Dominion [Paperback]

Niles Eldredge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0520208455 | ISBN-13: 978-0520208452 | Edition: 1

Overpopulation, depletion of natural resources, hunting of nonhuman species to extinction: paleontologist Niles Eldredge questions the long term survival of humans, given our propensity for living beyond our ecological means. In Dominion he reviews the relation between biological and cultural evolution, showing how the agricultural revolution freed humans from dependence on local ecosystems and allowed us to assert our dominion, as the Christian Bible has it, over the beasts of the field. Unless we quickly change our homocentric ways, we'll irretrievably destroy our own habitat.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Some 10,000 years ago, declares Eldredge, humans invented agriculture and became the first species to live beyond the confines of a local ecosystem. Ever since, notes the author, a curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, people have ignored, exploited or trashed their natural surroundings, living as though self-sufficient and detached from nature. Mass extinction of nonhuman species, loss of biodiversity, despoliation of the environment and runaway population growth are among the consequences confronting us, and solving them, Eldredge argues, will require a recognition that we are the first global species: "The whole earth has become our local ecosystem." This refreshingly succinct report charts human interaction with the environment from the first toolmakers of 2.5 million years ago to the three distinct migrations of Homo species out of Africa, which, Eldredge believes, took place within the last million years. He also explains how he and Stephen Jay Gould arrived at the theory of punctuated equilibria, which holds that evolutionary change took place in relatively quick, abrupt spurts.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Dominion is a personal essay on the human career written by a well- established paleontologist. . . . Eldredge's book attempts to deflect some of our inner-directed consciousness outward, to take dominion not over the earth but over ourselves. He believes the only way to that goal is through population control, and he is probably right." -- Meredith F. Small, Scientific American

"The human population of the earth is a standing affront to the rules of ecology. No reasonable scientific prediction would admit there to be so many of us. . . . Dominion is a short book, written for the nonspecialist audience, about this big paradox. He asks both how it came about, and what our understanding of it tells us (or suggests to us) about the human future." -- Mark Ridley, New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (May 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520208455
• ISBN-13: 978-0520208452
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,534,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb book., September 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Dominion (Paperback)

This author is a curator in the Dept. of Invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Together with Stephen Jay Gould, he formulated the evolutionary theory of Punctuated Equlibrium. In this excellent book Mr. Eldredge explores our evolutionary history, showing that although we think and act as though we live outside of nature, in reality, we have simply modified our position within the ecosystem through our agriculture and now global reach. He shows us how our notion of "dominion" over nature is largely an illusion and looks frankly at the consequences of this illusion, now and in the future, without resorting to darkness and gloom.

Mr. Eldredge is a very good writer for the layman and has a flair for transmitting a sense of wonder to his readers. His writing style reminds me of the late Carl Sagan. I especially enjoyed his thoughts on the biblical story of Genesis; how God's words regarding our dominion over the world have affected man and how we need a new story of who we are and our place in nature.

Don't worry as you read this book about forgetting anything important along the way, because Eldredge provides a brief and complete review of his salient points at the end. You won't need that highlighter.

I most sincerely recommend this easy-to-read yet scholarly book to anyone interested in ecology, evolution, and the future.

4.0 out of 5 stars The clout of culture, July 22, 2006

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dominion (Paperback)

Eldredge brings his experience as an anthropologist to assess the present world. It's overcrowded, he notes, and seriously so. That's causing stress on the entire planet, stresses the Earth can no longer sustain. The reason for the pressure is that at some point, human evolution brought us to the point where we became detached from Nature. We abandoned the environment to create a new one. With the rise of agriculture and fixed settlements, we were on the path to becoming an ecological disaster. As the first species to accomplish full control over our own food supply, we broke the pattern of nearly four billion years of evolution. Without a precedent to consider, we simply forged ahead with little consideration of what we were doing. It's a formula for disaster.

Agriculture, so fundamental to our existence today, was an innovation of immense consequences. It brought humans out of their previous wandering habits and settled us in permanent habitats. Instead of hunting animals, we corralled them in paddocks, to be utilised at our whim. From stone tools shaped on the fly for a limited number of tasks, we now created a range of implements to increase yields and produce items for personal use or trade. These elements led us to become "inner-directed". With this change in focus, learning the ways of the land, we simply made the land over to suit our needs. This is a momentous step in evolution, and while Eldredge is excellent at explaining what happened, there's nothing of the why. Coming from a palaeontologist, this should be surprising. In Eldredge's case, the reason is blatantly clear.

In this brief summary of our history, Eldredge's passion has many faces. He's clearly concerned about the future of our species and the biosphere. He's eloquent in his descriptive passages. He's informative in giving his account of how science has addressed our evolutionary track. Various positions are stoutly defended [his], while others are scathingly treated. Since it's Eldredge, we are subjected to repetitive treatments of the theory of punctuated evolution [evolution by jerks] developed in conjunction with the late Stephen J. Gould. Gould and his selected colleagues have long stressed "culture" has swamped biology. We have abandoned our biological roots, they argue, and replaced them with cultural mores. Tools and society are prime examples, and agriculture employs them both to grant us our enormous power over nature.

In his chapter, "Fashioning the Future", it would seem we might find solutions for the problems due to our innovative prowess leading to our break with evolution. Sadly, this is but partly true. Since no previous patterns of existence offer means of breaking our cycle of habitat overload, we must innovate further. The new methods, Eldredge contends, must overcome the natural pace of evolution - this after flogging "punk eek"! We have been "genetically engineering" domestic species for millennia. Now, we can fine-tune the process to accommodate our needs and reduce planetary impact. We can even apply such methods to ourselves. Beyond these biological questions, lie issues of "cultural homogeneity". Communication forms: radio, TV and the Internet, are already making inroads into cultural diversity. This "smearing" process will only increase, leading to broader applications of solutions to problems. "Band-aid" fixes are already being applied. These will likely be expanded from local through regional to global applications. It will, he concludes, likely require Draconian measures to implement them. One can only wonder which leaders will undertake the task. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ballad of the Hunter-Gatherer, June 16, 2005

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Ralph White (New England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dominion (Paperback)

Niles Eldgedge is well-credentialed to sound the alarm for the profound disequilibrium which underlies homo sapiens' relationship with his world. He is a paleontologist and curator of invertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He is co-author, with Stepen Jay Gould, of the theory of "punctuated equilibrium," which explains evolution's non-linear genetics. So when we see phrases such as "agriculture declares war on our local ecosystems," we need to take note. The central theme is that, with the development of agriculture, ten thousand years ago, man's population has expanded beyond a sustainable level. Our destruction of non-renewable resources, and our careless attitude toward biodiversity are likely to be the proximate causes of our own extinction. As for what can be done about this threat, he proposes to edit the book of Genesis: "The People decided to curb their population numbers. They determined to curtail evnironmental damage and the loss of other species. They decided to conserve the world's remaining ecosystems. And they embraced sustainable development, matching economic growth to the carrying capacities of their surroundings. The People lived. And it was very good."