An Illustrated Short History of Progress (CBC Massey Lecture)

Toronto, ON: House of Anansi Press, 2006. Hardcover. Good/Good. Clean, tight, unmarked; wear to upper edge of dust jacket; small tear at upper inside corner of dj; large sticker ghost to front of dust jacket; light wear to some pages; In this richly illustrated edition, striking images across time and space illuminate Wright's powerful and cautionary tale. The 20th century was a time of runaway growth in human population, consumption, and technology, placing a colossal load on all natural systems, especially earth, air, and water - the very elements of life. The great question of the 21st century is how, ow whether, this can go on. In this book, Wright uses both words and images to show how our modern predicament is as old as civilization, a 10,000-year experiment we unleashed but have seldom controlled. Only by understanding the patterns of progress and disaster that humanity has repeated around the world since the Stone Age can we recognize the experiment's inherent dangers and, with luck and wisdom, shape its outcome.