Books Archives - Page 2 of 16

Time capsules: Energy in the 1970s

Every book is a time capsule, preserving knowledge and attitudes current at the time of writing, as I said in my previous post.

The NQCC garage sale donations which provided these time capsules were particularly strong on the nuclear debate. It was an urgent issue in the 1970s, with Peak Oil on the horizon and the dangers of nuclear technologies very much in the public mind from Hiroshima (1945) and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).

Renewable energy was so paltry that the energy debate was simply nuclear vs fossils. CO2 emissions did not figure in the energy debate at all, either. Why not?

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Time capsules: the Daintree Blockade

The recent North Queensland Conservation Council garage sale attracted a wonderful collection of old environmental books – mostly 1970s – 1990s, reflecting the age of the organisation and its older members.

Every book is a time capsule, preserving knowledge and attitudes current at the time of writing. This one was more in-the-moment than most.

The Trials of Tribulation by The Douglas Shire Wilderness Action Group is a 60-page book written in haste during a pause in the very physical blockade of the bulldozers pushing a road through Cape Trib rainforest in 1983.

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Decluttering

We have been caught up in several simultaneous but unrelated decluttering exercises in the last few weeks – an office clear-out, a garage sale for a local environmental NGO, cleaning up a home workshop, and more. They have refreshed our hands-on knowledge of responsible disposal of all sorts of stuff. Some of it is tricky.

Lessons (to be) learned

Getting rid of unwanted stuff sooner rather than later improves the chance of finding a good home for it. Many things go out of fashion or become useless through technology change, and most things deteriorate in storage.

Keeping unwanted stuff clutters our own lives while depriving others of things they might need but be unable to afford.

Books

Nonfiction books: paper dictionaries and encyclopedias have succumbed to digital references, while textbooks and tech manuals always did go out of date quickly. Other nonfiction books are a mixed bag; when they are old enough they may have some historical value, or if they are specialised enough (Flora and Fauna of the Mt Isa Region, perhaps) they haven’t been replaced by any newer, better equivalent.

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Richard Powers – The Overstory

Richard Powers is one of America’s top mainstream novelists, sitting alongside Peter Matthiessen (Snow Leopard) for his environmental and social concerns.

The Overstory (2018) follows a motley cast of Americans who, for all sorts of reasons, commit their lives to saving the continent’s old growth forests.

The descriptive writing is beautiful enough to turn readers instantly into tree-huggers. The tragedy of the clear-fell logging should turn many of them (us) into activists, too, so there are thematic parallels with Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future.

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Bugs and The Wilderness Garden

Two good books which approach organic gardening from different directions came my way recently. They are far from new but they are still in print so they deserve a mention.

Jackie French’s The Wilderness Garden (Aird Books, 1992/2007) was welcomed enthusiastically after a quick look. The Introduction begins, Beware of the gardens of the righteous! Or, ‘How never to weed, feed or dig your garden again.’ How can anything bad follow that?

Tim Marshall’s Bug: the Ultimate Gardener’s Guide to Organic Pest Control (ABC Books, 2010) impressed me immediately, too, because his introduction to our small wildlife was so lucid and positive.

Bug: the Ultimate Gardener’s Guide to Organic Pest Control

Tim Marshall has been a leader in Australia’s organic gardening movement for decades and has written a book for any organic (or want-to-be-organic) gardeners needing to know more about the bugs in their garden.

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