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9780061452062

The Rational Optimist

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780061452062

  • ISBN10:

    0061452068

  • Edition: Reprint
  • Format: Paperback
  • Copyright: 2011-06-07
  • Publisher: Perennial

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Summary

For two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better--and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before. In his bold and bracing exploration into how human culture evolves positively through exchange and specialization, bestselling author Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history--from the Stone Age to the Internet--"The Rational Optimist" will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

Author Biography

Matt Ridley is the author of several award-winning books, including Genome, The Agile Gene, and The Red Queen, which have sold more than 800,000 copies in twenty-seven languages worldwide. He lives in England.

Table of Contents

Prologue: when ideas have sexp. 1
A better today: the unprecedented presentp. 11
The collective brain: exchange and specialisation after 200,000 years agop. 47
The manufacture of virtue: barter, trust and rules after 50,000 years agop. 85
The feeding of the nine billion: farming after 10,000 years agop. 121
The triumph of cities: trade after 5,000 years agop. 157
Escaping Malthus's trap: population after 1200p. 191
The release of slaves: energy after 1700p. 213
The invention of invention: increasing returns after 1800p. 247
Turning points: pessimism after 1900p. 279
The two great pessimisms of today: Africa and climate after 2010p. 313
The catallaxy: rational optimism about 2100p. 349
Postscriptp. 361
Acknowledgementsp. 365
Notes and referencesp. 369
Indexp. 427
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

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