The Sacred Balance is David Suzuki’s way of showing us the relationship between humans and nature. The book first tells of how nature is much bigger and more significant than the human race, and how the environment surrounding humans is far more important than humans themselves. It then goes on to talk about the impact that the increasing human population has on the environment and nature. With our increasing human race, we are destroying the natural environment around the world. The next thing that the book moves on to is David’s interpretation that humans are one with nature, and that the nature surrounding us is actually what makes us up. Finally at the end of the book David tells about the many single peoples that have stood up and made a difference in the world by contributing to nature and the environment.
The thesis of this book is that humans and nature are one, they are the balance in this world, hence the title. If one over powers the other, then there are great consequences. David Suzuki has shown his bias in the greater thought of human beings. If only he were right and all humans could cut down the size of their footprint on the environment, and the economic wages for this to happen would lower, that’s when we would live in a perfect world, but unfortunately that is not the case.
David Suzuki is trying to show us how important nature and the environment are for our survival, and how each of us can make a difference if only we try hard enough. He is trying to get the point across that nature and humans come together as one and the harmony between them used to be perfect, and as time goes on, we are slowly destroying that harmony, but if we all do our part in the environment we can restore the earth to how it should be.
This book has many strength and weaknesses within the text and evidence. For example some strength are when David gives specific examples as to how each person can make a difference on the environment near the end of the book. Another example of strength is when David talks about the technology and how we humans have blocked out the world around us. An example of a weakness is when David references the biblical analogy of how humans were created, but then later pulls in evolution, saying how humans are primates.
The book stands firm in its literature of the nature and environment subject; it holds great detail about specifies and facts on both the nature and human aspects.
As you can tell from the title the book is based on the topic that earth is unbalanced from human activity and we need to return the earth to a balanced state. I think the aim David Suzuki was trying to take when he wrote this book was writing a book that everyone could read and understand. Whether you’re a scientist or a student he wants you to be able to comprehend his ideas. I think David Suzuki did this very well because I understood everything he was talking about with no difficulty and I’m just an average person not a scientist.
The overall thesis of this book is that as humans we owe the earth our lives, and throughout our existence we haven’t done a very good job of taking care of it so if we want the earth to stay healthy we need to make an effort to live sustainable so we don’t do further damage to the earth. Since the book was written by David Suzuki it is definitely biased because it is a book on environmental issues and David Suzuki is an environmentalist. An example of the bias in this book would be something like everyone should drive electric cars and never use gasoline. Obviously this isn’t possible today because of the amount of people who are reliant on gasoline, but it would be nice if everyone could be more green. I think the most essential point that David Suzuki is trying to get across is that the earth provides us with everything we have and that we are essentially born of the earth. Just think, if we didn’t have soil that the earth provides then we wouldn’t have any produce, materials to build houses, and there would be an overload of carbon in the air since the soil is a valuable carbon sink. So if we take away just one component that the earth provides us then living conditions and the environment would be drastically different. That is why David Suzuki puts such an emphasis on sustainable living, because if we continue to pollute the atmosphere then maybe one day one of those vital components of life that the earth provides us will be gone. One of the things that I think this book did extremely well was educating me on various subjects pertaining to the environment. The book did this through illustrations, stories, and quotes from conversations David Suzuki had with various scientists. One weakness of this book was how David Suzuki portrayed his views. Some people who read this book may find it hard to agree with Suzuki’s. Luckily for me I agreed with most of what he said.
In conclusion I think this book has a lot to offer anyone who wants to learn more about the environment and ecology. All the subjects in the book are described in a way that everyone can understand. I think that everyone should read this book so they can get a better understanding of how humans are linked to the earth and how we can help maintain the condition of the earth.
The Sacred Balance is David Suzuki’s way of showing us the relationship between humans and nature. The book first tells of how nature is much bigger and more significant than the human race, and how the environment surrounding humans is far more important than humans themselves. It then goes on to talk about the impact that the increasing human population has on the environment and nature. With our increasing human race, we are destroying the natural environment around the world. The next thing that the book moves on to is David’s interpretation that humans are one with nature, and that the nature surrounding us is actually what makes us up. Finally at the end of the book David tells about the many single peoples that have stood up and made a difference in the world by contributing to nature and the environment.
ReplyDeleteThe thesis of this book is that humans and nature are one, they are the balance in this world, hence the title. If one over powers the other, then there are great consequences. David Suzuki has shown his bias in the greater thought of human beings. If only he were right and all humans could cut down the size of their footprint on the environment, and the economic wages for this to happen would lower, that’s when we would live in a perfect world, but unfortunately that is not the case.
David Suzuki is trying to show us how important nature and the environment are for our survival, and how each of us can make a difference if only we try hard enough. He is trying to get the point across that nature and humans come together as one and the harmony between them used to be perfect, and as time goes on, we are slowly destroying that harmony, but if we all do our part in the environment we can restore the earth to how it should be.
This book has many strength and weaknesses within the text and evidence. For example some strength are when David gives specific examples as to how each person can make a difference on the environment near the end of the book. Another example of strength is when David talks about the technology and how we humans have blocked out the world around us. An example of a weakness is when David references the biblical analogy of how humans were created, but then later pulls in evolution, saying how humans are primates.
The book stands firm in its literature of the nature and environment subject; it holds great detail about specifies and facts on both the nature and human aspects.
book review by becky wilson
As you can tell from the title the book is based on the topic that earth is unbalanced from human activity and we need to return the earth to a balanced state. I think the aim David Suzuki was trying to take when he wrote this book was writing a book that everyone could read and understand. Whether you’re a scientist or a student he wants you to be able to comprehend his ideas. I think David Suzuki did this very well because I understood everything he was talking about with no difficulty and I’m just an average person not a scientist.
ReplyDeleteThe overall thesis of this book is that as humans we owe the earth our lives, and throughout our existence we haven’t done a very good job of taking care of it so if we want the earth to stay healthy we need to make an effort to live sustainable so we don’t do further damage to the earth. Since the book was written by David Suzuki it is definitely biased because it is a book on environmental issues and David Suzuki is an environmentalist. An example of the bias in this book would be something like everyone should drive electric cars and never use gasoline. Obviously this isn’t possible today because of the amount of people who are reliant on gasoline, but it would be nice if everyone could be more green. I think the most essential point that David Suzuki is trying to get across is that the earth provides us with everything we have and that we are essentially born of the earth. Just think, if we didn’t have soil that the earth provides then we wouldn’t have any produce, materials to build houses, and there would be an overload of carbon in the air since the soil is a valuable carbon sink. So if we take away just one component that the earth provides us then living conditions and the environment would be drastically different. That is why David Suzuki puts such an emphasis on sustainable living, because if we continue to pollute the atmosphere then maybe one day one of those vital components of life that the earth provides us will be gone. One of the things that I think this book did extremely well was educating me on various subjects pertaining to the environment. The book did this through illustrations, stories, and quotes from conversations David Suzuki had with various scientists. One weakness of this book was how David Suzuki portrayed his views. Some people who read this book may find it hard to agree with Suzuki’s. Luckily for me I agreed with most of what he said.
In conclusion I think this book has a lot to offer anyone who wants to learn more about the environment and ecology. All the subjects in the book are described in a way that everyone can understand. I think that everyone should read this book so they can get a better understanding of how humans are linked to the earth and how we can help maintain the condition of the earth.