My rating:

add to my books

The End of Nature

by Bill McKibben

3.90 · rating details · 476 ratings · 51 reviews

More than simply a handbook for survival or a doomsday catalog of scientific prediction, The End Of Nature is a groundbreaking plea for radical and life-renewing change. The author argues that for the world to survive, we must make a fundamental philosophical shift in the way we relate to nature.

Paperback, 224 pages

Published August 5th 1997 by Random House (first published June 13th 1989)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Best Environmental Books

30th out of 211 books — 191 voters

The Urban Homestead (Expanded & Revised Edition) by Kelly Coyne

Being "Green"

93rd out of 179 books — 28 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,088)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Dec 05, 2007

Kate rated it

Shelves: curmudgeons-for-justice, nature-girl

Dragged myself through this puppy. It was a tough go, but I somehow felt it was the environmentally responsible thing to do. Basically he makes the point very forcefully that we really have paved paradise. Damn. I recommend putting away all sharp objects and hiding anything that can be used to hang yourself before reading this book. Dead bird on cover says it all.

like 3 likes

· see review

Jun 18, 2007

Anna rated it

Shelves: environment

The great problem with this book was the way it approaches nature--namely that he wants to leave humans out of it. He seems more angry that we exist as a part of the world than interested in thinking of productive ways of dealing with the the concerns regarding the environment that we are facing.

like 4 likes

· see review

Jun 21, 2010

Greg Collver rated it

I found this book long on speculation and short on facts. In the middle I considered not finishing the book because the author spent quite a bit of the section "The End of Nature" on his own personal philosophies. He seemed to get back on track in the next part of the book, but the book still seemed like a loose collection of anecdotes, speculation and personal opinion. Not that I disagree with all of his opinions, I found myself agreeing with some of it, but he does not have the clear...more

· see review

Aug 12, 2009

Jack rated it

This long essay asks two questions: What would our lives be like if nature were not bigger than us? And what would it be like to imagine ourselves smaller?

The first question -- which takes up the first half of the book -- is fascinating. McKibben argues that a core part of what Nature does for us is let us know that the world has rhythms, predicability. That there is beauty out there that transcends us. It gives us a sense that there is something more than us out there. He has ...moreThis long essay asks two questions: What would our lives be like if nature were not bigger than us? And what would it be like to imagine ourselves smaller?

The first question -- which takes up the first half of the book -- is fascinating. McKibben argues that a core part of what Nature does for us is let us know that the world has rhythms, predicability. That there is beauty out there that transcends us. It gives us a sense that there is something more than us out there. He has a very nice section where he acknowledges that this is what religion does, or, for many of us, once did. Nature can help take some of burden off our shoulders, by reminding us as individuals that, even if we screw everything up, the sun will still set gorgeously. But, he asks provocatively, what would we lose if that were no longer true? And he makes a powerful case -- one that has come to feel more like common sense in the two decades since he wrote -- that our large scale changes to the environment, particularly via the green house gases, are creating a world that is more volatile. Moreover, it is more volatile because of what we did. Beyond all the palpable damage those changes will cause, knowing that we did it will take away from us the solace of nature.

This may be overstating the point a little -- the Grand Canyon's going to be impressive for a long time, as are the brilliant red of the cardinals that live in the hedge outside my door -- but the point is there. I came across McKibben's book when it was repeatedly references by Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods. Louv makes a more modest case, but one so persuasive that, over a few years, it changed my approach to fathering, and had a large role in where we currently live. Louv argues that children need, at a very deep level, to be a part of nature. Not "Nature" like on t.v. or in an aquarium -- that is, Nature as some abstract bit of environmental knowledge, possibly at risk, certainly over there somewhere. Instead, they need to have nature -- things growing, unpredictably -- somewhere close, where they can palpably interact with it. This lead to a lot more hikes in my family, and lot of wandering off paths and poking at things. Nature as a body-contact sport. I feel like my kids, and I, are better off for it, even if we got some scratches and scars to show for it. And this interpretation of McKibben that Louv offers is particularly compelling, in saying that we need to not imagine ourselves separate from nature.

