Friday, July 28, 2023

how the monkey got stuck

Stuck monkey is an adorable metaphor for our civilisation's dilemma - said monkey has his hand trapped in a glass jar trying to pull out a banana, and gets stuck simply by not letting go the fruit. I read and reviewed the book mainly on the merit of the title, but it does have some interesting facts too.

Stuck monkey: The deadly planetary cost of the things we love
James Hamilton-Paterson
Head of Zeus 2023

My long essay review with some thoughts on how the monkey got stuck is out now:

Stuck monkey syndrome

Chemistry & Industry Volume 87, Issue 5, May 2023, Page 35

access via:

Wiley Online Library (paywalled PDF of the whole review section)

SCI (premium content, ie members only)

As always, I'm happy to send a PDF on request.

Here's a snippet of my review:

The author goes through the environmental costs of a wide variety of things that people like to do and don’t want to give up even if it kills the planet, from keeping carnivores as pets to getting internet shopping delivered the next day. He can be devastating in deconstructing some of the more outrageous examples of planet-destroying wealth issues, such as golf courses. There are 26 of them in Phoenix, Arizona, he claims, in a location which is fast becoming uninhabitable to humans.

No comments: