The Green Fuse: An Ecological Odyssey - Hardcover

"The force that through the green fuse drives the flower / Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees / Is my destroyer, " wrote poet Dylan Thomas. In this evocative book a widely respected ecological scientist and activist draws on the poet's image and his own environmental research to demonstrate the intricate interconnections among disparate ecosystems. He takes us from the salmon runs of southwestern Alaska and the marshes of the Florida everglades to the coral reefs of the South Pacific and the depopulated bleakness of the Tibetan plateau. The result is that rare book that bridges the cultures of science and art. Lyrical and vivid portraits of natural wonders and the threats to them are combined with precise scientific accounts of natural processes and their disturbances. The Green Fuse will show nonscientists the fascination of ecological detective work and renew scientists' love for the beauty of the world under their microscopes. Written from personal passion as well as intellectual analysis, Harte's stories illuminate, without sermonizing, the damage to natural systems brought about by technological hubris and calculated political ruthlessness. To fuse is to join together; "the green fuse" symbolizes the basic unity behind natural diversity. But Harte observes that a green fuse may also be the weak link in an overloaded system or the slow burning wick on an ecological bomb. The scientist's words echo the poet's insight: as The Green Fuse reminds us, the energies that created human liberation from nature can also be those that bring about the human destruction of nature.

"John Harte is one of the nation's great scientific treasures. The Green Fuse demonstrates his broad understanding of ecology and the scientific method. More important, this work reveals his uncommon gift for translating complex scientific concepts into language that can be understood by all. His keen narrative describes how ecologists are coming to understand global environmental ills throughout the world. And his moving prose about the beauty and wonder of our fragile world allows all of us to understand more fully what is at stake."—Undersecretary for Global Affairs Timothy E. Wirth, Department of State