Try Beta Log in / create account

article discussion edit this page history

Blueprint for Survival

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Blueprint for Survival was an influential environmentalist text that drew attention to
the urgency and magnitude of environmental problems. A Blueprint for Survival
Author Edward Goldsmith and
navigation First published as a special edition of The Ecologist in January 1972, it was later Robert Allen
Main page published in book form and went on to sell over 750,000 copies.[1]
Subject(s) Environmentalism
Contents The Blueprint was signed by over thirty of the leading scientists of the day—including Sir
Featured content Publisher Ecosystems Ltd.
Julian Huxely, Sir Frank Fraser Darling, Sir Peter Medawar, and Sir Peter Scott—but was
Current events Publication date January 1972
written by Edward Goldsmith and Robert Allen (with contributions from John Davoll and
Random article
Sam Lawrence of the Conservation Society, and Michael Allaby [2]) who argued for a
search radically restructured society in order to prevent what the authors referred to as “the breakdown of society and the irreversible
disruption of the life-support systems on this planet”.[3]
Go Search It recommended that people live in small, decentralised and largely de-industrialised communities. Some of the reasons given for
this were that:
interaction it is too difficult to enforce moral behaviour in a large community
About Wikipedia
agricultural and business practices are more likely to be ecologically sound in smaller communities
Community portal
Recent changes
people feel more fulfilled in smaller communities
Contact Wikipedia reducing an area's population reduces the environmental impact[4]
Donate to Wikipedia The authors used tribal societies as their model which, it was claimed, were characterised by their small, human-scale
Help communities, low-impact technologies, successful population controls, sustainable resource management, holistic and
toolbox ecologically integrated worldviews, and a high degree of social cohesion, physical health, psychological well-being and spiritual
What links here fulfilment of their members. [5][6][7]
Related changes The Blueprint anticipated many of the goals and concerns of the Transition Movement.
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
See also [edit]
Permanent link Olduvai theory
Cite this page
Limits to Growth
Transition Towns

References [edit]

1. ^ About the Ecologist, www.theecologist.org

2. ^ Fantasy, the Bomb, and the Greening of Britain by Meredith Veldman. Cambridge University Press, 1994. p230
3. ^ A Blueprint for Survival, The Ecologist Vol. 2, No. 1. Preface
4. ^ Netzley, Patricia (1999). Environmental literature. California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-000-X.
5. ^ A Blueprint for Survival, The Ecologist Vol. 2, No. 1
6. ^ The Stable Society by Edward Goldsmith. The Wadebridge Press, 1978.
7. ^ The Way: an ecological worldview by Edward Goldsmith, University of Georgia Press, 1998.

External links [edit]

A Blueprint for Survival —full text

This article about a science book is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Categories: Science book stubs | Environmental non-fiction books | 1972 books | Sustainability books

This page was last modified on 30 August 2009 at 10:36.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Contact us Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers