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Ten Journeys On A Fragile Planet
Humanity is sliding toward a collision between global warming, resource depletion, and population growth. The evidence is daunting but we are hampered by anti-science demagogues who tell us everything’s okay, that we’ll run forever on our current course. The problem we are facing is on a global scale, far beyond any individual. It can be overwhelming and it is difficult to remain cheerful.
In Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet, journalist Rod Taylor interviews ten outstanding Australians who have – and are – doing something to confront the perilous state of the environment. This book tells their stories.
Featuring:
The Activist: Simon Sheikh
The Solar Pioneer: Professor Andrew Blakers
The Maggot Farmer: Olympia Yarger
The Accidental Activist: Charlie Prell
The Thoughtful Salesman: Leonard Cohen
The Politician: Susan Jeanes
The Climate Game Changer: Inez Harker-Schuch
The Advocate: Professor Kate Auty
The Lady with a Laser: Monica Oliphant
A Question of Hope: Dr Siwan Lovett
‘The ten case studies, showing what dedicated people can achieve, give us hope for the future. This is an important book.' – Dr Mark Diesendorf
'With the massive bushfires fresh in our minds, we need a remarkable turnaround in policies and actions. The remarkable people who contributed to this book provide us with a wide range of ideas and actions to get us on the right track toward a sustainable future.’ – Professor Will Steffen
'Since Homer the world has needed its heroes – people whose deeds and words inspire us, galvanise us, uplift us, afford us glimpses of a better future. In Ten Journeys and a Fragile Planet, Rod Taylor summons ten heroes for our time, the most perilous time that human beings have ever faced: real people, facing real challenges and setbacks, passionate, driven, courageous, wise, unbowed. If there is hope for humanity, he has distilled its essence.’ – Julian Cribb, author of Surviving the 21st Century
The Author: Rod Taylor
As a boy, Rod Taylor watched with fascination, the Moon landing. That sparked an interest in science that has never faded. An offhand remark by his father around the same time was his first environmental awareness, which has progressed from interest, to concern, and now to alarm.
Today, Rod is a Canberra-based science writer. Rod’s science columns have appeared in The Canberra Times newspaper and other publications for over 10 years. He broadcasts a weekly science show, and has appeared on ABC local radio, Radio National and the BBC.
Aside from media, his other background is in IT and business systems. He rides both a unicycle and an off-road motorcycle, and has fallen off both.
He has recently completed his book: The Edge of Silence: A sometimes grumpy, often quirky, always curious exploration of going deaf in a world of sound.
He is currently co-editing a compilation of major writers on the Green New Deal.
In Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet, journalist Rod Taylor interviews ten outstanding Australians who have – and are – doing something to confront the perilous state of the environment. This book tells their stories.
Featuring:
The Activist: Simon Sheikh
The Solar Pioneer: Professor Andrew Blakers
The Maggot Farmer: Olympia Yarger
The Accidental Activist: Charlie Prell
The Thoughtful Salesman: Leonard Cohen
The Politician: Susan Jeanes
The Climate Game Changer: Inez Harker-Schuch
The Advocate: Professor Kate Auty
The Lady with a Laser: Monica Oliphant
A Question of Hope: Dr Siwan Lovett
‘The ten case studies, showing what dedicated people can achieve, give us hope for the future. This is an important book.' – Dr Mark Diesendorf
'With the massive bushfires fresh in our minds, we need a remarkable turnaround in policies and actions. The remarkable people who contributed to this book provide us with a wide range of ideas and actions to get us on the right track toward a sustainable future.’ – Professor Will Steffen
'Since Homer the world has needed its heroes – people whose deeds and words inspire us, galvanise us, uplift us, afford us glimpses of a better future. In Ten Journeys and a Fragile Planet, Rod Taylor summons ten heroes for our time, the most perilous time that human beings have ever faced: real people, facing real challenges and setbacks, passionate, driven, courageous, wise, unbowed. If there is hope for humanity, he has distilled its essence.’ – Julian Cribb, author of Surviving the 21st Century
The Author: Rod Taylor
As a boy, Rod Taylor watched with fascination, the Moon landing. That sparked an interest in science that has never faded. An offhand remark by his father around the same time was his first environmental awareness, which has progressed from interest, to concern, and now to alarm.
Today, Rod is a Canberra-based science writer. Rod’s science columns have appeared in The Canberra Times newspaper and other publications for over 10 years. He broadcasts a weekly science show, and has appeared on ABC local radio, Radio National and the BBC.
Aside from media, his other background is in IT and business systems. He rides both a unicycle and an off-road motorcycle, and has fallen off both.
