Items related to The Rational Optimist

Ridley, Matt The Rational Optimist ISBN 13: 9780007378906

The Rational Optimist - Softcover

 
9780007378906: The Rational Optimist
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 

Matt Ridley, acclaimed author of the classics Genome and Nature via Nurture, turns from investigating human nature to investigating human progress. In The Rational Optimist Ridley offers a counterblast to the prevailing pessimism of our age, and proves, however much we like to think to the contrary, that things are getting better.

Over 10,000 years ago there were fewer than 10 million people on the planet. Today there are more than 6 billion, 99 per cent of whom are better fed, better sheltered, better entertained and better protected against disease than their Stone Age ancestors.

The availability of almost everything a person could want or need has been going erratically upwards for 10,000 years and has rapidly accelerated over the last 200 years: calories; vitamins; clean water; machines; privacy; the means to travel faster than we can run, and the ability to communicate over longer distances than we can shout. Yet, bizarrely, however much things improve from the way they were before, people still cling to the belief that the future will be nothing but disastrous.

In this original, optimistic book, Matt Ridley puts forward his surprisingly simple answer to how humans progress, arguing that we progress when we trade and we only really trade productively when we trust each other.

The Rational Optimist will do for economics what Genome did for genomics and will show that the answer to our problems, imagined or real, is to keep on doing what we've been doing for 10,000 years – to keep on changing.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

Reviews for Nature via Nurture:

‘Nature via Nurture sets the modern terms for an ancient debate, and at the same time delivers a superb tutorial on contemporary genetics; the feedback loop that embraces genes and environment is generally not well understood. And yet this plasticity, this elegant mutuality, seems crucial if our new understanding of human nature is to inform public policy. These times need a book like this.’ Ian McEwan

‘Lucidly explains the most recent discoveries on what makes us what we are, and how we should think about these discoveries as we ponder who we want to be...A treat, written with insight, wisdom, and style.’ Steven Pinker, author of The Blank Slate

‘Bracingly intelligent, lucid, balanced – witty, too. Nature via Nurture is a scrupulous and charming look at our modern understanding of genes and experience.’ Oliver Sacks

‘A real page-turner. What a superb writer he is, and he seems to get better and better.’ Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene

From the Back Cover:

For two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better--and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.

In his bold and bracing exploration into how human culture evolves positively through exchange and specialization, bestselling author Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history--from the Stone Age to the Internet--The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherFourth Estate
  • Publication date2010
  • ISBN 10 0007378904
  • ISBN 13 9780007378906
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages448
  • Rating
Buy Used
Befriedigend/Good: Durchschnittlich... Learn more about this copy

Shipping: £ 7.71
From Germany to U.S.A.

Destination, rates & speeds

Add to Basket

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780061452062: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves (P.S.)

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780061452062
Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2011
Softcover

  • 9780007267125: Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves

    Fourth..., 2011
    Softcover

  • 9780061452055: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves

    Harper, 2010
    Hardcover

  • 9780007267118: The Rational Optimist

    Fourth..., 2010
    Hardcover

  • 9780007412525: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves

    Fourth..., 2010
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Ridley, Matt
Published by 1//19 (2010)
ISBN 10: 0007378904 ISBN 13: 9780007378906
Used Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
medimops
(Berlin, Germany)

Book Description Befriedigend/Good: Durchschnittlich erhaltenes Buch bzw. Schutzumschlag mit Gebrauchsspuren, aber vollständigen Seiten. / Describes the average WORN book or dust jacket that has all the pages present. Seller Inventory # M00007378904-G

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 8.85
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 7.71
From Germany to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Ridley, Matt:
Published by Harper Collins Publ. UK (2010)
ISBN 10: 0007378904 ISBN 13: 9780007378906
Used Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Broker
(Berlin, Germany)

Book Description Condition: Gut. 448 S. Alle Bücher & Medienartikel von Book Broker sind stets in gutem & sehr gutem gebrauchsfähigen Zustand. Unser Produktfoto entspricht dem hier angebotenen Artikel, dieser weist folgende Merkmale auf: Altersentsprechend nachgedunkelte/saubere Seiten in fester Bindung. Leichte Gebrauchsspuren. Dem Alter entsprechend sehr guter Zustand. Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 659 Taschenbuch, Maße: 15.3 cm x 3.5 cm x 23.4 cm. Seller Inventory # 661128712

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 9.41
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 20.57
From Germany to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Ridley, Matt.
Published by Fourth Estate, London (2010)
ISBN 10: 0007378904 ISBN 13: 9780007378906
Used Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BOOKHOME SYDNEY
(Annandale Sydney, NSW, Australia)

Book Description 1st p/b ed. Paperback thick octavo, very good condition, few tiny dents front cover, pages faintly toned, covers little creased, minor edgewear, sticker mark front cover. 438 pp. Matt Ridley describes and then explains why human society is getting better. The book covers human history, from the Stone Age to the internet, from the stagnation of the Ming empire to the invention of the steam engine, and the recent population explosion to climate change. Seller Inventory # 28635

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 11.72
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 22.90
From Australia to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Matt Ridley
Published by Fourth Estate, London (2010)
ISBN 10: 0007378904 ISBN 13: 9780007378906
Used Softcover First Edition Quantity: 1
Seller:
Buybyebooks
(Honiton, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: Good. N/A (illustrator). First. PB 1st GB Ed. See my pic. 23.3 x 15.4cm. 438 pages. Covers human history from the Stone Age to the internet. From the stagnation of the Ming empire to the likely consequences of climate change. From this sweep of history, it appears that life is getting better at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income & lifespan are up. Disease, child mortality & violence are down all across the globe. Condition: Book has slight lean. Slight wear cover corners. Few page corner tips curled or folded. In the main, little wear, tight binding, good colour. Seller Inventory # 001292

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 13
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 22.73
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds