Our Angry Earth

Rating:
Summary: It's time to act NOW
Review: Every once in a while you hear something about the environment, namely the ways in which we're destroying our world - global warming, ozone depletion, toxic waste, etc. Then you nod and say: "Oh yes, it's very important, something has to be done", but you just go on with your life doing absolutely nothing. This book is out to change that. It will give you a new way of looking at the world - and you won't like what you see. This book isn't just excellent - it's a "must". Through flowing style and easily understood points, the two grand masters of science fiction give us their most important work ever - and this book is all REAL. Written a year before Asimov's death, it's not only an account of the "maladies and cures", but also a loud wake-up call for every one of us to get up and ACT. Even if the political- and activist-oriented sections are somewhat schematic, the book's importance is in it's true power to influence people. I know that at least for me, "Our Angry Earth" was the beginning of a new stage of life. Asimov and Pohl, who wrote about a great future for humanity, are asking us not let our race finish itself off just when we were getting started. We just can't go down like that. It's time for YOU to read this book and look out your window. Can you smell the smog? It's going to kill your children if you don't do something about it.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointed Reader
Review: I picked this book up because it was (co)authored by Isaac Asimov. But even though it is published under the names of Asimov and Pohl, the book definitely does NOT read in the style of Asimov. It is a disappointment for those looking for the usual 'wit and charm' of the old Doctor. 'Our Angry Earth' lacks emotion as the author(s) dryly present point after point on the diverse ways in which we are abusing our planet (i.e., toxic emissions, acid rain, deforestation, global warming, etc.). Hence, the title. Though much of the content may be (and probably is) accurate from a scientific perspective, the authors present it in such a way that you can't help but feel you're listening to a street-corner doomsday prophet. Very unconvincing. Finally, in the early sections of the book, we are lead to believe the authors will propose 'workable' solutions to our environmental ills. Yet, by the end of the book, we are presented with solutions that are nothing new and questionably workable (writing letters, forming environmental clubs, getting involved in politics). Are we polluting our planet? Unquestionably, yes. Have the authors galvanized us to action? Unfortunately, no