He has recently completed his book: The Edge of Silence: A sometimes grumpy, often quirky, always curious exploration of going deaf in a world of sound.
He is currently co-editing a compilation of major writers on the Green New Deal.
- GenresNonfiction
294 pages, Paperback
Published November 13, 2020
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8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 19, 2021
The assault to the environment currently underway by global warming continues to have noticeable impact on Los Angeles, where I live, in which blazes surrounding the city — and threatening the safe functioning of civilization — have become a terrifyingly regular occurrence.
Fire season — once relegated to October and prompted by changes in temperature and fire-fueling Santa Ana winds — has expanded in Southern California as the climate becomes dryer and hotter for longer periods throughout the year. The local air during fire season often becomes so despicably dirty from the blazes that my family and I must remain insulated indoors, without neighborhood strolls or games at the park, as the rolling hills surrounding our home are scorched in flames.
Even as I write this review, in mid-January of 2021, the temperature today is 87 degrees Fahrenheit (30.5 Celsius), not quite cozy winter weather, even for us sun-loving beachgoers. Tomorrow the temperature is expected to drop to 62 degrees Fahrenheit (16.6 Celsius), closer to the cooler weather locals considered ‘typical’ for this time of year about a decade ago. Next week, the temperatures are expected to return again to the ‘80s and more in line with the endless summer that is becoming the ‘new normal’ in these parts — and with the heat more winds and fire dangers. Thus, fire season in Los Angeles has become a recurring nightmare, an inferno nowadays seemingly always on the horizon and ready to engulf my neighbors, loved ones and me. Worst part is, there doesn’t seem to be an iota of serious public discussion how we might prevent it. It's as if we’re too busy fighting these un-natural disasters or recovering between them to act meaningfully to change our ways to minimize them.
So, when I heard about Rod Taylor’s book, Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet, challenging the norms of destruction that have become all-too-common around climate change, I became interested. After all, fire is something Australians and Angelinos have in common: The conflagrations making headlines in California in recent years have only been overshadowed by the Black Summer of 2019-2020 in Australia. Those wildfires, also exacerbated by climate change, burned 24 million hectares of land, destroyed 3,000 building and homes, and killed nearly three billion animals.
The profiles of the ten climate heroes Taylor highlights are as varied, unique, and complex as the factors contributing to climate change, which makes for interesting reading. Those profiled include environmental advocates Charlie Prell, Kate Auty and Simon Sheikh; solar pioneer, Andrew Blakers; maggot farmer, Olympia Yarger; ‘thoughtful salesman,’ Leonard Cohen; politician, Susan Jeanes; video-game creator, Inez Harker-Schuch; ‘lady with a laser,’ Monica Oliphant; and the science communication leader, Siwan Lovett. While the backgrounds of these individuals differ, all have had life experiences that inspire their fascinating work toward a better, smarter and more sustainable future. Thank goodness for people like them, too, because the pangs of unfettered economic development and environmental catastrophe are not only being felt in Australia or California, but worldwide, as Taylor clearly references in his text:
“From 1979 to 2017, sea ice has declined by 5.14 percent every decade…”
“Populations of wild animals have more than halved since 1970, while the human population has more than doubled 3.7 to 7.7 billion. More than a million species are at risk of extinction…”
“We’ve spent the past 25 years saying we have ten years to fix the problem while we’ve frittered away our free time converting a difficult problem into an almost impossible one…”
The efforts undertaken by those profiled in Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet focuses on short-term and long-term solutions. These include expanding environmental education, better utilizing research and developing technologies, and leveraging business opportunities to make them sustainable and lucrative. Even solar, Taylor notes, has become more efficient and profitable as an energy source than coal.
The discussion the author provides is insightful, and the comments of those interviewed is refreshing. Still, widespread buy-in will be necessary to organize the kind of collective civic, economic, and scientific action to thwart our species’ greatest threat, us. Without being too cynical, Taylor lays out this dire message in an upbeat fashion. For the sake of our species’ survival, success — and yes, even our spiritual fulfillment — we must evolve from the planet’s greatest polluters to its greatest stewards.
It is, indeed, our only hope. After all, as Taylor indicates, “no country will ever go to war over solar. It’s almost totally benign. This is one of the very few technologies that can’t be used for military applications.”
Imagine: Technology that has a tremendous impact on the longevity of human beings and the health of the environment, and it does not even run the risk of destroying us.
Radical idea.
