Description
Book SynopsisGAIA shares the destiny of a livingand now sufferingEarth. ANIMA mundi, her myth embodies; it is the self-regulating and self-organizing flow of energy between the Sun and Moon and Earth''s elemental surface and subterrain, oceans and atmosphere, together supporting the planet''s species. ENERGY, the vibrant energy that surges through her biosphere is being blocked, though, coming under attack from our species'' greed-driven promotion and acceptance of technology that unrelentingly destroys the conditions supporting and sustaining life. WEALTH accumulation in the name of progress is as if the legendary touch of Midas today transforms Earth''s creations into lifeless forms, accelerating entropy and the global approach to disclimax. EXISTENCE itself is being pushed by our species towards the vanishing point. War over resourcesfood, oil, water, landand fouling of the environment, pandemics, and technological nostrums hasten the day. FAILSAFE points have been passed: this study offers
Table of ContentsPart 1 Foreward; Acknowledgments; Introduction Part 2 Part I: Wrenching Planet Earth: On to the Anthrocene Part 3 Part II: Empires Past; Issues Present Part 4 Chapter 1: Greek Tragedy: Sacrificing Nature Part 5 Chapter 2: Rome's Legions of Exploitation Part 6 Chapter 3: Roman Rule, Islamic Embryo Part 7 Chapter 4: The Seas of Galilee Part 8 Chapter 5: Heat Scours the Fertile Crescent and the Rice Bowl East Part 9 Part III: European Stepping Stones Part 10 Chapter 6: This Spectred Isle: A Dicken's Story Part 11 Chapter 7: Plowing with Swords: Crusaders Sow Hate, Reap Defeat, Waste Land Part 12 Chapter 8: Markets, Money, and Mysteries Haunt Crusaders Part 13 Chapter 9: Rural Angst, Urban Bulge Part 14 Chapter 10: Black Rats, Black Death, and the Siege of Black Soil Part 15 Part IV: Bible, Bullion, and Biogenesis Part 16 Chapter 11: Before and After Cross and Crown Part 17 Chapter 12: Alien Transgressions Part 18 Chapter 13: A Roomful of Gold; the Ransom of Death Part 19 Part V: British Raj Rising Part 20 Chapter 14: Crises and the Quest for Empire Part 21 Chapter 15: The Grim Face of Eden Part 22 Chapter 16: Potato Rot; Irish Exodus Part 23 Chapter 17: Waves to Pacific Mandalay Part 24 Chapter 18: Tale of the Sandwich Islands Part 25 Chapter 19: Searing Australia's Atmosphere Part 26 Chapter 20: Maori and a Dance Macabre Part 27 Chapter 21: Into the Heart of Imperial Darkness Part 28 Chapter 22: Corvée on the Niles Part 29 Part VI: The East is Bled Part 30 Chapter 23: Xanadu and Fertile Crescent Rédux Part 31 Chapter 24: White Man's Burden; Captives Clothed in Chains Part 32 Chapter 25: India's Sub(jugated) Continent Part 33 Chapter 26: Eco-Avalanches on the Roof of the World Part 34 Part VII: The Veil is Rent Part 35 Chapter 27: Workshops, Sweatshops Go Global, Heating Planet Earth Part 36 Chapter 28: Empire, Hubris, and Ecocide Part 37 Chapter 29: Earth's Fatal Eclipse Part 38 Chapter 30: Gaia, We Never Knew You Part 39 Chapter 31: Thermal End Game Part 40 Bibliography; Index; About Gaia and the Fate of Midas; About the Author
