Rating: 
Summary: A focus on politics and the human future
Review: Continued population growth, expansion of consumption patterns, and maldistribution of power are in the way of a sustainable society: that's the ongoing argument of One With Nineveh, a focus on politics and the human future which provides a cautionary story of pride and the results of ignoring environmental signs. Our planet is accelerating toward environmental suicide, say the Ehrlichs: chapters focus on both technological and cultural misconceptions leading to disaster.
Rating: 
Summary: Complaints and Idealism
Review: I am not giving this book an unfavorable review because I'm some reactionary anti-environmentalist. In fact I am definitely an environmentalist, or better yet a widely-read conservationist. This book is the equivalent of a big Chinese food dinner - there's a lot of it, but it does little to satisfy your hunger. The book may be useful to students or others who are beginning to build their familiarity and interest in environmental issues. But if you are at all knowledgeable about the current state of such matters in any way, you will learn absolutely nothing new in this book.
Approximately the first half of the book is merely a summary of current conservationist knowledge and complaints from the Ehrlichs about their social problems of choice. All the villains are here, and they keep appearing again and again and again - SUVs, overpopulation, social inequality, rampant consumerism, economic imperialism (also known as free trade and globalization), and the extreme anti-green politics of the Bush administration. How these issues lead to environmental problems is good to know, of course, but if you're involved in any level of conservationism then you know this stuff already. This weakness of the book is illustrated by the fact that it is extremely well cited - there are several hundred works referenced and more than a thousand footnotes. However, this book is so widely researched that it becomes merely a giant summary of existing knowledge borrowed from other writers, with little new analysis or insight from the Ehrlichs.
Meanwhile, the second half of the book deteriorates into social criticism that continues to repeat complaints about the basic problems mentioned above, with a disconcertingly know-it-all and condescending stance against modern culture and technology. The attempted solutions of the last few chapters are little more than utopian ideals that would require vast changes to current economic and political structures, indicating a very thin understanding of those two theoretical areas. The final statement made by the Ehrlichs in this book is "idealism can be realism," but I beg to differ. That's just an excuse for an absence of concrete ideas. Once again, if you're starting to learn about the political stances of the conservation movement, this book is a passable summary of current knowledge and opinions. But if you're looking for new ideas or analysis, all you'll find are complaints and idealism. [~doomsdayer520~]
Rating:
Summary: A Good and Necessary Read
Review: I'm a biologist, and I have long been aware of the basic problems that the Ehrlichs clearly summarize in "One with Nineveh". Nonetheless, I loved having the issues reviewed for me, bringing me up to date. I found the book compellingly written and full of interesting examples. I was grateful it made clear why we're fighting in Iraq (not the excuses our government has broadcast), and tied it our our patterns of overconsumption. And there was a lot that was new to me. For instance, the question of the reform of corporations has been one of my concerns, but I was not fully aware of the growing discussion of what can be done about it. The Ehrlichs not only summarize the arguments well, but also provide references that are now allowing me to pursue further my interest in what can be done to limit corporate misuse of power. Indeed, placing the environmental situation in a context of power abuse is the major service of the book. Scientists are aware of the deep trouble civilization is in, but the public and politicians are not. This is a book to buy, read, and recommend (or give) to friends and anyone running for public office. The stakes are high, and the Ehrlichs give us hope that even in these dismal times we may win through to a decent and stable society.
Rating:
Summary: A Good and Necessary Read
Review: I'm a biologist, and I have long been aware of the basic problems that the Ehrlichs clearly summarize in "One with Nineveh". Nonetheless, I loved having the issues reviewed for me, bringing me up to date. I found the book compellingly written and full of interesting examples. I was grateful it made clear why we're fighting in Iraq (not the excuses our government has broadcast), and tied it our our patterns of overconsumption. And there was a lot that was new to me. For instance, the question of the reform of corporations has been one of my concerns, but I was not fully aware of the growing discussion of what can be done about it. The Ehrlichs not only summarize the arguments well, but also provide references that are now allowing me to pursue further my interest in what can be done to limit corporate misuse of power. Indeed, placing the environmental situation in a context of power abuse is the major service of the book. Scientists are aware of the deep trouble civilization is in, but the public and politicians are not. This is a book to buy, read, and recommend (or give) to friends and anyone running for public office. The stakes are high, and the Ehrlichs give us hope that even in these dismal times we may win through to a decent and stable society.
