Charles C. Mann

Two Groundbreaking Scientists and Their Conflicting Visions of the Future of Our Planet 'Does the earth’s finite carrying capacity mean economic growth has to stop? That momentous question is the subject of Charles Mann’s brilliant book.' Wall Street Journal In forty years, the population of the Earth will reach ten billion. Can our world support so many people? What kind of world will it be? In this unique, original and important book, Charles C. Mann illuminates the four great challenges we face – food, water, energy, climate change – through an exploration of the crucial work and wide-ranging influence of two little-known twentieth-century scientists, Norman Borlaug and William Vogt. Vogt (the Prophet) was the intellectual forefather of the environmental movement, and believed that in our using more than the planet has to give, our prosperity will bring us to ruin. Borlaug’s research in the 1950s led to the development of modern high-yield crops that have saved millions from starvation. The Wizard of Mann’s title, he believed that science will continue to rise to the challenges we face. Mann tells the stories of these scientists and their crucial influence on today’s debates as his story ranges from Mexico to India, across continents and oceans and from the past and the present to the future. Brilliantly original in concept, wryly observant and deeply researched, The Wizard and the Prophet is essential reading for readers of Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens or Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel, for anyone interested in how we got here and in the future of our species.

Two Groundbreaking Scientists and Their Conflicting Visions of the Future of Our Planet

The Wizard and the Prophet

Examines two influential scientists--William Vogt (1902-1968) and Norman Borlaug (1914-2009)--and their approaches to environmental problems.

Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World

Dana Kraft

This was a book that changed my perspective on environmental issues and has made me think a lot more about why I hold certain beliefs. I learned about history, science, anthropology, politics and so many other things. This is also the most balanced, thoughtful and fair presentation of environmental and climate change issues I've ever read. I'm sure my family is tired of hearing me talk about this book.

A few quotes I'll remember:
'He asked me if I had ever been to a place where most of the people weren't getting enough to eat. "Not just poor, but actually hungry all the time," he said. I told him that I hadn't been to such a place. "That's the point," he said. "When I was getting started, you couldn't avoid them."' p 440.

"Why would you listen to people who have no idea what you consider important?" p 445

Bryan Alexander

I admit to starting The Wizard the the Prophet with high hopes. I deeply enjoyed Mann's previous two books about global history, 1491 and 1493. They were informative and compelling. Now that I'm turning more attention to climate change, Mann's take on the subject sounded grand.

The book's conception is fascinating. He wants to retell the past century of ecological thinking through the lives of two major players, each articulating a very different world view: Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution's agricultural boom, and William Vogt, advocate for systemic limits and the carrying capacity idea. In Mann's scheme Borlaug is a Wizard, someone convinced of the power of innovation and science to improve the human lot, while Vogt is a Prophet, arguing that Wizards' aims are dangerous and self-defeating in the face of nature's might. 

For example, each man responded to Mexican rural poverty differently.To Vogt, the basic problem was land degradation, and the primary cure was to east the burden on the land. By contrast, the scientists [i.e., Borlaug] believed that Mexico's issues were caused, at bottom, by lack of knowledge and tools. (118)
More:Vogt...laid out the basic ideas for the modern environmental movement. In particular, he founded what the Hampshire College population researcher Betsy Hartmann has called 'apocalyptic environmentalism'—the belief that unless humankind drastically reduces consumption and limits population, it will ravage global ecosystems. In best-selling books and powerful speeches, Vogt argued that affluence is not our greatest achievement but our biggest problem. If we continue taking more than the Earth can give, he said, the unavoidable result will be devastation on a global scale. Cut back! Cut back! was his mantra.At its best The Wizard the the Prophet is fascinating. Vogt and Borlaug each led rich lives. Tracing their careers means weaving together a range of modern history's events and players, from Planned Parenthood to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Peterson's Guide to Birds to a globe-changing Rockefeller Foundation and the connection between Dixie cups and population control. Each struggled with daunting challenges and made a major mark on the world.

And yet after the first third, the book starts to lose direction. Mann offers a neat idea, tracing Wizard and Prophet thinking across major domains of food, water, energy, and climate. But he ends up chasing after ideas under those domains in often basic ways, introducing different forms of science and history without knitting them back into Borlaug versus Vogt, and all too often without sufficient depth to justify the excursion. Mann concludes the book by finishing up his subjects' respective biographies in a way that complicates then diminishes each man, which undermines the entire idea of our investing 400+ pages in them. There's no attempt to further develop Wizard/Prophet as a scheme, either looking into current applications or future possibilities. The book just stops.

Which made me sad, because I enjoyed so much of the ride. Mann has a wry sense of humor which peeps out: "Except for his lack of expertise in the subject and nonexistent professional reputation, he was perfect." (125) . There are rip-roaring stories that beg to be read aloud, like the tale of Pithole (251ff) or Borlaug's epic seed shipments of 1965 (trust me on this: 424ff), and incisive character sketches. Mann's love of science and history is infectious. But ultimately the book fails to take its core premise seriously.

Ultimately the book reads like a misfired anthology. I'd recommend reading the biographical chapters, or dipping into the elemental center if you're interested in those particular topics. Use The Wizard the the Prophet to inspire your own thinking.

The Wizard and the Prophet Two Groundbreaking Scientists and Their Conflicting Visions of the Future of Our Planet

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