Nonfiction

The World Without Us

The World Without Us

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-05-16 06:52:47
  • Update Date：2025-09-13
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Alan Weisman
  • ISBN：0753559714
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Summary

Revised Edition with New Afterword from the Author

Time #1 Nonfiction Book of the Year

Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award

Over 3 million copies sold in 35 Languages

"On the day after humans disappear， nature takes over and immediately begins cleaning house - or houses， that is。 Cleans them right off the face of the earth。 They all go。"

What if mankind disappeared right now， forever。。。 what would happen to the Earth in a week， a year， a millennium？ Could the planet's climate ever recover from human activity？ How would nature destroy our huge cities and our myriad plastics？ And what would our final legacy be？

Speaking to experts in fields as diverse as oil production and ecology， and visiting the places that have escaped recent human activity to discover how they have adapted to life without us， Alan Weisman paints an intriguing picture of the future of Earth。 Exploring key concerns of our time， this absorbing thought experiment reveals a powerful - and surprising - picture of our planet's future。

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Reviews

Shannon ，

Really interesting book， although at points， it felt like it got away from the central concept a little bit。

Lees ，

I gave this an extra star because the content itself is really interesting and has some cool investigations about nature and human evolution。 However， it completely lacks a focus and narrative， and the title was very misleading

Molly ，

This book is like porn for environmentalists （like me！） I just got such a great feeling after the humans went away and it just kept getting better until the climax of nature erasing almost all traces of human existence！ I'm not a sociopath， I promise。 Except maybe I am a little。 Seriously， this was a thought-provoking book and would be great for a book club discussion。 Punchline: people are not all that。 This book is like porn for environmentalists （like me！） I just got such a great feeling after the humans went away and it just kept getting better until the climax of nature erasing almost all traces of human existence！ I'm not a sociopath， I promise。 Except maybe I am a little。 Seriously， this was a thought-provoking book and would be great for a book club discussion。 Punchline: people are not all that。 。。。more

Justine ，

Cool book， but I was a little disappointed that there was not actually that much discussion of what could happen in the future after humans disappeared。 I understand the need for research and examples to speculate from， but it felt like a very scattered history book。

Pam ，

This book deserves a spot on every high school’s/college required reading list。 It also deserves an update with a foreword。 It’ll make you sad at some points， mad at others but ultimately it’ll give you hope。 The author handles the subject with a delicate touch pulling support from many disciplines。 It will either awaken the activist in you or make you fee guilty。

Grace Ly ，

DNF。

Tori ，

Nothing against Mr。 Weisman， I did find a lot of the things he wrote about interesting。 The rest of the book just felt like I had to drag myself through it though。 It took me nearly a week to read this which for me is too long on a book that's under 300 pages。 Nothing against Mr。 Weisman， I did find a lot of the things he wrote about interesting。 The rest of the book just felt like I had to drag myself through it though。 It took me nearly a week to read this which for me is too long on a book that's under 300 pages。 。。。more

⚧️ Nadienne Greysorrow ⚧️ ，

Overall， it was interesting， however， I do wish it went a bit more in-depth in the "play by play，" if you will， of the effects of the scenario - and covering more of the world than just the USA （where the preponderance of the book takes place - details of what will happen to NYC abound - but nothing about any other major metropolitan area）。 Just thinking of the top of my head - what happens to the hundreds of nuclear reactors currently at sea at any given time？ I also wish he spend less time wax Overall， it was interesting， however， I do wish it went a bit more in-depth in the "play by play，" if you will， of the effects of the scenario - and covering more of the world than just the USA （where the preponderance of the book takes place - details of what will happen to NYC abound - but nothing about any other major metropolitan area）。 Just thinking of the top of my head - what happens to the hundreds of nuclear reactors currently at sea at any given time？ I also wish he spend less time waxing philosophic near the end of the book， going into religion， art， the messages we've sent out into space， etc。， etc。 I was hoping more for disaster porn， in all honesty。It's still worth a read， of course， even if his half-hearted attempts at solutions are rooted more in modern Western Liberal thought and less Leftist， like they should be。 He sees one of the more militant leaders of Greenpeace starting a more "friendly" organization as progress， for instance。 。。。more

