Next Nature Book: Nature Changes Along With Us

On: November 25, 2011
About Natalie Dixon
I’m a new media thinker, strategist and writer. My current research focus is on the ‘affective bandwidth’ of mobile-mediated communication. My research interests include affective computing, HCI, biomapping, emotion, the impact of mobile phones on social behaviour, analytical design and information visualization. I graduated from the new media track of the Media and Culture masters programme in 2011.

Website
http://www.nataliedixon.info    

Next Nature: Nature Changes Along With Us is positioned at the intersection of technology, design and nature. It is a 472-page compendium of the most thought-provoking observations from the awarded website nextnature.net, supplemented by lots of visuals, infographics, maps and guest essays from renowned authors, commentators, academics and artists.


ABOUT THE BOOK
Next Nature: Nature Changes Along With Us is about nature’s brand image. It shows how our traditional image of nature as static, balanced and harmonic is naïve and up for reconsideration. Where technology and nature are traditionally seen as opposed, they now appear to merge or even trade places. Edited and designed by Koert van Mensvoort and Hendrik-Jan Grievink the book charters the unimaginable, asking what would The World Without Technology be like, to the futuristic idea of Should We Clone Neanderthals?, the fantastic notion of Self-Repairing Architecture and the light-hearted content of McLuhan’s Tweets or the McWorld Map.

‘Although many people have tried to improve our relationship with nature, few have asked the fundamental question: what is nature? Nowadays, children know more corporate logos than bird or tree species. The average Westerner is more concerned with mortgage rates than hurricanes or floods. It seems our notion of nature is radically changing.’ – Koert van Mensvoort

WHAT IS NEXT NATURE?
Today, the human impact on our planet can hardly be underestimated. Climate change, population explosion, electronic networks, synthetic biology – ‘We were here’ echoes all over. Untouched old nature is almost nowhere to be found. At the same time, our technological environment becomes so complex that we start experiencing it as a nature of its own. Conclusion: with our urge to control nature, we cause the rising of a next nature which is dangerous and unpredictable as ever: wild software, genetic surprises, autonomous machinery and splendid black flowers. Find more on the topic on Wikipedia.

BOOK DETAILS
Editors: Koert van Mensvoort and Hendrik-Jan Grievink
Paperback: 472 pages
Publisher: Actar
Language: English
ISBN-10: 8492861533 / ISBN-13: 978-8492861538
Recommended Retail Price: $49,99 / €37,50
Outlets: All good bookshops and online at Amazon.com or www.nextnature.net/book

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