thesis is that the tipping point is a social phenomenon. It could just be a make of trainer, but if enough people wear them, then everybody wants them.
on fivebooks.com · 12 Jun 2009
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