Phil ，

A terrific book and it was a good show as well。 The book is a tad out of date。 Written in 2007 and now read by someone who reads a fair bit of popular science and natural history， some of the "facts" seemed a bit off。 A terrific book and it was a good show as well。 The book is a tad out of date。 Written in 2007 and now read by someone who reads a fair bit of popular science and natural history， some of the "facts" seemed a bit off。 。。。more

Tara Sypien ，

This was a reread for me and I have to say that I enjoyed it much more the first time around。 There were still parts that I enjoyed but some chapters seemed especially nihilistic and strange。 2。5 stars

Frazer Hendricks ，

I have a collapse-pilled book combo to suggest: The World Without Us by Alan Weisman and The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell （@lewis_dartnell）。Weisman's book helps you understand just how much maintenance goes into keeping streets， buildings， subways， bridges， petro-infrastructure， and nuclear power plants functional。 The depth and breath of effort that it takes to keep the human built-environment together was surprising to me。If everything collapsed and human technology was lost， Dartnell's The Kno I have a collapse-pilled book combo to suggest: The World Without Us by Alan Weisman and The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell （@lewis_dartnell）。Weisman's book helps you understand just how much maintenance goes into keeping streets， buildings， subways， bridges， petro-infrastructure， and nuclear power plants functional。 The depth and breath of effort that it takes to keep the human built-environment together was surprising to me。If everything collapsed and human technology was lost， Dartnell's The Knowledge would help to bring human infrastructure back on a path without dependence on dirty-power。After reading both， the absolutely miniscule breadth of your own knowledge will be obvious， which is undoubtedly good。 。。。more

Penny Hill ，

Not really fair to rate this as I only read about a third and then just skimmed。 Full of facts and science so much so I found it overwhelming。 The premise of what happens to the planet without the human race was interesting but unsettled me and I had several bad dreams with this by my bedside！ The author covers such a broad area relying on art historians， archaeologists， architects， biologists to name a few。 He covers numerous parts of the world and what happens to structures， nuclear plants， wi Not really fair to rate this as I only read about a third and then just skimmed。 Full of facts and science so much so I found it overwhelming。 The premise of what happens to the planet without the human race was interesting but unsettled me and I had several bad dreams with this by my bedside！ The author covers such a broad area relying on art historians， archaeologists， architects， biologists to name a few。 He covers numerous parts of the world and what happens to structures， nuclear plants， wildlife， forests， etc Those at book group enjoyed though and we all agree it was interesting but prob a dip in and out of book。 。。。more

Sean Lee ，

Fascinating read

Viktoria ，

Would recommend。 Just enough fun facts to stop being depressing

Tamara York ，

An informative， well-researched thought experiment。 I’ve often wondered if the world would be better off without humanity。 I strongly felt that the answer would be yes， and that is now backed up with substantial evidence。 A depressing conclusion。 I’m glad that I read this book， but I can’t say that it produced any feelings of optimism。 The bottom line: humans are reeking havoc on the planet and the effects are past reversing unless huge global changes are made， especially in population growth ra An informative， well-researched thought experiment。 I’ve often wondered if the world would be better off without humanity。 I strongly felt that the answer would be yes， and that is now backed up with substantial evidence。 A depressing conclusion。 I’m glad that I read this book， but I can’t say that it produced any feelings of optimism。 The bottom line: humans are reeking havoc on the planet and the effects are past reversing unless huge global changes are made， especially in population growth rates。 The earth will recover from our presence after a significant amount of time goes by after we are gone。 I guess that’s a kind of optimism in itself。 。。。more

