000			01945 a2200169 4500
020			_a9780465044979
082			_a304.2 _bDEF
100			_aDefries, Ruth _946526
245			_aBig ratchet : _bhow humanity thrives in the face of natural crisis
260			_c2014 _aNew York _bBasic Books
300			_axii,273p.
505			_aCONTENTS Prologue ix 1: A Bird's-Eye View l Civilization's Engine 7 The Irish Pivot 10 The Length of the Lens 13 2: Planetary Beginnings 17 Real Estate in the Cosmos 19 What Goes Around Comes Around 23 Time to Fill the Pantry 28 3: Enter Human Ingenuity 35 From Genes to Ingenuity 39 Tools, Fire, and Words 47 Forager to Farmer 52 4: Conundrums of Settled Life 59 The Great Irony 60 Bottleneck from Below 65 Life from Rivers 70 Another Conundrum 72 Ancient China Sidesteps the Bottlenecks 75 Europe Ratchets Up 78 5: Ratchets from Afar 85 Boobies and Cormorants 88 Sun-Powered Cargo 92 Traveling Water 98 6: Smash Open the Bottlenecks 105 Food from Air 108 Buffalo Bones and Buried Coral us Hatchets Downstream 118 Another Spigot Opens 122 7: Monocultures March Across 127 the Midwest Hybrids Invade the Corn Belt 133 Short Beats Tall 136 In Search of the Soybean 138 Power from the Ancient Sun 140 More Meat, Less Starch 142 8: Competition for the Bounty 145 Scarecrows to Strychnine 150 A Better Scarecrow 153 Cascading Consequences 157 Perpetual Pursuit 165 9: The Revolution Goes Global 171 From Mexico to India 175 Miracles with Rice 176 The Dark Side of the Revolution 179 Back to the Wild 183 The Next Genetic Twist 185 10: Farmer to Urbanite 189 Fattier and Sweeter 190 The Planetary Machinery Lashes Back 195 The Next Pivots 199 Into the Cacophony 203 Acknowledgments 207 Notes 209 References 231 Index 261
600			_945109
890			_aUSA
891			_aGENERAL
942			_2ddc
999			_c42322 _d42322