Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Climate capitalism; capitalism in the age of climate change.

In this work for leaders of small and large companies, environmentalists, and general readers, Lovins (president and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions) and Cohen, a former professor of sustainable entrepreneurship, make the business case for cutting waste and reducing the use of fossil energy to save money and protect the planet. The authors recommend embracing efficiency, innovation, renewable resources, and new technologies for rebuilding our economy, our cities, and our job markets. Case studies of international corporations, small businesses, NGOs, and municipalities show how energy efficiency and renewable resources are already driving prosperity in industry sectors such as energy, construction, transportation, and agriculture. An appendix offers links for calculating and offsetting carbon emissions. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The immortalization commission; science and the strange quest to cheat death.

In this curious and precisely composed volume, acclaimed author Gray presents a triptych argument on the essential human pursuit of immortality, by means of alternately life after death, high level social engineering, and technology. Illustrating first the Edwardian spiritualists who strove to prove the existence of the afterlife via séance, automatic writing, and other methods; he moves on to the sociopolitical upheaval and reordering of the Soviet post-revolutionary period through the lens of a government spy who was the mistress of H.G. Wells, the godfather of science fiction; and finally weds these disparate tales to each other and to the present in an exploration of contemporary attitudes and attempts at extending life by biological and virtual means. The peripheral involvement of contemporary figures such as Charles Darwin, Walt Whitman, Joseph Stalin and Richard Dawkins are highlighted throughout his exploration. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)