The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World

Ecologist William Vogt explored the remotest regions of Latin America to assemble what became the basic concepts behind today's environmental movement and efforts at conversation. Norman Borlaug, the only plant breeder to win the Nobel Prize, became the father of the Green Revolution,which used agricultural technology to help avert tens of millions of deaths from hunger. The two represent a debate between those who believe that innovation holds the key to our prosperity and those who believe that only sustainability can save our Earth: Can we bend nature to our will or are we, like all other species, bound by its inexorable laws.

In just three decades - by about 2050 - Earth's population will reach ten billion. This will present us with fundamental, even elemental challenges. How do we feed ten billion people without irreparably damaging our natural world? Brilliantly conceived and deeply researched, The Wizard and the Prophet is an incisive portrait of the opposing worldviews that have molded our relationship with the planet and essential reading on the future of its and our survival.