Fire season — once relegated to October and prompted by changes in temperature and fire-fueling Santa Ana winds — has expanded in Southern California as the climate becomes dryer and hotter for longer periods throughout the year. The local air during fire season often becomes so despicably dirty from the blazes that my family and I must remain insulated indoors, without neighborhood strolls or games at the park, as the rolling hills surrounding our home are scorched in flames.
Even as I write this review, in mid-January of 2021, the temperature today is 87 degrees Fahrenheit (30.5 Celsius), not quite cozy winter weather, even for us sun-loving beachgoers. Tomorrow the temperature is expected to drop to 62 degrees Fahrenheit (16.6 Celsius), closer to the cooler weather locals considered ‘typical’ for this time of year about a decade ago. Next week, the temperatures are expected to return again to the ‘80s and more in line with the endless summer that is becoming the ‘new normal’ in these parts — and with the heat more winds and fire dangers. Thus, fire season in Los Angeles has become a recurring nightmare, an inferno nowadays seemingly always on the horizon and ready to engulf my neighbors, loved ones and me. Worst part is, there doesn’t seem to be an iota of serious public discussion how we might prevent it. It's as if we’re too busy fighting these un-natural disasters or recovering between them to act meaningfully to change our ways to minimize them.
So, when I heard about Rod Taylor’s book, Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet, challenging the norms of destruction that have become all-too-common around climate change, I became interested. After all, fire is something Australians and Angelinos have in common: The conflagrations making headlines in California in recent years have only been overshadowed by the Black Summer of 2019-2020 in Australia. Those wildfires, also exacerbated by climate change, burned 24 million hectares of land, destroyed 3,000 building and homes, and killed nearly three billion animals.
The profiles of the ten climate heroes Taylor highlights are as varied, unique, and complex as the factors contributing to climate change, which makes for interesting reading. Those profiled include environmental advocates Charlie Prell, Kate Auty and Simon Sheikh; solar pioneer, Andrew Blakers; maggot farmer, Olympia Yarger; ‘thoughtful salesman,’ Leonard Cohen; politician, Susan Jeanes; video-game creator, Inez Harker-Schuch; ‘lady with a laser,’ Monica Oliphant; and the science communication leader, Siwan Lovett. While the backgrounds of these individuals differ, all have had life experiences that inspire their fascinating work toward a better, smarter and more sustainable future. Thank goodness for people like them, too, because the pangs of unfettered economic development and environmental catastrophe are not only being felt in Australia or California, but worldwide, as Taylor clearly references in his text:
“From 1979 to 2017, sea ice has declined by 5.14 percent every decade…”
“Populations of wild animals have more than halved since 1970, while the human population has more than doubled 3.7 to 7.7 billion. More than a million species are at risk of extinction…”
“We’ve spent the past 25 years saying we have ten years to fix the problem while we’ve frittered away our free time converting a difficult problem into an almost impossible one…”
The efforts undertaken by those profiled in Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet focuses on short-term and long-term solutions. These include expanding environmental education, better utilizing research and developing technologies, and leveraging business opportunities to make them sustainable and lucrative. Even solar, Taylor notes, has become more efficient and profitable as an energy source than coal.
The discussion the author provides is insightful, and the comments of those interviewed is refreshing. Still, widespread buy-in will be necessary to organize the kind of collective civic, economic, and scientific action to thwart our species’ greatest threat, us. Without being too cynical, Taylor lays out this dire message in an upbeat fashion. For the sake of our species’ survival, success — and yes, even our spiritual fulfillment — we must evolve from the planet’s greatest polluters to its greatest stewards.
It is, indeed, our only hope. After all, as Taylor indicates, “no country will ever go to war over solar. It’s almost totally benign. This is one of the very few technologies that can’t be used for military applications.”
Imagine: Technology that has a tremendous impact on the longevity of human beings and the health of the environment, and it does not even run the risk of destroying us.
Radical idea.
December 28, 2020
This book could be titled “Ten case studies in the best of humanity.” It so happens that I am Australian, the author is Australian, and all ten of the interviewees are Australians, but this is incidental. The events, environment and culture that provide the setting would be different in another land, but there are jewels like these ten everywhere.
While the book features ten jewels, my review is about eleven. Rod writes in a very personal style, and never blows his own trumpet, but comes through to be like his interviewees.
Here is a sample of Rod showing himself: “In my youth, there was talk of nuclear war and the possibility that our world would be consumed by the insane strategy of Mutually Assured Destruction. To us it was a theoretical proposition, a disaster that could happen. We had the possibility of calamity, but climate change is different because it is actually happening. In my lifetime it’s gone from just being a possibility to us seeing glimpses of what a disrupted global climate system looks like. Nuclear weapons and global warming aren’t going away. Humanity is doing a poor job on both fronts.”
