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Re: human rights vs. societies rights
Eugenie C. Scott (ncse@CRL.COM)
Fri, 9 Dec 1994 08:00:54 -0800
On Thu, 8 Dec 1994, Todd N Nims wrote:
> A book I once read, "Earth Abides" by George R. R. Stewart, discuses one
> possible outcome of a large human population. I dont know whether or not
> he has any scientific basis for his writngs but I dont think it was
> written for scientific debate anyway. I would recomend it as simply an
> interesting book with some interesting ideas that you could probably read
> over the holidays.
>
> Todd N. Nims
> {nimstod@mallard.duc.auburn.edu}
> Auburn University, AL
I'd like to second the recommendation. Stewart was a cultural geographer
at the University of California-Berkeley, and has written other books
about the interrelationship of humans with natural phenomena, two of
which are "Fire" and "Storm", if I recall correctly. "Earth Abides"
takes place in the S.F. Bay Area after a mysterious illness has wiped out
most of the world's population (except for about 10% or so, I think) but
leaving most of the physical plant (water, electricity, etc) intact.
It's quite an anthropological book, really, discussing the technological
and cultural changes that take place as this tiny population gradually
reverts to hunter/gatherers. It isn't superior fiction, but it's
extremely readable. Many years ago I assigned it as part of a course on
anthropological fiction.
ECS
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