The World Without Us

By: Alan Weisman

Narrated by: Adam Grupper

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immortalized as fossils; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, and man-made molecules may be our lasting gifts to the universe.

Just days after humans disappear, floods in New York's subways would start eroding the city's foundations and the world's cities would crumble, asphalt jungles giving way to real ones. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders from rabbis to the Dalai Lama, and paleontologists, who describe a prehuman world inhabited by megafauna (like giants sloths that stood taller than mammoths), Weisman illustrates what the planet might be like today, if not for us.

Weisman reveals Earth's tremendous capacity for self-healing and shows which human devastations are indelible and what of our highest art and culture would endure longest. Ultimately reaching a radical but persuasive solution to our planet's problems - one that needn't depend on our demise - this is narrative nonfiction at its finest, taking on an irresistible concept with gravity but a highly accessible touch.

©2007 Alan Weisman (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

"Weisman's enthralling tour of the world of tomorrow explores what little will remain of ancient times while anticipating, often poetically, what a planet without us would be like." ( Publishers Weekly)

A fascinating premise!

Looking for something to stir your imagination and haunt your thoughts? Well, this is the book for you! Well written and well-read, this book provides fertile ground for consideration, awareness and thought beyond the words. Some may find this information to be gloomy--perhaps an indictment of humanity. I found it to be a necessary wake-up call to greater conciousness--the first step to redemption. Great book!

Very eye-opening!

This was a very eye-opening and kind of sad to hear about what the human race is doing to our planet. when I think about people like Brendon Grimshaw in comparison to with the rest of humanity, with the amazing work of one man on a single island was able to accomplish in healing a small portion of the planet. Can we not be more like Brendan, more like the planet's antivirus rather than more like the virus that's spreading, dominating and destroying its own ecosystem until it no longer has a host to survive itself upon? Imagine what we could really do as a human race if we put more effort into giving and healing the planet rather than taking from and destroying it!

Great, but not what I expected.

Reading a book like this you expect it to get into the environmental details and how what we do has a harmful impact and how long the things we make will last well after we are gone BECAUSE of our lack of care. And that's great, I think we need to be aware of how much better we could be doing. What I didn't expect, however, is how often that would let the math and science behind the decomposition take a backseat to the environmental message. I enjoyed it, I just expected it to be a bit different.

Must read

It’s an ernest wake-up call for everybody. It should be in every bookshelf. I appreciate that these thematic are so wide spread, and realize that how we are living and destroying, without even thinking, is for ever. Compromises any life form for ever!

The world without us.

This was a very thought-provoking and interesting account of our current situation. Hopefully humans will work together to solve some of our most pressing problems, and prolong our time on this beautiful planet.

...worth a listen.

Very interesting subject. The History Channel show of the same name only scratched the surface of total content of the book.

It's nice to know that the Earth will have no almost no memory of us after several thousand years.

Not as good as I'd hoped

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

About half the time listening to this book was well spent, while the other half was me wishing the author would get to something interesting.

Would you recommend The World Without Us to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend this book to others, but with serious caveats. Much of The World Without Us is actually the world WITH us, describing historical or present situations then projecting those states into a possible future without humans.

The book is also written in a journalistic style which I personally find incredibly irritating. Littered with lengthy lists and inane details about what interview subjects were wearing, I continually wished someone else had written the book based on Weisman's research.

While the book is occasionally quite interesting, I feel whole swaths could have been cut without missing anything.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrators voice was annoying from the very beginning, and though I eventually got used ot it, I never enjoyed listened and frequently felt like slipping off to sleep.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

If heavilly edited, yes.

An intensely thought-provoking listen

I found this absolutely gripping and deeply poignant--a great work of research and contemplation of immense questions. The writing is elegant and accessible, and the narration generally good though there are some pronunciation choices and mistakes I found distracting. On the whole I heartily recommend.

important but gloomy

i thought this would be a book about the collapse of man made artifice after humans disappear. and I did get some of that, especially in the first part of the book where we are told how New York will fare after we're gone. but for the most part, this book was anout the myriad ways us humans are (often permanently) disfiguring our planet. I couldn't listen to the book for too long stretches of time. Sometimes I felt like I was punched in the gut after reading what we did to a species or an eco system. But I realise now that the book was better and more important for me this way. I wanted ruin porn (and I got some of that) but I also received understanding of the impact we have and how we can reduce it. An important book that I would recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in nature, ecosystems and or conservation. It was well read by the main voice actor. I do suppose I miss out on the pictures in the original book. still though; great read.

A thoughtful and illustrative deep dive

I thought the book was quite well-written, although I did feel it dragged on a bit toward the end. the narration felt quite dry, but was competent and communicated the tone of the text well enough.