A Short History of Progress
eBook - ePub

A Short History of Progress

  1. 224 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

A Short History of Progress

About this book

Each time history repeats itself, so it's said, the price goes up. The twentieth 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 most urgent questions of the twenty-first century are: where will this growth lead? can it be consolidated or sustained? and what kind of world is our present bequeathing to our future?

In his #1 bestseller A Short History of Progress Ronald Wright argues that our modern predicament is as old as civilization, a 10,000-year experiment we have participated in but seldom controlled. Only by understanding the patterns of triumph 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.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & World History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Index

acceleration of change, 13, 109
Adam and Eve, 75, 160 n48, 183 n36
advertising, 190 n68
Africa
civilization limited to north, 46
origin of humans, 17–18, 140 n25
age of the earth, 11–12, 138 n14, 139 n15
agriculture and civilization, 33, 41, 47, 108, 143 n4
see also farming
Akkadian Empire, 78
Alley, Richard, 52
American Revolution, 117
Anglo-Saxons, 86
animals
domestication, 43–44, 149 n32
hunting to extinction, 31, 37–40, 55, 63, 146 n18, 146 n21
Antioch, 93
apes
beginnings of culture, 16
relation to humans, 10, 27, 30
apocalyptic novels, 122
Arabic numerals, 96, 168 n44
archaeology, 12, 56
arms race, 121, 185 n50
art of early humans, 24, 36, 39–40, 145 n14
Aswan High Dam, 173 n70
As You Like...

Table of contents

  1. Also by Ronald Wright
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Introduction
  6. I
  7. II
  8. III
  9. IV
  10. V
  11. Bibliography
  12. Index
  13. Acknowledgements
  14. The Massey Lectures Series
  15. The CBC Massey Lectures Series
  16. About the Publisher