Rating:
Summary: They've Been Right up to Now, and They're Still Right
Review: If you haven't read many (or, perhaps, any) of the Ehrlichs' books since they began writing in the '60's, you must read this one. Beginning with the Population Bomb, followed by The Machinery of Nature, The Science of Ecology, The Stork and the Plow, The Betrayal of Science and Reason, and Human Natures, among others, One with Ninevah carries the same urgent message: there are too many of us, many of whom are over-consuming, the earth's non-renewable resources are vanishing, and the time to do something about it is either rapidly disappearing, or may already have gone the way of Ninevah (one of the collapsed cities of Mesopotamia, very likely analogous to the rest of the world today). Far from being in any simplisticly-entitled camp of the "Greenies," the Ehrlichs' portrayals of the future during the forty years of their writings have a chilling record of being very close to what has actually happened, and seem to be getting more so. Don't even count the number of honors awarded, but do consider the Crafoord Prize, which amounts to the Nobel Prize in this academic field, for which the latter prize isn't given. Containing an up-to-date summary of what they've been saying all along, plus a renewed look into the future, this is a compelling review of what it will probably be like for many of us on Earth now, and what it will almost certainly be like for our children's generation. As always, they're not all gloom and doom, but conclude with some recommendations regarding how to solve at some of the problems before it's too late.
-- George Burtness, Stanford University, Retired, and part-time field biologist.
Rating:
Summary: the basic problem....
Review: Is that Ehrlich simply does not understand basic economics. I only have un undergraduate physics degree, but an advanced economics degree, and it stuns me how many mistakes the author makes. The result, unfortunately, is highly distorted view of environmental problems. This is sad because we need both sound science and economics (policy) to guide us -- not this hype.
Rating:
Summary: headed the wrong way
Review: It looks like all of the previous reviewers either love this book or hate it. I'm going to take more of a middle road. I'm giving it 3 stars - if I could I would give it 3 and 1/2.Compared to two of the previous books by these authors - The Population Bomb and The Population Explosion (both of which were terrible) this book is a great improvement. It is obvious that the authors have been spending a little more time with some economists as well as their fellow Stanford professor Gretchen Daily. Instead of the "doom and gloom" of the previous books this work at least hints at the solid improvements that have occurred in the world over the last thirty years. The growth in world population is slowing, poverty is declining in most of the world, food production has outpaced population growth and technology has greatly improved our living standards. The authors even concede that the population of the world will indeed stabilize and fall this century. This is sharply in contrast with their previous books which predicted mass starvation and catastrophes galore. I also liked the fact that the authors discussed possible solutions to some of the problems they discussed. There is a great deal of room for improvement in many of the ways that humans interact with our environment. The Ehrlichs discuss many of these - more efficient energy use, better planning for housing, etc... Although this book is a great improvement the authors are still far too pessimistic in my mind. The next fifty years will be a time of tremendous strides for improvement in the human condition on this planet. There are no limits to what humans can do if we put our minds to it. I think that the Ehrlichs are finally beginning to see that there are solutions to all of the problems they discuss but they still fall back too much on their previous "doom and gloom style". If they continue the progess that was shown in this book and if they continue to broaden their base of knowledge and sources to include more economists and rational thinkers I think that the NEXT book that the Ehrlich's produce will be real winner.
Rating: 
Summary: Paul, Anne, and the giant peach
Review: Most of us have a mixture of values that come from both sides of the fence. The concept of being a liberal or conservative lies largely in our imaginations. We cannot help but to identify with one side or the other mostly because it is human nature to form into self-righteous groups. You will notice a pattern if you look at the reviews on Amazon.com of this book and its antithesis "The Skeptical Environmentalist" by Bjorn Lomborg. Supporters write long, heart-felt reviews, denigrators write short, mean ones. In both cases, the short, mean reviews were written by people who have not actually read the book, but have sided with their given champions.
I have read both books. I recommend this one if you are willing to face unpleasant realities so that you can try to fix or prevent them (a typical bleeding heart liberal mindset). If you want to be told that everything is OK and always will be, then read the other book. I bought a copy of "One with Nineveh" a few weeks before it was officially released and had already read it by the time Ehrlich signed it for me while on a book tour in Seattle.
As the title suggests, localized, unsustainable over-consumption, (the phrase that is replacing the vague and unpopular term "overpopulation") has been plaguing us since the dawn of civilization. Nineveh, once a great city-state located in what is still called the Fertile Crescent, is now a pile of dirt located in the moonscape called Iraq. Human activity has turned the Fertile Crescent into a wasteland. A recent comparison of historical data and new images from NASA's Landsat satellites confirms that the Fertile Crescent is almost gone.
Lo and behold, when you look around the globe, from Mesoamerica to Asia, you will find thousands of examples of ecosystems that have been irreparably laid to waste by human activities. A good book to read on that topic is "Constant Battles-the myth of the peaceful, noble savage" by Steven LeBlanc. LeBlanc is an archaeologist who has seen first hand the evidence of local overpopulation and warfare in every ancient ruin he has studied.
At first, the title "One with Nineveh" did not sit well with me but after having read the book, I realize that it could not be more poignant as war continues to rage around Nineveh just as it always has.