And that is the sense in which McKibben challenges us to be smaller, to live more simply. To imagine living as if we had NOT been given dominion over the land. My profession makes that hard. It's an enormous challenge to figure out how to enact a more humble way of living. Biking around town helps, sure, but it hardly seems like enough. McKibben seems less compelling here -- he gestures towards Deep Ecology, but doesn't seem himself to really know how to fully do it. He reads the science too carefully, I think, to really believe half measures are enough. But, is a half-measure, a bit less carbon release, enough? I'm not sure myself, and struggle with it. McKibben sharpened that struggle, but it sits unresolved. I end up feeling like the Oncler, "Perhaps...."(less)

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 21, 2008

Beth rated it

Shelves: nature

I gave this book a quick re-read after initially reading it for academic purposes years ago and being put off by the doomsday approach of McKibben. Even though I agree with McKibben in general, I don't like this book. It offers nothing but commentary. It leaves the human species out of the equation. Instead of motivating one to action, it takes the winds out of the sails.

like 1 like

· see review

Jun 15, 2009

Katie rated it

· review of another edition

I've been thinking about this book for the week since I finished it. Initially it pissed me off. It's the kind of book that an environmentalist finds depressingly fatalistic. I was frustrated, angry, demoralized, downtrodden. This book is about the past and present state of the environment. It was written in 1989, but may as well have been written in 2009. Its vision of the future is speculative, at best, and relevant only as it elaborates on McKibben's ideas of the present.

My proble...moreI've been thinking about this book for the week since I finished it. Initially it pissed me off. It's the kind of book that an environmentalist finds depressingly fatalistic. I was frustrated, angry, demoralized, downtrodden. This book is about the past and present state of the environment. It was written in 1989, but may as well have been written in 2009. Its vision of the future is speculative, at best, and relevant only as it elaborates on McKibben's ideas of the present.

My problem with this book is that it presents only one side of the story, a side that needs to be told, but with the understanding that there are also positive efforts toward dealing with climate change. I used to dismiss doomsdayers as being out of touch with the "real world," that there are "realistic" changes that people need to make to deal with global warming. But the fact is that this is just as important as these doomsdayers say it is. This is a global catastrophe and must be taken seriously. These people get themselves into trouble when they start making predictions about the effects of climate change since no one can predict exactly what will happen, and each wrong prediction detracts from their credibility. But the magnitude of these predictions is perhaps not so far off. In a sense, there is no "realistic" way of looking at climate change except in these "exaggerated" terms.

But McKibben barely allows for any hope. He claims to be hopeful despite the enormity of the problem, but he proposes hope essentially as a measure of faith. He gives the reader no substantiation for his hope, and offers no respite from the desperation he has conveyed. We may have reached the "end of nature" but this also means that we have a chance at finding the tools to deal with such a massive problem. The current issue of the Atlantic (July/August 2009) has three separate stories addressing climate change and the technologies being developed to deal with it. There is hope here. There will need to be changes in lifestyle and at some point the problem of overpopulation will need to be addressed. But I no longer feel as dishearted as I did after the "End of Nature."

My other complaint with McKibben's book was with his assertion that as we dissect nature and develop biotechnology and genetic engineering, we lose that sense of awe and wonderment when we see nature. I see it as entirely opposite. The more I know about how nature works, the more in awe I am that it could develop in such complicated and intricate ways.