These eleven are people who care, who have made a difference through intelligence, perseverance and creativity. Some are well known, others I’ve never heard off, but all have a passion for truth, science, decency, being of service. Because of these attitudes, they are all alarmed by our environmental crisis, and in different ways are doing their best to work for a survivable future.
I can’t do better than to quote Rod on what the book is about: “If there’s one defining attribute shared by the people in this book, it’s motivation — these are people who understand why we need to act. Each has seized upon the idea that there is something important; that there’s something they can do for the environment and for the community. The people in Fragile Planet are fiercely driven to avert the worst of climate change.”
I really enjoyed Rod’s style of bringing a person to life, faults and all. While staying the journalist interviewing someone, he has the skill of showing his subject’s inside reality, “what makes her tick.” For example, I got to really like maggot farmer Olympia, and strongly approve of what she is doing: in effect converting agriculture from a single-line process of fertiliser-to-waste to a circular economy of waste providing feed in a forever-loop.
Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet would be admirable compulsory reading for high school kids, to inspire them, and to educate them in what matters.
While the book features ten jewels, my review is about eleven. Rod writes in a very personal style, and never blows his own trumpet, but comes through to be like his interviewees.
Here is a sample of Rod showing himself: “In my youth, there was talk of nuclear war and the possibility that our world would be consumed by the insane strategy of Mutually Assured Destruction. To us it was a theoretical proposition, a disaster that could happen. We had the possibility of calamity, but climate change is different because it is actually happening. In my lifetime it’s gone from just being a possibility to us seeing glimpses of what a disrupted global climate system looks like. Nuclear weapons and global warming aren’t going away. Humanity is doing a poor job on both fronts.”
These eleven are people who care, who have made a difference through intelligence, perseverance and creativity. Some are well known, others I’ve never heard off, but all have a passion for truth, science, decency, being of service. Because of these attitudes, they are all alarmed by our environmental crisis, and in different ways are doing their best to work for a survivable future.
I can’t do better than to quote Rod on what the book is about: “If there’s one defining attribute shared by the people in this book, it’s motivation — these are people who understand why we need to act. Each has seized upon the idea that there is something important; that there’s something they can do for the environment and for the community. The people in Fragile Planet are fiercely driven to avert the worst of climate change.”
I really enjoyed Rod’s style of bringing a person to life, faults and all. While staying the journalist interviewing someone, he has the skill of showing his subject’s inside reality, “what makes her tick.” For example, I got to really like maggot farmer Olympia, and strongly approve of what she is doing: in effect converting agriculture from a single-line process of fertiliser-to-waste to a circular economy of waste providing feed in a forever-loop.
Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet would be admirable compulsory reading for high school kids, to inspire them, and to educate them in what matters.
December 20, 2020
Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet by Rod Taylor is a non-fiction book where the author interviews ten outstanding Australians who are doing some amazing things to confront the perilous state of the environment.
Taylor explains that humanity is sliding toward a collision between global warming, resource depletion, and population growth and reminds us how we are hampered by anti-science demagogues who tell us everything’s okay. The discussions with these experts, business people, and activists remind us that something can be done to save our planet.
I haven’t read a non-fiction book in a while and this has proven to be a great book to return to more serious topics from fiction. I enjoyed meeting these 10 people who make our planet’s safety a priority. Taylor does an amazing job pointing out the good and bad that has affected each of the people he features in this novel. There are a lot of combatants to these efforts and sometimes those people championing for good, have to get a little dirty. Taylor doesn’t hide these facts and remains impartial throughout.
I most enjoyed reading about Olympia Yarger, the maggot farmer. As an educator, it’s interesting for me to see someone find their purpose so late in life and when flies get involved, it seemed even more fascinating. All the professionals featured in the book had unique stories, however. I learned something from each and every one of them.
Speaking of learning something, I appreciated Taylor’s writing style throughout. This book covers a lot of topics that I had no idea about. Even the intricacies of a fly’s life cycle were fascinating and this was all new information to me. Taylor put down the facts in an easy-to-understand way even when it came to physics and deep political plotting. The gravity of this book is that Taylor interviewed 10 very different people in Australia, but as an American, I fully related to the countries struggles, from nasty politicians to news media who leech off misfortune and spread lies. We are truly one and the same in our struggle to save the planet.
If you have any love for our planet, this book is for you. It is a great showing of the options we truly have to save our planet.