Think of the Earth as a giant peach. One day, a small mold spot appears. Over time, another spot appears, then another. Eventually, the spots grow in size and number to consume the entire fruit. The point; overpopulation begins as a localized phenomenon, but given time, it becomes a global one.
The Ehrlichs point out that humanity is managing to stay housed and fed even in the face of our expanding population which is expected to increase an additional 50% in the next few decades. To me, the reason for this is obvious; exponential technology growth fueled by free enterprise has found ways to turn oil into food and housing. Personally, I believe that we will continue to make progress in feeding and housing ourselves at the expense of the other life forms on the planet right up until we run out of oil and maybe beyond if we find other sources of cheap energy.
The Ehrlichs recognize that the drive for prestige and its embodiment in status symbols is consuming the planet. The root of their solution is to reduce the consumptive patterns of wealthy people. I have a difficult time envisioning so many social changes being accepted when our country is split 49-51 in most presidential elections. Cut world consumption by 50%, increase our population 50%, and you have gotten nowhere. Status seeking appears to be part of our nature and there is no way to change that anymore than you can make us stop walking upright. Paul's own speaking engagements burn up a prodigious amount of aviation fuel and his books consume massive amounts of paper. The manufacture of which consumes a great deal of water, wood, and energy. If Dr. Ehrlich can rationalize that his own level of consumption is acceptable, how can he not expect the rest of humanity to do so? I suspect that he would be the first to admit this paradox (it is unlikely that I am the first to point it out).
The Ehrlichs want our governments to step in and force us to stop consuming so much, while at the same time, they acknowledge that communist economies don't work. It sounds contradictory to me. Telling people that they must limit their consumption is a dead end strategy. It goes against the grain of human nature. They won't do it.
The Ehrlichs also wisely realize the importance of limiting the concentration of power (wealth) by individuals, corporations, and other social institutions (a never ending situation in my opinion because such behavior is ingrained in our genes).
In conclusion, although the Ehrlichs have been unjustly vilified by some simply for warning us of the potential for an unpleasant future, the world truly owes them a debt of gratitude because those warnings have, to date, helped to keep that future from fully materializing. This book continues in that tradition.
Russ Finley, Author of "Poison Darts-Protecting the biodiversity of our world."
Rating:
Summary: Sound Ecology, Philosophy, and Economics
Review: No one can read this book and not be impressed with the depth and breadth of expertise and insights the Ehrlichs bring to bear on the problem of sustainability and the serious human predicament that will begin to manifest itself over the next few decades, if not sooner. The book is also full of thought provoking, innovative approaches to solutions - especially his economic insights in Chapter 7, "Consuming Less", and his summary chapter, "Healing a World of Wounds". This book is absolutely "must read" for all conscientious citizens of the planet - especially, those in the United States. While some of the early works by the Ehrlichs were overly alarmist, none of that is present here, and the Nobel-level caliber of the Ehrlichs shines from this book. But since most of the other (serious) reviewers have made similar comments, I'll point out some of its weaknesses, partly in the hope that readers will look elsewhere to correct some of its (few) problems. While the greatest strength of this book is its science, this happens to be exceedingly weak in Chapter 5, "Technology Matters". Here the Ehrlichs venture too far afield from their areas of expertise and make numerous technical mistakes, which unfortunately do matter. Their biggest problem is that they have been smitten by the hydrogen hype syndrome. They also are not well versed in state-of-the-art renewables technologies. For a more informed perspective on this subject, see my "Fuels for Tomorrow's Vehicles" or "The Hype About Hydrogen" by Romm. For a much more detailed and up-to-date discussion of most major aspects of energy, see "Energy at the Crossroads" by Smil, along with the definitive work on petroleum resources by Campbell, "The Coming Oil Crisis". I also found "One with Nineveh" to be rather repetitious among chapters - it could probably be shortened 30% to improve its impact and popularity. Certainly many Republicans will find it uncomfortable in many places, and probably more people would find it readable if some of the incredibly complex sentences were simplified a bit. But then, this is a book by serious minds for serious minds. - F. David Doty, engineering physicist.
Rating:
Summary: The Ehrlichs Right on Target, Again
Review: One with Nineveh is the most comprehensive examination of the relationship between humans and their environment ever published. Drawing on their vast experience in ecology, population biology and conservation, the Ehrlichs have written a tour de force that examines the interlocked issues of human population growth and material consumption, and the impact of these phenomena on the planet, from deep historical and modern economic points of view. The book does not whine and bemoan what we have lost so much as it provides a lucid and carefully reasoned clarion call to action. We are not, as a species, frozen in the headlights. Given sufficient governmental and institutional will, humans can be guided to regulate their populations and consume in a manner that will permit the planet to live and breathe and sustain us. Read it before it's too late.
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