Jeff ，

3。5 / 5 This book was written 15 years ago and since then human beings destructive effect on the environment has only worsened， which makes reading it all the more depressing。 The basic premise is what would happen to the planet if humans stopped existing。。。。given the events of the past couple years this thought experiment might be closer to reality。 It's an intriguing premise （one often covered in sci-fi） so to be able to read about it from a non-fiction scientific lens had lots of potential。 T 3。5 / 5 This book was written 15 years ago and since then human beings destructive effect on the environment has only worsened， which makes reading it all the more depressing。 The basic premise is what would happen to the planet if humans stopped existing。。。。given the events of the past couple years this thought experiment might be closer to reality。 It's an intriguing premise （one often covered in sci-fi） so to be able to read about it from a non-fiction scientific lens had lots of potential。 The book was hit or miss， where some parts of it were extremely interesting （parts on Bialowieza Puszcza forest， Lake Tanganyika， 7 Wonders of the World， Cyprus and Korean DMZ， Turkey's Cappadocia to name a few） and then there were parts that were less interesting （the detailed descriptions of nuclear half-life， the transhumanism） and kinda dragged through those chapters。 Really the main weakness of the book was that it had no one unifying theme， it was a collection of different research hypothesis' or ideas。 I think of the book Guns， Germs and Steel which asked similar existential questions， but part of what made it so strong was that everything tied back to its initial question or hypothesis。 The World Without Us is definitely worth a read if its basic premise captures your interest， it presents a lot of interesting conclusions and effects that you may not previously have considered。 。。。more

Jan ，

Perhaps there couldn't be one without the other， but the depressing and constant litany of how man has messed up the Earth spoiled the small bits about what would actually happen without humans。 I couldn't take any more at about 70 percent， and did not finish。Adam Grupper's narration of the audiobook was a little slow， but otherwise competent。 Perhaps there couldn't be one without the other， but the depressing and constant litany of how man has messed up the Earth spoiled the small bits about what would actually happen without humans。 I couldn't take any more at about 70 percent， and did not finish。Adam Grupper's narration of the audiobook was a little slow， but otherwise competent。 。。。more

Nemo ，

This is a really terribly written book。A， the author is used to using a magazine essay style， with redundant， overloaded usage of a very large number of specialized vocabulary。 Try this example: on page 260。 " Besides the mostly curious sharks， unfriendly snappers， furtive Moray eels， and intermittent schools of five foot barracuda， the researchers also swam through swirling shoals of fusiliers， lurking peacock groupers， hawkish， damselfish， parrotfish， surgeonfish， befuddling variations on the This is a really terribly written book。A， the author is used to using a magazine essay style， with redundant， overloaded usage of a very large number of specialized vocabulary。 Try this example: on page 260。 " Besides the mostly curious sharks， unfriendly snappers， furtive Moray eels， and intermittent schools of five foot barracuda， the researchers also swam through swirling shoals of fusiliers， lurking peacock groupers， hawkish， damselfish， parrotfish， surgeonfish， befuddling variations on the yellow blue theme of angelfish， and striped， crosshatched， and herringbone permutations of black yellow silver butterfly fish。"By this example I can tell you that it is never worth your time to read such an awkward， unnecessarily detailed pile up of dictionary words， unless you are happy to look up every rarely used words in a dictionary。 And when a book is filled with such poorly written stuff， why waste my life。 B。 This idea is really better for an article than a book。 I like his original idea， but he did a terrible job to make it a book。 So， most chapters are very loosely connected and are not all related to his book theme。 Some chapter reads like a tourist essay， some like a shallow recap of history， some like a silly high school style lyric poetry。 In sum， don't buy。 And it is a crap。 And dont be cheated by the best seller title。 。。。more

Danny Smith ，

Fascinating read， needed some editing。 Get the feeling we are constantly keeping nature at bay， it will take over if we're not around。 It will also heal the planet of all the damage we have imposed if we were to leave。 Fascinating read， needed some editing。 Get the feeling we are constantly keeping nature at bay， it will take over if we're not around。 It will also heal the planet of all the damage we have imposed if we were to leave。 。。。more