Taylor explains that humanity is sliding toward a collision between global warming, resource depletion, and population growth and reminds us how we are hampered by anti-science demagogues who tell us everything’s okay. The discussions with these experts, business people, and activists remind us that something can be done to save our planet.
I haven’t read a non-fiction book in a while and this has proven to be a great book to return to more serious topics from fiction. I enjoyed meeting these 10 people who make our planet’s safety a priority. Taylor does an amazing job pointing out the good and bad that has affected each of the people he features in this novel. There are a lot of combatants to these efforts and sometimes those people championing for good, have to get a little dirty. Taylor doesn’t hide these facts and remains impartial throughout.
I most enjoyed reading about Olympia Yarger, the maggot farmer. As an educator, it’s interesting for me to see someone find their purpose so late in life and when flies get involved, it seemed even more fascinating. All the professionals featured in the book had unique stories, however. I learned something from each and every one of them.
Speaking of learning something, I appreciated Taylor’s writing style throughout. This book covers a lot of topics that I had no idea about. Even the intricacies of a fly’s life cycle were fascinating and this was all new information to me. Taylor put down the facts in an easy-to-understand way even when it came to physics and deep political plotting. The gravity of this book is that Taylor interviewed 10 very different people in Australia, but as an American, I fully related to the countries struggles, from nasty politicians to news media who leech off misfortune and spread lies. We are truly one and the same in our struggle to save the planet.
If you have any love for our planet, this book is for you. It is a great showing of the options we truly have to save our planet.
January 19, 2021
A powerful, eye-opening book with so much detail that inspired me.
Each person introduced to me had their own story and reason for becoming activists in their chosen field. It is scientific, documentary and informative at the same time. Touching issues like global warming, renewable energy, solar, animal feed industry and much more.
The layout is a perfect pitch for the book and an adequate name. It highlights the problem and shows what can be done when people really set their mind to it. No matter where the people came from, their contribution to earth's many problems shows us all what can be done with the resources we have.
A great read to all environmentalists and people, who wants to act.
Each person introduced to me had their own story and reason for becoming activists in their chosen field. It is scientific, documentary and informative at the same time. Touching issues like global warming, renewable energy, solar, animal feed industry and much more.
The layout is a perfect pitch for the book and an adequate name. It highlights the problem and shows what can be done when people really set their mind to it. No matter where the people came from, their contribution to earth's many problems shows us all what can be done with the resources we have.
A great read to all environmentalists and people, who wants to act.
April 17, 2021
For anyone interested in the ESG movement (Environmental, Social, Corporate Governance), this book should be on your short list of must-reads. While the book focuses on Australia, what becomes apparent very quickly is that Down Under is an excellent laboratory for developing and testing solutions before they're deployed on a global scale. Australia is a microcosm of the cataclysmic effects of climate change. They are on the front lines. The stories mentioned in this book, along with their dogged pioneers, and the sometimes toxic opposition to their work, are relevant to us all as humanity strives to carve out economic sustainability inside a changing world where science fact seems to be malleable. This is a peek at what it takes to be a difference-maker in defense of the planet.
April 7, 2021
Well, I am not going to lie, this text is not particularly well written; however the 10 stories are wonderful, and need to be read, shared and talked about. In a world of gloom and inertia, these inspiring tales of ordinary people who felt compelled to take action on an aspect of the environment are a reminder that it is people who created this situation, and it is people who will be a part of initiating change creating a world where the cost to the environment (and by extension, to us) is considered more carefully. A great antidote to the mainstream media and the stories on social media.
January 27, 2021
In a world that seems increasingly mean, and where you question what you can do about it, it is refreshing to read a book like Fragile Planet. It tells the inspiring stories of ten people who in their own way are making a difference to the environment and planet. It shows that you too can make a difference however small, because collectively our efforts add up to something big. My full review here:
https://courtofthegrandchildren.com/p...
https://courtofthegrandchildren.com/p...
August 2, 2021
Thankful for this book. I think my parents bought a stack and have been handing them out.
I haven’t read biography for a while; this was engaging and Rod did a good job. I appreciated the variety and stories, although some topics seemed both unrelated and unnecessary. In particular the excursus on euthanasia for older people seems contrary to the idea of caring for a fragile planet- why not care for our fragile citizens also?
But as a whole, a great effort and much to be encouraged by.
I haven’t read biography for a while; this was engaging and Rod did a good job. I appreciated the variety and stories, although some topics seemed both unrelated and unnecessary. In particular the excursus on euthanasia for older people seems contrary to the idea of caring for a fragile planet- why not care for our fragile citizens also?
But as a whole, a great effort and much to be encouraged by.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews