Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #944501 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Sat somewhere on that uneasy continuum between commonplace book and New Scientist magazine article, David Suzuki's The Sacred Balance disguises its serious intent behind the tricksiness of its presentation. But the aggregate effect of its box- outs, pull-quotes and sub-headings is undeniably powerful: a many-pronged effort to stake out some common ethical ground between the increasingly polarised worlds of environmentalism and big business. Suzuki's diagnosis of the late Capitalist condition is one in which our adaptive behaviours have become dangerously divorced from the environmental conditions in which they evolved. "The definitions of 'cost' and 'benefit' have changed", Suzuki writes. "Whereas in the past the most important factor was the long-term survival or well-being of the family or group, today decisions are made based on the implications for a company, job, market share or profit. So we assess costs and benefits within a very different framework of values, ignoring, for example, the health of the community or ecosystem. We have gotten out of the habit of thinking about things that really matter to us ...

The Sacred Balance is an eloquent expression of the general yearning for a closer connection to our planet--the kind of ill-understood urge that makes more people visit zoos than attend all major sports events combined. "Through us [the world] becomes conscious", writes Suzuki's co-author Amanda McConnell. This book is a timely reminder of that simple and revolutionary fact. --Simon Ings

From the Back Cover
In The Sacred Balance, David Suzuki, the acclaimed geneticist, presents his vision of how we can meet our basic needs on this earth and create a way of life that is ecologically sustainable, fulfilling and just. Here, as he explores crucial issues, such as the importance of love and spirituality in our lives and the interdependence of all living creatures on this planet, he shows us how we can rediscover our place in nature and live in true balance and harmony with our surroundings.

Timely and thought-provoking, The Sacred Balance confronts these crucial issues and, with wisdom and compassion, offers an inspiring new direction for us all.

About the Author
David Suzuki
David Suzuki is a highly acclaimed geneticist and the host of The Nature of Things. He has written numerous books, including Genethics, Wisdom of the Elders (both coauthored with Peter Knudtson), Metamorphosis and The Japan We Never Knew (coauthored with Keibo Oiwa), and is the founder and chair of the David Suzuki Foundation. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
His co-author on The Sacred Balance, Amanda McConnell, has written more than 100 documentary films, many of them for The Nature of Things. She has a Ph.D. in English Literature, and she writes and gardens in Toronto, Ontario.

Customer Reviews

The earth and it survival in easy understandable terms
I recommend all of humanity to read this as it tells you how in simple terms the way the world ticks. If we are the caretakers of this planet and all that lives on it. We should start to honour it and it will sustain our lives longer and the animal and plant life of this planet as well. Economics is not the answer only the will of each and everyone to establish compassion for our world will it become sustainable.