I'm glad I read this book, as it made me more aware of the problems we're dealing with now. But I think a reading of this book needs to be complemented by other books and articles on the subject.(less)

· see review

May 04, 2007

Jeremy rated it

Shelves: own, environment

The thesis is clear and probably true: Human beings are now causing so many changes in the world that we cannot think of "nature" as an independent force that acts on us. In other words, "nature" is now (partially) man-made. Parts of the book were moving, but there's better stuff around.

like 1 like

· see review

Nov 04, 2009

AJ rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: do-not-own, library, nonfiction, 2009

This book was okay... McKibben's main thesis is that humans have done such a grand job dominating nature that it is no longer natural. Thanks to climate change, our weather is no longer due to nature, it's due to human activity, which is why the book is titled The End of Nature.

I think that Michael Pollan offers an interesting counter-argument to this idea in Second Nature A Gardener's Education, where he asks, what is nature when man has been playing around with it for so long? Is ...more

like 1 like

· see review

Jun 14, 2011

Mark Hiser rated it

We have all heard all the dire consequences of global warming, but McKibben explores the spiritual loss connected with climate change and the way human beings now impact nature. McKibben's thesis that "Nature's independence is its meaning; without it there is nothing but us" rings so much stronger today than it must have when he wrote the book in the '80's.

At one point, while reminding his readers of the beautiful and awe-inspiring photos taken of the planet Earth from som...more

· see review

Jun 27, 2009

Michael rated it

Shelves: own

Written in the late 80's, this is a disturbing book to read as we approach the second decade of the 21st century. Disturbing because so little of our dialogue about climate change has progressed beyond what was being discussed two decades ago. Doubly so because McKibbin's nightmare, that we might delay action for 20 or more years, is precisely the course we have chosen, and the consequences are sure to be all-the-more dire because of it.

Much of this book is dated now... The science, ...more

· see review

Sep 23, 2011

Mike Garrity added it

If you haven’t read Bill McKibben’s classic, you should. It’s been out for more than 10 years now, and it’s kind of sad how little we’ve done to fix the problems he describes. The basic argument of the book is that in mankind recently went through a transition where the natural world stopped being something external to us and became something just as artificial and under our control as our cities and factories. He laments the loss inherent in that transition, but then argues that it means that w...more

· see review

Feb 10, 2010

Eileen rated it

It's not a bad book. It's actually thought provoking in some parts because it was published in 1987 and is about the catastrophe our planet is going to face as a result of global warming. It displays hardcore, factual evidence that would convince the '80s skeptical, when we could pretend the environment was in a somewhat manageable state. It's almost comical now to read McKibben's sense of urgency then and to look at how much reform has changed since that point. Let me summarize, next to nothing...more

· see review

Aug 11, 2008

Nina rated it

Perhaps as an environmental studies student who has studied the 30 years of theory that followed and partly responded to The End of Nature, I was unable to see the book without bias. That said, I have never been so frustrated with a book before. Bill McKibben is an excellent writer, and a very good person, but his treatment of the notion of nature is misleading and lacking in depth.

His major thesis is that in the past (a generalized, Western past), we saw nature as being clearly ...morePerhaps as an environmental studies student who has studied the 30 years of theory that followed and partly responded to The End of Nature, I was unable to see the book without bias. That said, I have never been so frustrated with a book before. Bill McKibben is an excellent writer, and a very good person, but his treatment of the notion of nature is misleading and lacking in depth.

His major thesis is that in the past (a generalized, Western past), we saw nature as being clearly autonomous from humanity-- as something more powerful than we are. With the effect of CFCs on the ozone layer, and greenhouse gases on the atmosphere, and the promise of advanced biotechnology, nature is no longer beyond our power-- our decisions shape what nature will do to us. McKibben seems to be arguing that we are losing a sort of religious mystery in this transformation. Somewhat paradoxically, he also argues that nature will become more unpredictable and frightening as our influence on the biosphere increases.

