The World Without Us

Critics

• Starting Over

  When Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” was published in 1963, the chemical giant Monsanto struck back with a parody called “Desolate Spring” that envisioned an America laid waste not by pesticides but by insects: “The bugs were everywhere. Unseen. Unhe ... (read full critics)

  nytimes published on Sat, 18 Sep 2010

• The World Without Us By Alan Weisman

  In his latest book, which was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award, Weisman, an acclaimed journalist and science writer, explores the darkest of possibilities: what would happen on Earth if mankind became extinct? To formulate a ... (read full critics)

  bookpage published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

12 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Not what I expected

  The subject of the book is something I often thought about, so when I heard of the book I knew I wanted to read it. This summer I chanced on a copy at a local bookstore and bought it. I was disappointed. It is a good book about the environment and the dangers it is under, but only rarely does it di ... (continue)

  The subject of the book is something I often thought about, so when I heard of the book I knew I wanted to read it. This summer I chanced on a copy at a local bookstore and bought it. I was disappointed. It is a good book about the environment and the dangers it is under, but only rarely does it discuss the topic of the title: a thought experiment of how the world would evolve after we are gone. How long till the signs of our passing would be wiped out? "A long time" seems to be the only disappointing answer I can get from this book.

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  Stefano said on Aug 21, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Bit heavy-going in places as Weisman likes facts and figures, but the very important message overrides it all, all human beings should read it !

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  Fay Ng said on Mar 28, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Provoking

  Everything remains the same, countries, cities, buildings, offices and homes...just without human being...</p><p>What would happen in a 'No-Man-World'?</p><p>First come to my head is cockcoaches. <br />And very many of them. <br />They are crawling, jumping and fl ... (continue)

  Everything remains the same, countries, cities, buildings, offices and homes...just without human being...</p><p>What would happen in a 'No-Man-World'?</p><p>First come to my head is cockcoaches. <br />And very many of them. <br />They are crawling, jumping and flying everywhere. <br />Very likely they are the one to rule the World immediately after us!</p><p>And secondly, plants.<br />Again, lots of them will suddenly growing wildly and freely with enough water and sunlight.</p><p>You'll find here in the book that what most likely would happen. Interesting and worth us a serious thought.

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  Jet2 said on Oct 25, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 

  An interesting book which held my attention until the end. It is more a wandering of the authors mind along paths of subjects all related to the title of the book. Rather than a straight forward explanation of what the world would be like without us. Worth reading if you enjoy anything related to th ... (continue)

  An interesting book which held my attention until the end. It is more a wandering of the authors mind along paths of subjects all related to the title of the book. Rather than a straight forward explanation of what the world would be like without us. Worth reading if you enjoy anything related to this earth we live on.

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  Wriite Me said on Aug 16, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  One of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. We now often hear how we are wrecking havoc and how better the world would be without us. Now this book now really put this into perspective.

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  Archer said on Jul 15, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  Man that was a lot of hard words.
  Admittedly, this was a little out of my league. For a fifth of the time, I honestly can't quite mentally formulate the picture the author was painting. It was no fault of his. Beyond that, this book was an amazing tale of a thought experiment. very interesting in ... (continue)

  Man that was a lot of hard words.
  Admittedly, this was a little out of my league. For a fifth of the time, I honestly can't quite mentally formulate the picture the author was painting. It was no fault of his. Beyond that, this book was an amazing tale of a thought experiment. very interesting indeed.

  Is this helpful?

  elitie said on Apr 16, 2010 | Add your feedback

See all 12 comments

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 352 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0753513579
• ISBN-13: 9780753513576
• Publisher: Virgin Books
• Pub date: Apr 10, 2008
• Also available as: Hardcover, Audio CD, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages 繁體書, 简体书, Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani

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