| Bill Mckibben is an American environmentalist. He has written several influential books in the environmental field. McKibben was born in Palo Alto, California, in 1960. He attended Harvard University and, after graduating, went to work for The New Yorker. He left in 1987 to do free-lance writing, moving to the Adirondack Mountains in New York State.McKibben is most famous for his first book, The End of Nature, which has been compared to Rachal Carson's momentous book, Silent Sping.
In The End of Nature, McKibben explores in detail the "greenhouse effect," which he sees as environmentally destructive and as a symbol of the separation between humans and the environment. The book urges the end of such practices as the burning of fossil fuels which contribute to the greenhouse effect. Some critics
have accused the book of not being sufficiently scientific, but environmentalists see it as a powerful awakening call. In 1993, Mckibben published another book, The Age of Missing Information. Here he compares a day of television viewing to a day spent camping in the Adirondacks. He concludes that television is geared towards the individual, thus discouraging awareness and support of the environmental community. McKibben has also edited a book of John Burroughs' nature essays, Bird Browsing: A John Burroughs Reader. Audio interview with Bill McKibben |