What is missing is a discussion of humanity and of why we think of nature the way we do. Through many passages of nature writing-- of his own and from others, McKibben presents nature as an ordered, benevolent force of beauty. But he also stresses her danger, mystery and awfulness. This romantic view of nature that McKibben mostly engages with is a relatively recent one. He does not take adequate pains to separate this from prior western views of nature, or non-western views of nature. Part of the reason the recent environmental destruction seems to have a destructive effect on the romantic idea of nature is that the romantic idea of nature was largely a concept that was born in response to the growth of technology and the uglinesses of industrialization. The triumph of technology signals the destruction of the romantic ideal because the romantics threw down that gauntlet and lost.

Even without global warming and CFCs, the view of a nature that has eluded the influence of humanity forever is being challenged by ecologists and archaeologists. The inseparability of man and his habitat is a recent subject of interest for many environmental thinkers and scientists, perhaps partly in response to McKibben's assertion of their former independence. The midwestern prairie ecosystems co-evolved with Native American fire. Many of the plants and animals we are familiar with co-evolved with humans, even when they were not deliberately bred (see Jared Diamond and Michael Pollan). No one in history has ever seen a nature unadulterated by human influence.

McKibben fails also to discuss human nature and the relation between human nature and nature beyond the human body. In many ways our ideas about nature are symbols or contexts for our own self-understanding. The romantic notion of a pure, beautiful and good nature is often related to a notion of the human soul as being "naturally" pure and beautiful. As civilization corrupts out environment, so civilization corrupts the soul. It would be interesting to consider the implications for interpretations of the psyche that a new view of nature has-- either one that breaks down the boundaries between human and non-human or a more technologically driven one that values the human will over everything. What should we make of the fact that our minds are themselves a product of evolutionary processes similar to those that we can now consciously influence through biotechnology or accidentally influence through global warming?

(less)

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 11, 2012

Hilary rated it

Shelves: environmental

Although this was written 2 decades ago, it (unfortunately) is still very relevant. As expected, we've chosen the "defiant" path towards our eventual doom. The facts in this book were mostly not news to me, but I found McKibben's concept of the "end of nature" interesting. The final chapter was the one I found the most profound, as it offered outlooks on the future and some possible paths that we, as a civilization theoretically have to choose from, though the choice doesn't ...more

· see review

Feb 11, 2009

Kurt rated it

Shelves: nature, non-fiction, environment

Even though this book was written 20 years ago in 1989 it is still very relevant and even more insightful today. The author laments the loss of the entire natural world. With the consensus recognition (yes, it was consensus even back in 1989 despite what Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, & Faux News feed you) that humans have literally caused long term significant changes to the atmosphere and climate, virtually no place on the planet remains intact and free from the touch of man.

As a l...more

· see review

Aug 19, 2010

Monica Newman rated it

As early as 1989 Bill McKibben could see the writing on the earth and he wrote about it in this book. It is "a kind of last song for the wild" and he does it as an American environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming and alternative energy. It helped me understand very complex, and now political environmental issues, in a simple and meaningful way.

· see review

Jul 27, 2010

Joel rated it

His main thesis (i.e., nature is dying from man's cruel onslaught of industrial activity) is reiterated in about 10 trillion different ways. I read this book while touring around Ireland in mid-October 2009. Interesting at parts, especially when he is describing the acidification of a nearby lake, but largely forgettable.

· see review

Feb 05, 2010

Laura Pollard rated it

Shelves: environmentalist-novels

A great book about what will happen when this nature ends and a new one begins. The only reason that this book only got 4 stars is because it is slightly dated. This book would have been a lot more shocking had I read it before global warming became a really well-known and generally acknowledged concept.

· see review

Apr 10, 2008

Jen rated it

Recommends it for: anyone

Recommended to Jen by: someone at GMC probably

Amazing that this book was published so long ago - Everything that was true then is even MORE true now and causing even bigger problems (global warming, for one). Although I loved the book and thought it had a great deal of stunning details, I felt it could be a bit more organized. It was a flurry of emotion, facts, people, and places that I can't seem to put in any one order in my head. Looking back, I feel amazed at how thin of a paperback it actually is.

