Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2014 Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway
All rights reserved
E-ISBN 978-0-231-53795-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oreskes, Naomi.
The collapse of western civilization : a view from the future / Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-231-16954-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-53795-7 (ebook)
1. Civilization, Western—Forecasting. 2. Civilization, Western—21st century. 3. Science and civilization. 4. Progress—Forecasting. 5. Twenty-first century—Forecasts. I. Conway, Erik M., 1965– II. Title.
CB158.064 2014
909'.09821—dc23
2013048899
A Columbia University Press E-book.
COVER DESIGN: Milenda Nan Ok Lee
COVER ART: Colin Anderson © Getty Images
References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the authors nor Columbia University Press are responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
This book is based on the essay of the same name that was originally published in Daedalus (Winter 2013), the journal of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences. That essay has been slightly expanded and modified from its original publication, and the lexicon and interview are new to this book.