From Publishers Weekly
This first volume in a new series, the Sierra Club Nature and Natural Philosophy Library, explores human-earth relations and seeks a new, non-anthropocentric approach to the natural world. According to cultural historian Berry, our immediate danger is not nuclear war but industrial plundering; our entire society, he argues, is trapped in a closed cycle of production and consumption. Berry points out that our perception of the earth is the product of cultural conditioning, and that most of us fail to think of ourselves as a species but rather as national, ethnic, religious or economic groups. Describing education as "a process of cultural coding somewhat parallel to genetic coding," he proposes a curriculum based on awareness of the earth. He discusses "patriarchy" as a new interpretation of Western historical development, naming four patriachies that have controlled Western history, becoming progressively destructive: the classical empires, the ecclesiastical establishment, the nation-state and the modern corporation. We must reject partial solutions and embrace profound changes toward a "biocracy" that will heal the earth, urges the author who defines problems and causes with eloquence. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Book News, Inc.
The inaugural volume of the Sierra Club Nature and Natural Philosophy Library considers our ecological fate from a species perspective. Berry's seminal thesis proposes a universal "biocratic" criterion to evaluate human history, development, and activity. He contends that the validity of any human enterprise is the degree to which it enhances the universal life force. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Dr. Donald B. Conroy, President, North American Conference on Religion and Ecology
"This volume quite possibly is one of the ten most important books of the twentieth century."

From the Publisher
"This volume quite possibly is one of the ten most important books of the twentieth century."
--Dr. Donald B. Conroy, President, North American Conference on Religion and Ecology

About the Author
Thomas Berry, founder of the Riverdale Center for Religious Research, Riverdale, New York, has been hailed by critic Kenneth L. Woodward as "the most provocative figure among this new breed of eco-theologians . . . whose essays have aroused environmentalists like a voice crying in the wilderness."

ANNOTATION

Sixteen essays on environmental consciousness by the most provocative figure among the new breed of eco-theologians.

FROM THE CRITICS

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