Bill McKibben is brilliant,...more

· see review

Feb 06, 2009

Suz rated it

An extremely wordy book, with great thoughts, but it takes Bill way too long to get his point acrossed. Also a bit too scientific for the average reader. (I enjoyed all the facts and figures, but others I shared the book with did not.)

· see review

Jun 13, 2010

Rebecca Obuchowski rated it

While I aggree with his message and intent, it might have been nice to have a bibliography. Tall claims require cited sources and he didn't give any. His holier-than-thou attitude didn't help me want to listen either.

· see review

Oct 17, 2010

Virginia rated it

Shelves: 2006books, nonfiction

Very dour, depressing, and realistic. As someone trying to leave a smaller footprint on the earth, it makes me furious to read this and think of all those who aren't trying at all.

· see review

Jul 11, 2011

Alexandria rated it

Shelves: owned

This book was very informative about the Global Warming problem from both a scientific & environmentalist perspective. My only qualm is that much of the information is dated, even with the new chapter. I think this is the kind of text that should be re-written to reflect the current state of affairs.

· see review

Feb 07, 2011

Marts (Thinker) marked it as sounds-interesting

Shelves: science, geography-and-environment

... so here we're advised to change our attitudes and approaches to the way we view nature, and consider its importance in life's cycles...

· see review

Oct 24, 2009

Alan rated it

Shelves: non-fiction

This is something of a dated book now, but still interesting for it's historic perspective on the subject. For more recent McKibben fans (thtat's me and I'm interested in global warming issues but probably don't agree with McKibben on certain issues) it shows his development as a writer. I believe that at this earlier time (20 years ago) he saw the subject as just one of many interesting things to write about, but of course more recently he's familiar as one of the organizers of 350.org.

· see review

Aug 03, 2011

Paul Sisler rated it

McKibben is really inspiring, and this book is still important/relevant

· see review

Feb 26, 2010

Holly rated it

Amazing book - goes well beyond what is commonly discussed in climate change/

· see review

Feb 21, 2010

Stephanos added it · review of another edition

Collection of essays on global warming in the mid/late eighties New Yorker.

· see review

May 12, 2007

Lisa Vegan rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone who cares about the state of the earth

Shelves: reviewed, favorites, nature, non-fiction, philosophy

This book presents the sobering idea that there is no longer such as thing as nature, because humans have caused such massive changes by their presence and behaviors; that humans have altered everything (including all forms of plant and animal life) on earth. I read the book when it was first published in hardback form, and it made immediate sense to me, unfortunately. I’ll never be able to look at “nature” in exactly the same way as I did, although I can still enjoy what there is of it, and fee...more

· see review

Jun 26, 2010

Nicole rated it

Still true today, and continues to be influential in the environmental movement. Plus, I liked it. :)

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 36 37 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (7)

More editions...

Genres

Non Fiction

29 users

Environment

27 users

Environment > Nature

17 users

Science

16 users

Philosophy

5 users

Biology > Ecology

5 users

Environment > Sustainability

4 users

Culture

4 users

Politics

2 users

History

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

About Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben is an American environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the need for more localized economies.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

More about Bill McKibben...

Books by Bill McKibben

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future

Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape:Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks (Crown Journeys)

Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

last activity Jan 01, 2012 03:34pm

shelf: read

Green Group

421 members

last activity Feb 04, 2012 07:10am

shelf: to-read

title link	preview: The End of Nature
avg rating	preview: The End of Nature Goodreads rating: 3.90 (476 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199359.The_End_of_Nature?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172621234m/199359.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199359.The_End_of_Nature?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The End of Nature by Bill McKibben[/url]

The End of Nature

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (7)

Genres

Readers Also Enjoyed

About Bill McKibben

Books by Bill McKibben

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The End of Nature

Quotes from The End of Nature

Groups That Shelved The End of Nature