The Human Planet

A careful explanation of what society is doing to this amazing planet and its people. I was absolutely gripped. Brilliantly written and genuinely one of the most important books I have ever read – Ellie Mae O’HaganA relentless reckoning of how we, as a species, got ourselves into the mess we’re in today… told with determination and in chiseled, almost literary prose. Indeed, the book’s main story - how one species, Homo sapiens, fresh off the trees of Africa, came to rule the Earth so completely that it now stands a good chance of wrecking it - has the force of a Greek tragedy * Wall Street Journal *A highly entertaining examination of the many ways in which humans are now profoundly altering Earth – Robin Mckie * Observer Books of the Year *A clear, intelligent and engaged history of and argument about the Anthropocene… If readers want a judicious and engaging marker of where the debate has reached, The Human Planet is it – Robert J. Mayhew * Times Higher Education *Profound and thought-provoking, this book does a remarkable job explaining where the current proposal to define a new human-dominated era properly fits – Thomas E. Lovejoy, winner of the Blue Planet PrizeThat humans now dominate the ‘natural’ systems of our planet is the key fact of our time – this book does a remarkable job of explaining how that came to pass, and why it matters so much – Bill McKibben, author FalterUnderstanding what it means for humans to have become a geological force reshaping the workings of the Earth is both a deep intellectual challenge and a political necessity. Richly thought through and provocative from its title onwards, The Human Planet rises to that challenge, bringing together Earth history and human history in a new way. Its reassessment of the past will equip its readers to understand the future – and perhaps to improve it – Oliver Morton, author of The Planet RemadeToday scientists increasingly believe that we have entered a new era, the Anthropocene. In this succinct but sweeping re-evaluation of the human story, Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin show exactly why this abstract-sounding contention should radically affect our views of today and tomorrow. The Human Planet packs more ideas into a small space than I would have thought possible – Charles C. Mann, author of The Wizard and the ProphetImmensely readable… Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin provide a compelling narrative, stretching from the emergence of hominins from Earth’s long history some 3 million years ago, to our position today, as a species with planetary reach * Nature *

Simon L. Lewis is Professor of Global Change Science at University College London and the University of Leeds. An award-winning scientist, he has been described as having ‘one of the world’s most influential scientific minds’. He has written for the Guardian and Foreign Policy magazine.

Mark A. Maslin is Professor of Climatology at University College London, a Royal Society Industrial Fellow, and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Scholar. He is the author of eight books and has written for The Times and New Scientist.