NEW RELEASE

Geochemistry & The Biosphere: Essays by Vladimir I. Vernadsky

Edited by Frank B. Salisbury, Professor Emeritus of Plant Physiology, Utah State University, Salt Lake City

Introduction by Alexander Yanshin, V.P. Emeritus, Russian Academy of Sciences

Translated by Olga Barash

Synergetic Press is proud to announce the long-awaited release of GEOCHEMISTRY AND THE BIOSPHERE, a meticulously edited, reader accessible, first English translation of the Russian essays by Vladimir I. Vernadsky (1863-1945). Vernadsky is the highly venerated father of several geo-based disciplines, including geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and radiogeology. He wrote the first scientific theory about the “biosphere,” the life zone of the Earth, and in the process laid the groundwork for planetary thinking. A recognized catalyst, this premier scientific work addresses in detail humanity’s impact on the living systems of the planet. GEOCHEMISTRY AND THE BIOSPHERE contains his groundbreaking work on the biosphere and the noösphere, as well as his seminal work on geochemistry.

Says Deborah Snyder, Chief Executive of Synergetic Press: “The publication of these essays, written over sixty years ago, comes at an auspicious time. We have reached a point on our planet when serious debate on what to do about global warming can no longer be postponed—an understanding of Vernadsky’s work on the biosphere and noösphere is absolutely central to such conversations. It is our hope that bringing Vernadsky’s ecological vision to the English–speaking world will help deepen our understanding of planetary processes and enable us to become better stewards of our planet.”

Vernadsky maintains that the biosphere is a thin strata, a separate “geological envelope,” inhabited by living matter, the force of which exerts changes in its physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. Moreover, this envelope is permeated by cosmic energy, which works even greater changes. Thus the biosphere, the stage on which changes are played out, will evolve over time. According to Vernadsky, from the biosphere a noösphere -- a biosphere influenced by the activity of the human mind -- will ultimately emerge. Vernadsky writes, “Mankind’s power is connected not with its matter but with its brain, its thoughts and its works, guided by its mind. In the geological history of the biosphere, a great future is opened to Man if he realizes it and does not direct his mind and work to self-destruction.”

Snyder adds: “Vernadsky was very much ahead of his time. Had his work been more widely translated, his name would be to biospherics what Einstein’s is to relativity or Darwin’s to evolution. In Russia there are stamps, coins, streets, monuments, museums, libraries, mountain ranges, and more that bear his name or portrait. Throughout the world there are foundations and scholarships named after him. This release in English of his most important work is a significant contribution to Earth sciences.”

In addition to profound insights into connections between organisms and their environment, GEOCHEMISTRY AND THE BIOSPHERE provides rare glimpses into a highly original scientific mind able to integrate knowledge of mineralogy, biochemistry, geochemistry, crystallography, soil science, and the history of science. The scope of his genius alone makes Vernadsky essential reading for scientists, academics, students, and general readers interested in understanding the present and future role of humans on the Earth.

"A new translation of his essays, “Geochemistry and the Biosphere” is worth scanning for more of his prescient thinking, which took the idea forward toward what he called “noösphere,” or Earth becoming a “planet of the mind” (some see hints of the World Wide Web and Google Earth in all of this)."

- Andrew Revkin
The New York Times
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/earth-is-us/

“Vernadsky was a towering pioneer in understanding life on Earth and life coevolving with Earth. His protean range and profound insight shaped our worldview and continues to anticipate our learning.”

—Amory Lovins
Cofounder and CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute

“It is heartening to see this result of years of careful editorial work that has given us a timeless piece of scholarship, in which we witness a truly global systems thinker who was a hundred years ahead of his time. Today, the general insights of Vernadsky, regarding the life-enhanced interconnectivity of air, soil, and water, need to become the shared visions of everyone. As a key contribution to the history of biospheric science, this book helps that crucial task.”

—Tyler Volk, Professor of Biology, Codirector Earth and Environmental Science Program, NY University

“Vernadsky can justly be called the founder of biospherics.”

