Share the thoughts
Books are about sharing thoughts and ideas. This is why you will find some short descriptions in English here.
(Some of adatias books are too exclusively German to include them here, some are suitable for other reading communities.)
Forest without guardian
The stranglehold of silviculture and hunting
by Peter Wohlleben
Conventional forestry and the interests of hunters have contributed to the disappearance of primary beech forest on a large scale. Mistaken environmental awareness and absurd developments in governmental administration add their share to the endangerment of the last remnants of old-growth forest in Germany and Europe.
The author, an experienced forest ranger, virtually walks us through the woods and makes us familiar with the ecological structure and the social fabric of beech forests, where trees do not only protect and nurture each other, but an unknown quantity of other species as well. He tells us about some still unveiled secrets of beech life and makes us aware of the imminent threats to our woods.
Skillfully and sometimes even poetically written, it’s a must read for anyone interested in woods and ecological matters.
Elected is elected
A short history of electoral systems
by Kai Flesch
Starting in ancient Greece, the author, officiating judge Kai Flesch, takes the reader on a trip through time and the history of voting, voters, and elected.
Attempts to come or to stay in power by manipulating votes or electoral processes have not been invented in modern times. The true search for a fair, unbiased and just electoral system is as old as civilization, as well.
Filled with sometimes bizarre anecdotes of kings, popes and presidents, of lawyers, scientists and politicians, this book not only gives an entertaining overview of past and present elections, it also provides an easy insight into the basics of modern (mathematically based) electoral systems.
Wood-rush
Consequences of booming bioenergy
by Peter Wohlleben
Wood pellets, biofuels, biogas. The demand for energy from biomass is more and more becoming a gold rush fever. In times of high oil prices it is not only considered cheap, but, and this is the far more stronger argument, it is also seen as carbon neutral.
But does bioenergy really provide an easy escape from global warming? To what extend can it replace fossil fuels? How does the rededication of fields and grassland affect food production? Aren’t biomass crops a competitor for fertile lands? What damage does extensive harvesting of wood do to forest soil? And is the story of carbon neutrality really true?
Starting from scratch with our day-to-day use of firewood, forest expert Peter Wohlleben investigates a booming business, where grassroots self-containing communities and big energy players pick their shares. An environmentalist himself, he knows that some of his answers might be shattering a lot of green convictions, because his findings are more than disturbing: The rush for bioenergy does not only afflict environmental conservation, but worse: under the false labeling of “bio” it abets to an even greater consumption of nature.
Coming soon …
The revenge of money
The boundaries of economic growth and the end of neoliberalism
by Hellmut Butterweck
To every economic shortcoming or failure in industrialized countries, there was only one solution - growth. To remedy poverty, unemployment, debts and deficits: “more growth” was the answer. Before the current financial crisis and now again, economic growth shall master it. But to author and journalist Hellmut Butterweck “more growth” is not the solution but part of the problem.
After his exceptional essay on the interaction between resources, environment and employment*, he now shatters the dogmatism of economic growth. A dogma, which will fail on the ecologic limits of our planet. But long before those limits are reached, unemployment will have become the biggest challenge industrialized societies will have to deal with. As long as growth in saturated economies is triggered by productivity, human labor will be replaced by cheaper energy. This will add to the strain the structure of society and democracy is already put under by unleashed neoliberalism.
Brilliantly told, the author interrelates the history and struggle of the two predominant economic theories and the life of their creators with the analysis of problems to be faced on the verge of a growthless economy.
A gifted storyteller, Hellmut Butterweck manages to retrieve and distill the complexities of economics from the unintelligible mathematics into the world of words for the common reader.
Hope you enjoy …