The World Without Us,   ISBN:9780312427900

Customer Rating: 

This book seems to accurately capture most resource areas and what will happen when we're gone. Its obviously debatable since nobody knows for certain. But I thought Weisman did an exceptional job of categorizing and describing the different facets of man-made and natural things in relation to our existence and lack thereof. One of the most intriguing books I've read in recent memory.

Customer Rating: 

Weisman, surely you jest. Cockroaches have existed for 145 million years and don't need humans to survive. And why didn't you mention the demise of the Hanging Gardens or anything about ancient Babylon? Probably because you don't realize they still exist. Ever heard of trace, the human presence that can never be crossed out? I suggest reading Derrida, Levinas, etc.

Customer Rating: 

Fascinating book for anyone who has ever wondered what becomes of all our "stuff" -- big and small -- if and when we disappear. How long does it take for the average house to crumble to the ground? What happens to those giant petrochemical plants? The book is well-researched without bogging down in techno-speak.

Customer Rating: 

What if the world changed overnight and humanity suddenly disappeared? How long will it take for nature to reclaim our cities, and what footprints of our culture would remain?

Manhattan would quickly crumble. Within days of our disappearance the water pumps in the subway system would fail, and the foundations of skyscrapers would be washed away. Asphalt would give way to the expansion of water during the following spring thaw, opening cracks for pioneer plants that would then give room to shrubs and trees. The massively overbuilt bridges leading into the city would remain longer becoming a migration route for animals of all varieties, including deer and coyotes.

Meanwhile, some monuments could last for thousands of years including the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore. The remnants of our culture would bear similarity to those of other lost civilizations. Music and language would cease to exist. Paintings would mold or be washed away. Brass and stone sculptures would remain for thousands of years along with car tires and nuclear radiation.

Weisman takes an investigative approach, and explores locales where humans have disappeared. In essence, he looks for places where this particular future has already happened, including the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, and the abandoned resort town of Varosha in Greek Cypress. For a view of the long-term future of Europe, Weisman takes us to the primeval forest of Bialowieza Puszcaza a private game reserve in Poland and home to five-hundred year old oaks, nine species of woodpecker, and otherwise extinct European bison.

It is a strangely hopeful book and an affirmation of the powers of nature to adapt and recover.

Customer Rating: 

This is a book that hypothesizes what would happen to Earth if mankind disappears overnight. It does not attempt to explain why and how humans can suddenly vanish. Instead it tries to portray how cities and other man-made artifacts will collapse, in addition to how other lifeforms will adapt. To illustrate its points, this piece utilizes vivid examples like the crumbling of New York City -- think Will Smith racing the red Camaro through a run-down and overgrown Times Square in I Am Legend. This publication has also inspired various TVseries like Life After People on the History Channel.

Here are some interesting points:

1. Our houses, built of the usual suspects (wood, clay, bricks), will fall easily to nature. Their biggest enemy is water that seeps through the smallest cracks, thaws and freezes over time. Although most roofs are waterproof, water can always find a way to rust and loosen the nails that hold the shingles together. Once inside our habitats, it will quickly wreak havoc by molding walls, wooden floors and other furniture.

2. New York City will rot from underneath. It all starts with the extensive subway network which had effectively punched winding holes throughout the city foundation. These lines will flood within days as water pumps malfunction, causing the sewers above them to also overflow. The flooding weakens the soil structures, causing roads to cave in and pavements to crack. As water attacks from beneath, rain water will amplify the results from above. More importantly, it has an accomplice in plants. Plant life will find a way into these cracks and their roots in turn will "break more ground." The combined effects of these forces will eventually tumble the skyscrapers in Manhattan, one at a time.

3. While modern man-made structures quickly falter without human maintenance, the structures that will last the longest are surprisingly, the ones that have stood for thousands of years. These include the pyramids of Egypt and the Stonehenge of England. Other man-made evidence that will survive the test of time include radioactive materials, bronze statues, plastics, and Mount Rushmore.

4. Wildlife will also find a way back into cities and towns as domesticated pets fall prey to the lack of human care. They are the first to go as their food supplies dwindle. Wild animals from nearby countryside will take over and flourish. So does infestation of wild plant species as they outgrow the locals. Over time, cities will be concealed by massive vegetation growth. The Mayan establishments are perhaps the best illustration. Before their discovery, various Mayan towns including their massive pyramids were well hidden by heavy vegetation in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The point ultimately is nature will flourish where there is no human presence. The case study used in the book was the Korean DMZ.

5. The author also hypothesized that mega faunas will one day return because evolutionary pressures to outrun human hunters no longer exist. As the theory goes: mega faunas like the woolly mammoths were easy targets for early hunters. By bringing down these big animals, our ancestors guaranteed themselves ample food supplies, clothing and weaponry resources. With such advantages, the sure-fire extinction of mega faunas was inevitable. Without humans however, wild animals can afford to evolve into giants again!

Overall, this book is an entertaining read. The thought experiments were very visual and easy to extrapolate. I would recommend this non-fiction for some good bedtime reading.


-PTS ([...])