Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction

by Chris D. Thomas Narrated by Bob Reed

Overview

Human activity has irreversibly changed the natural environment. But the news isn't all bad.

It's accepted wisdom today that human beings have permanently damaged the natural world, causing extinction, deforestation, pollution, and of course climate change. But in Inheritors of the Earth, biologist Chris Thomas shows that this obscures a more hopeful truth -- we're also helping nature grow and change. Human cities and mass agriculture have created new places for enterprising animals and plants to live, and our activities have stimulated evolutionary change in virtually every population of living species. Most remarkably, Thomas shows, humans may well have raised the rate at which new species are formed to the highest level in the history of our planet.

Drawing on the success stories of diverse species, from the ochre-colored comma butterfly to the New Zealand pukeko, Thomas overturns the accepted story of declining biodiversity on Earth. In so doing, he questions why we resist new forms of life, and why we see ourselves as unnatural. Ultimately, he suggests that if life on Earth can recover from the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs, it can survive the onslaughts of the technological age. This eye-opening book is a profound reexamination of the relationship between humanity and the natural world.

Editorial Reviews

JANUARY 2018 - AudioFile

Bob Reed’s narration is bright and brisk, capturing the listener’s attention. His performance makes ecologist and botanist Chris Thomas’s exhaustive work on the state of our natural world sound like a master class taught by an enthusiastic researcher. The author is frank about efforts to preserve wildlife; often, he says, these efforts reflect a world that romanticizes the human relationship to the wild. The truth is much more brutal, and the details are filled with insights about how the natural world is proliferating. Humans need to see ourselves as part of this global ecosystem, not distinctly separate from it. Listeners may not always follow every detail, but most will go along for the entire ride. S.P.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

The New York Times Book Review - David Biello

…provocative…The book is filled with…lovely anecdotes, many from Thomas's own rich life of natural adventure, whether surveying sparrows in Italy or encountering pygmy elephants in Borneo. And though there are few flourishes in the writing, for a scientist, the prose is remarkably clear…

From the Publisher

"An immensely significant book. It is fluently written, carefully thought through, ruthlessly argued, neatly illustrated with case studies - and shockingly contrarian."—MattRidley, The Times (Book of the Week)

"Thoughtfully argued, full of rich examples... This engaging, provocative and important book paints a refreshingly optimistic picture of life on Earth"—TheGuardian

"The inevitability (and pace) of global change demands the sort of fresh thinking that is found in Inheritors of the Earth."—Science Magazine

"Inheritors of the Earth collects years of Thomas' field research, illuminating plant and animal species-notably one of his specialties, butterflies-flourishing all over the Earth. Thomas puts big ideas on display."—Nautilus Magazine

"His flowing narrative is rich in stories of his fieldwork round the world ... Thomas's vision ... aspires to something nobler, more optimistic."—New Scientist

"Fascinating ... Chris Thomas examines our human relationships with nature, bad and good, and sets out a more hopeful truth to current narratives and alarms ... This is a rich and timely tale, fearless too, with examples and cases drawn from ecosystems across the world."—TimesHigher Education

"[A] thrilling and uplifting counter to the pessimism of the Anthropocene."—BBCWildlife Magazine

"Chris Thomas takes the million-year view of today's human-dominated world. The result is a thoughtful, provocative, and improbably hopeful book."—Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of TheSixth Extinction

"An immensely significant book. It is fluently written, carefully thought through, ruthlessly argued, neatly illustrated with case studies - and shockingly contrarian."—Matt Ridley, The Times (Book of the Week)

"His flowing narrative is rich in stories of his fieldwork round the world ... Thomas's vision ... aspires to something nobler, more optimistic."—Fred Pearce, New Scientist

"Fascinating ... Chris Thomas examines our human relationships with nature, bad and good, and sets out a more hopeful truth to current narratives and alarms ... This is a rich and timely tale, fearless too, with examples and cases drawn from ecosystems across the world."—Professor Jules Pretty, Times Higher Education

"[A] thrilling and uplifting counter to the pessimism of the Anthropocene."—Stuart Blackman, BBC Wildlife Magazine

"A decent and humane tale about the threat and promise of biodiversity change."—James Lovelock, author of The Revenge of Gaia and ARough Guide to the Future

"The most interesting / challenging / surprising thing I've read about the natural world for years."—James Rebanks, author of The Shepherd's Life