Kalia Dorgelo ，

I read “The World Without Us” by Alan Weisman。 It was about him talking to a bunch of professionals on what they thought would happen to certain aspects of the world if we just disappeared tomorrow。 I found it when my teacher took the class down to the library and looked at the books the librarian took out for us that were non-fiction。 This book caught my eye and so， I read the summary and it seemed really interesting。 So， I got it。 tWhat if we just disappeared tomorrow？ Alan Weisman wrote a boo I read “The World Without Us” by Alan Weisman。 It was about him talking to a bunch of professionals on what they thought would happen to certain aspects of the world if we just disappeared tomorrow。 I found it when my teacher took the class down to the library and looked at the books the librarian took out for us that were non-fiction。 This book caught my eye and so， I read the summary and it seemed really interesting。 So， I got it。 tWhat if we just disappeared tomorrow？ Alan Weisman wrote a book that talked about what would happen to the Earth， the atmosphere， the animals， the buildings， machines， and climate。 He talked about the past， present， and future。 Alan went to different professionals in those different fields and talked to them about what they thought would happen to their field of study if we just disappeared。 A lot talked about how animals would prosper without us。 Some others talked about how things depended on us， like pets， or subways in New York， and even electrical plants。 All these professionals talked about how it was highly unlikely that we would just disappear， but it could happen。 “We don’t actually have to shoot songbirds to remove them from the sky。 Take away enough of their home or sustenance， and they fall dead on their own”（Weisman 67）。 Alan said this when he was talking about how humans destroy everything because we try to make things easier on us。 This is my favorite quote because it shows me what I am doing to the Earth just by living the way humans have evolved and gotten used to。 It made me realize that humans made animals scared， that we made life harder on them。 I think this makes people environmentalists This book might not be some people’s cup of tea， but I loved how real this book was。 The only thing is that it can get a little too real。 I was told not to get too depressed while reading this book， but Weisman is just saying how we destroy some aspects of Earth。 Sometimes The World Without Us got a little too real， but it really opened my eyes。 Although this was a good book， I had my share of non-fiction books for a while。 This book reminded me of animal documentaries。 If you liked this book then you could go to Discovery Plus and watch some documentaries there。 。。。more

Lily ，

It was interesting， but the TedEd video that made me read this was way better， this just dragged everything out unnecessarily long

Catherine ，

This may be the best book I almost didn't finish， and it was a bit of a fluke that I even picked it up。 I was actually looking for The Anthropocene Reviewed， but this book， with the same or a very close Dewey Decimal number grabbed my attention。 Published in 2007， Alan Weisman takes on a very broad subject。 Basically， his premise is what would happen if all the human life on the planet ceased （due to a completely fatal virus， etc。）。 What would happen to our cities and farms， to wildlife， etc。 Ye This may be the best book I almost didn't finish， and it was a bit of a fluke that I even picked it up。 I was actually looking for The Anthropocene Reviewed， but this book， with the same or a very close Dewey Decimal number grabbed my attention。 Published in 2007， Alan Weisman takes on a very broad subject。 Basically， his premise is what would happen if all the human life on the planet ceased （due to a completely fatal virus， etc。）。 What would happen to our cities and farms， to wildlife， etc。 Yeah， it's a lot。 The first section looks at places that have been abandoned and how that could play out for the rest of the world。 There's overlapping material with the more recent Islands of Abandonment and the History Channel series Life After People。 He also covers a lot of natural history -- what the planet was like before an invasive species from Africa （that's us） took over。 Part II starts with a chapter titled "What Falls Apart。" Sadly， the answer would turn out to be "Catherine。" After covering the Green Line （the UN buffer zone in Cyprus）， Mr。 Weisman follows up with a chapter titled "What Lasts" about Istanbul （which actually won't last） and the underground cities beneath Cappadocia （which have and probably will）。 Then comes Chapter 9， "Polymers Are Forever，" and Chapter 10， "The Petrol Patch。" If my anxiety hadn't already been high due to real life events， maybe I could have coped with reading about how much damage we'd already inflicted on the planet FIFTEEN YEARS AGO and how long it would take the planet to recover from said damage。 But as things occurred， I found myself unable to sleep at night。 Chapter 11， "The World Without Farms，" was equally depressing。 For my own mental and physical health， I set the book aside and picked up Murder on the Nile。Feeling more stable （and having previewed the chapter titles of Parts III and IV）， I picked up where I left off， during the day， and finished the rest of the book。 That last 100 pages covers more of what would happen without us， including to The Chunnel and the Panama Canal， to birds and to the oceans。 （I did skip parts of Chapter 15， "Hot Legacy，" about nuclear waste。） Overall， I'm glad I read this book， but I would have enjoyed it more without Chapters 9-11。 They really didn't contain any information I don't already know in 2022， although they were probably more surprising when the book was originally published。 If those topics cause you anxiety， don't feel guilty skipping them。 And I do highly recommend Islands of Abandonment， which is a fascinating look at a similar topic and gorgeously written。 I'll leave you with the thoughts of Doug Erwin， a paleobiology curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and "extinction expert，" who Mr。 Weisman interviewed:"Humans are going extinct eventually。 Everything has， so far。 It's like death: there's no reason to think we're any different。 But life will continue。 It may be microbial life at first。 Or centipedes running around。 Then life will get better and go on， whether we're here or not。 I figure it's interesting to be here now。 I'm not going to get all upset about it。" 。。。more