—John Allen Inventor of Biosphere 2 Project, Chairman, Global Ecotechnics

“Highly recommended for upper-division undergraduates through professionals.”

—E. J. Kormondy, emeritus, University of Hawaii at Hilo
Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries

PRESS RELEASE
REVIEWS

Life Under Glass: The Inside Story of Biosphere 2
by Abigail Alling, Mark Nelson and Sally Silverstone

Planet in a bottle. Eden revisited. Laboratory under glass. The largest self-sustaining closed ecological system ever made. Biosphere 2 is many things to many people. From its half-acre farm to its coral reef to its emerald rainforest--this unique research facilty has proven itself a marvel of human engineering and a testament to the human imagination.

For two years, four men and four women lived and worked inside the structure, recycling their air, water, food, and wastes, and setting a world record for living in an isolated environment. But what has this giant glass-and-steel greenhouse been to those most intimately involved with it? What has it meant to the first crew who studied and cared for it? What was it really like sealed inside a giant laboratory for twenty-four months? In Life Under Glass crew members, Abigail Alling and Mark Nelson with co-captain Sally Silverstone present the full account of those two remarkable years. From the struggles of growing their own food, to learning how to help sustain their life-giving atmosphere, the general reader is offered a rare glimpse into how a group of dedicated researchers managed to surprise the world and fulfill their dream.

Other crews may come and go, but no one else will face the risks, the uncertainties, and the challenges that this new breed of explorers did on Biosphere 2's maiden voyage. Here is the fascinating story of how it all appeared--living under glass.
 

Selected as one of the top ten science experiments in 1993 by Time Magazine and Good Morning America.

Reviews

ISBN 1 88 248 07 2 * PAPERBACK * 288 PGS *
Price $16.95

16 page color photo insert

Eating In:
From The Field to the Kitchen in Biosphere 2

by Sally Silverstone

For two years, four men and four women lived and worked inside the largest self-sustaining closed ecological system ever made, Biosphere 2, recycling their air, water, food and wastes and setting a world record for living in an isolated environment.

What could be more challenging than preparing three meals a day, every day, for eight people for two years - without being able to run out to the local grocery store for last minute ingredients?

This is just what co-captain Sally Silverstone had to do during the first closure of Biosphere 2, the unique environmental research project located in southern Arizona.

In this book Sally chronicles how she and the other seven crew members raise all of their own food through intensive farming techniques without the use of toxic chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Dozens of beautiful photographs augment the story and the selection of fifty delicious recipes.

ISBN 1 88 248 04 8 * PAPERBACK * 112 PGS *
price $15.95

Man, Earth and the Challenges
1980 Planet Earth Conference held at the Institute of Ecotechnics, Aix-en-Provence, France.

To explore the history of the Planet Earth and its future, and to examine man's relation to the Planet Earth and his future, the Institute of Ecotechnics invited outstanding scientists, artists of the avant-garde, explorers, and managers of our present time, to a four day conference in the South of France. This book is a record of those shared investigations and experiences, fears and hopes, ignorance and knowledge of the mystery and patterns of Planet Earth.

Freed from the constaints of speaking only to colleagues of their own discipline and set in a non-media, non-governmental atmosphere, the conference explored 4.5 billion years of time from the viewpoints of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Worlds.

Man, Earth and the Challenges both records the results of this creative interchange and offers a unique insight into the process of holistic thinking itself.

Speakers include: W.S.Burroughs, A.King, M.Nelson, E.D.McKee, R.G.Gibson, J.D.Hays, A.Buzzati-Traverso, T.Heyerdahl, R.T.Adams, G.Hewes, G.T.Prance, A.A.Reid, P.M.Rotmil, B.Lotsch, C.Garcia, S.Ranganathan

Freed from the constaints of speaking only to colleagues of their own discipline and set in a non-media, non-governmental atmosphere, the conference explored 4.5 billion years of time from the viewpoints of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Worlds.

PAPERBACK * 288 PGS *
price $15.95