Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?--A Scientific Detective Story [Paperback]

Theo Colborn (Author), Dianne Dumanoski (Author), John Peter Meyers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1997

Identifies the various ways in which chemical pollutants in the environment are disrupting human reproductive patterns and causing such problems as birth defects, sexual abnormalities, and reproductive failure. Reprint. Tour. NYT.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Plume (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452274141
• ISBN-13: 978-0452274143
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,510 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Medical Books > Pharmacology > Toxicology

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A clear and compelling summary of an important subject., November 2, 2004

By 

O T (Ontario, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?--A Scientific Detective Story (Paperback)

'Our Stolen Future' is a great introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries in our time. Having recently completed a thesis project at university on Endocrine Disruptors, I have reviewed hundreds of papers on the subject. This book is a good clear overview of the scientific literature on EDs. The authors are experts - Theo Colborn is largely responsible for creating the field by bringing together diverse researchers so they could see the big picture of their work. Many of the principle investigators are interviewed and quoted at length on the way chemicals participate in and interfere with delicate hormonal systems in animals (including humans). The major accomplishment of the book is to make an easy-to-follow story out of complex research. Many resources are available to help you assess the reliability of this story, and the best thing to do if you have any doubts is read review articles in scientific journals (which are easier to understand than technical papers). The Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) have a guidebook for health-care professionals on Endocrine Disruptors, and the US EPA has many reports on the matter. Beware of people or websites who try to 'debunk' this book (or the science behind it) by simply declaring it false, flawed or disproven. There is far too much supporting research for so simple a refutation. 'Our Stolen Future' is well written and a compelling read.

65 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please stop the world now, Id like to get off., December 21, 1999

By 

Sonny Whitelaw "Sonny" (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?--A Scientific Detective Story (Paperback)

Without doubt, this is the most terrifying book I've ever read. Stephen King, move over, reality bites.....Nope, this is not fiction, this is the air we breathe, the food we eat - even the very containers we eat from. No place on the planet is safe anymore, so would someone please stop it and let me off now?

For me, the most terrifying aspect was the dawning realization that I had read many of the research papers cited within, but had not drawn the elements together. As the pieces fell into place, my eyes opened in horror at the implications....and I looked down at my infant son, who I was breastfeeding, appalled at the choices now confronting me.

But make no mistake, this is no tabloid horror, nor a new age book on the environment. This is a well-researched work, with an opening prelude by Vice President Al Gore. The facts are presented in a clear, concise manner that does not require a college degree to understand, but nor will it bore academics. Told with the same mounting tension as Richard Preston's The Hot Zone, the real terror comes when the reader realizes that unlike Ebola, there is no possible escape. This is not some emerging virus in a distant country, this is here...now, already in us....

Current human population growth masterfully disguises an insidious biological time bomb already exploding within us all. In our desire to create new and better chemical nightmares manufactured under the guise of modern living conveniences, we may be headed to extinction as fast and sure as any currently endangered species. ...And it's hitting is right where it hurts most, the physical and psychological abilities we need to reproduce.

But like a well presented piece of research, with the null hypothesis clearly in mind, this book does not draw unfounded conclusions. It allows you, the reader, to draw your own. And when you do, you may never sleep well again.

Buy this book. Read it, lend a copy to a friend and encourage them to buy it. It may be the single most important book you ever read.

68 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stop, I Want Off Now, June 8, 2002

By 

J.W.K (Nagano, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?--A Scientific Detective Story (Paperback)

The Industrial Revolution ushered in a lot of nice toys and some really convenient products - if it hasn't made our lives a little more frantic - but with this book, and now a host of other books like it, we see that the end results of our mad-dash to make and remake the world using our new scientific know-how is taking a huge toll on human health: Sperm counts are plummeting, cancer-rates are sky high, the immune system is being undermined, and hormone-mimics are quite possibly eroding our intelligence and altering our behavior. Without realizing it, we have put ourselves in grave peril, and ironically enough it is a cadre of scientists (life scientists, that is, ecologists and biologists) who are sounding the wake-up call -- ironic because it was their ilk, the chemists and scientific industrialists, who brought us pesticides, PCBs, and other toxic substances in the first place. The sad fact is, we all have these substances in our body now. There is no way to escape the new, chemicalized environment we have constructed. So in other words, there is no getting off this joy ride. That said, if you are interested in learning about natural detoxification processes, read "Hormone Deception" (Berkson, 2000). There is a lot of useful information in there, as well as a chapter about how diet and excercise can help keep these substnaces at lower levels by speeding up and aiding the body's natural detoxification processes. In a nutshell, she suggested to eating green, yellow and red veggies, taking in a lot of protein (nuts and seeds work fine for veggetarians), getting a regular dose of antioxidents, and excercising until you sweat for 30 minutes six days a week. For more detailed information, read the book. Take care of your body. Tread lightly on the planet. Good luck!