"A provocative book that challenges us to look positively at our human changes to the natural world and reimagine conservation in the Anthropocene."—Gaia Vince, author of Adventures in the Anthropocene

"Chris Thomas takes the million-year view of today's human-dominated world. The result is a thoughtful, provocative, and improbably hopeful book."—Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction and Field Notes from a Catastrophe

"With a perspective that stretches many epochs into the past and forward to the year One Million A.D., Thomas reframes Earth's current ecological upheaval as a time of great creation as well as great loss. Without minimizing or excusing the damage humans have done to the planet, Inheritors of the Earth opens our eyes to the splendid and fascinating ways nature is adapting and evolving to the world we have made. He urges us to take our cue from the majestic dynamism of nature and work with other species as they change and move, rather than fighting an impossible battle to freeze the planet in time. All change is not bad. I thought I was an optimist. Thomas is the real ecological optimist."—Emma Marris, author of Rambunctious Garden

"With Inheritors of the Earth, Chris D. Thomas issues a challenge to the conventional view of nature in decline. He urges us to embrace the environmental changes we've set in motion, daring to suggest that human activities will ultimately increase the diversity of life on Earth. A timely and provocative read."—Thor Hanson, author of The Triumph of Seeds

Library Journal

09/01/2017
British biologist Thomas (conservation biology, Univ. of York, UK) has a different take on biodiversity loss: though it may be the end for some species, others—like the ubiquitous sparrow—are thriving in human-altered landscapes. Citing his own research and other relevant scientific studies, the author claims that human activity and disturbance have increased the number of species on Earth (though the mix of species is different from that before the human age). He also examines how our love of "native" species and hatred of "foreign" (invasive) species is based on the erroneous assumption that there is some "correct" geographical location for any given plant and animal species. While Thomas's upbeat ecological audit is not a popular perspective in the conservation community, it is based upon a solid understanding of how ecosystems function and basic evolutionary principles. VERDICT This well-argued and provocative work is recommended for open-minded science enthusiasts interested in environmental conservation issues surrounding biodiversity, rewilding, and the resurrection of extinct species.—Cynthia Lee Knight, Hunterdon Cty. Historical Soc., Flemington, NJ

JANUARY 2018 - AudioFile

Bob Reed’s narration is bright and brisk, capturing the listener’s attention. His performance makes ecologist and botanist Chris Thomas’s exhaustive work on the state of our natural world sound like a master class taught by an enthusiastic researcher. The author is frank about efforts to preserve wildlife; often, he says, these efforts reflect a world that romanticizes the human relationship to the wild. The truth is much more brutal, and the details are filled with insights about how the natural world is proliferating. Humans need to see ourselves as part of this global ecosystem, not distinctly separate from it. Listeners may not always follow every detail, but most will go along for the entire ride. S.P.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-07-03
An optimistic view of nature amid the current environmental crisis.Thomas (Conservation Biology/Univ. of York) eschews "the shackles of a pessimism-laden, loss-only view of the world"—the traditional take of most conservationists—and insists we recognize that many species are thriving in our human-altered world. In a provocative analysis based on his own research and that of others throughout the world, he shows how many animal and plant species benefit from our presence, increasing the biological diversity of much of the world. Human activities generally deemed threats to biodiversity—notably, the killing of animals, habitat destruction, climate change, and biological invasions—have in fact created "unexpected opportunities" for new species to succeed. "Humans have changed the climate, and the distribution of species have changed as a result," he writes, noting that an "inexorable march of the world's wildlife is underway," with birds moving up from the lowlands in Costa Rica, plants shifting upward in European mountain ranges, and warm-water Australian fish finding a home in once-too-chilly Tasmanian reefs. Some two-thirds of animal species "are already living in at least some ‘new places' where they could not have survived as recently as fifty years ago." At the same time, humans' creation of new habitats and connections is leading to the rise of hybrid species, to the consternation of conservationists who believe "every animal should be pure." Similarly, the appearance of invasive species in new areas is simply part of the biological change that allows life on Earth to survive: "Treating each arrival of a species in a new habitat or geographic location as something to be resisted will, in most instances, result in failure, and it is ultimately counterproductive." We are losing much biodiversity because of human meddling, writes this contrarian ecologist in his fascinating book. However, "come back in a million years and we might be looking at several million new species whose existence can be attributed to humans."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170034307
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos