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Being Ecological | Timothy Morton

Don’t care about ecology? This book is for you.

Why is everything we think we know about ecology wrong?
Is there really any difference between ‘humans’ and ‘nature’?
Does this mean we even have a future?

Timothy Morton, who has been called ‘Our most popular guide to the new epoch’ (Guardian), sets out to show us that whether we know it or not, we already have the capacity and the will to change the way we understand the place of humans in the world, and our very understanding of the term ‘ecology’. A cross-disciplinarian who has collaborated with everyone from Björk to Hans Ulrich Obrist, Morton is also a member of the object-oriented philosophy movement, a group of forward-looking thinkers who are grappling with modern-day notions of subjectivity and objectivity, while also offering fascinating new understandings of Heidegger and Kant. Calling the volume a book containing ‘no ecological facts’, Morton confronts the ‘information dump’ fatigue of the digital age, and offers an invigorated approach to creating a liveable future.

‘[A book] from which I took that maybe we can engage with this subject in different tones and a lightness of heart and spirit’  ~ Rishi Dastidar, in his guest contribution to May 2023’s What We’re Reading Now.

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Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air | David JC MacKay

Addressing the sustainable energy crisis in an objective manner, this enlightening book analyses the relevant numbers and organizes a plan for change on both a personal level and an international scale – for Europe, the United States, and the world. In case study format, this informative reference answers questions surrounding nuclear energy, the potential of sustainable fossil fuels, and the possibilities of sharing renewable power with foreign countries. While underlining the difficulty of minimizing consumption, the tone remains positive as it debunks misinformation and clearly explains the calculations of expenditure per person to encourage people to make individual changes that will benefit the world at large. If you’ve thrown your hands up in despair thinking no solution is possible, then read this book – it’s an honest, realistic, and humorous discussion of all our energy options.

“No doubt it’s been superseded now, but at the time I read it, it was revelation that energy system change is actually possible” ~ Rishi Dastidar selected Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air – which is available to read and download for free – for his guest contribution to May 2023’s What We’re Reading Now.

Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air is also cited as inspiration by climate and food system scientist Sarah Bridle in her Q&A on How to Fix Our Food System for Writers Rebel in November 2022.