Ooniemme ，

I liked it， very prescient。

Connor ，

A little fear mongering for my taste but fascinating nonetheless。

Dianna ，

Let's pretend all the humans disappear。 What would happen to your house？ NYC？ Nuclear reactors？ Oil rigs？ Endangered species？ Invasive plants？ All that plastic in the oceans？This is a work of great imagination and research， and I thoroughly enjoyed it。 Reading this book is like reading a really good， really long article in National Geographic without pictures。 Let's pretend all the humans disappear。 What would happen to your house？ NYC？ Nuclear reactors？ Oil rigs？ Endangered species？ Invasive plants？ All that plastic in the oceans？This is a work of great imagination and research， and I thoroughly enjoyed it。 Reading this book is like reading a really good， really long article in National Geographic without pictures。 。。。more

Jonny Kelvey-Brown ，

Re-titled， the world should live without us， but even that is too late。

Nicole ，

The book made me go through multiple existential life crises…

Stefan Wiebe ，

Interesting premise and seems to be incredibly well researched， but didn't do it for me。 Jumps around between how the earth was before human colonization， how humans are currently affecting it， and predictions（/speculation） on what would happen in a post human world， but never with a clear through line and often a bit scattered in my opinion。 Came across to me as trying to fit all the research and anecdotes into the book even if they weren't all that necessary。 That said， it has plenty of eye op Interesting premise and seems to be incredibly well researched， but didn't do it for me。 Jumps around between how the earth was before human colonization， how humans are currently affecting it， and predictions（/speculation） on what would happen in a post human world， but never with a clear through line and often a bit scattered in my opinion。 Came across to me as trying to fit all the research and anecdotes into the book even if they weren't all that necessary。 That said， it has plenty of eye opening stats and disheartening facts， as to be expected in a book like this。 。。。more

Sara ，

A tradução para português （portugal） deste livro é um horror。。。。 Ler em inglês recomendado。 O livro em si dá-nos muuuuuuito para explorar e saltita de um assunto para o outro como se tivesse sob o efeito de anfetaminas。 Faz-nos suar um bocado， mas fazem-se descobertas maravilhosas ao lê-lo。 É um livro que nos tenta consolar no saber que estamos a destruir o planeta， ao responder que quando desaparecermos， aqui estará ainda a terra a recuperar-se dos nossos abusos。

Mantas Valuckas ，

Was pretty boring to read

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The World Without Us

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The World Without Us&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The World Without Us&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0