THE COLLAPSE OF WESTERN CIVILISATION. A view from the future

This originated as an essay, in which the authors were to write a piece on why the world (and the U.S. particularly) was failing to respond adequately to climate change. Naomi writes: "As a historian, I also felt uncomfortable trying to answer such a present-tense question. Then the thought came to me: what will future historians say about us? How will they answer this question?" The result is this, a work of speculative nonfiction written from the point of view of a historian (from China!) from the future looking back on the collapse of western civilization, which will be published by Columbia University Press next year. They are publishing it as a small format hardcover book that will launch a new series, Little Book, Big Think. Along the lines of Harry Frankfurt's "On Bullshit," or even Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." The film for the authors' previous book, Merchants of Doubt, will be coming out in 2014 as well, allowing for all kinds of cross-promotional opportunities. Naomi is now a Professor of the History of Science, Affiiated Professor of Earth and Planetary sciences at Harvard University. This is the flagship department for history of science in North America, and one of top three places in the world (other two are Max Planck, in Berlin, and Cambridge UK).