X-events : the collapse of everything
Record details
- ISBN: 9780062088284 (hc.) :
- ISBN: 0062088289 (hc.)
-
Physical Description:
print
ix, 326 p. ; 24 cm. - Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : HarperCollins, c2012.
Content descriptions
General Note: | New October 2014. "William Morrow" |
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (p. [303]-317) and index. |
Formatted Contents Note: | Pt. 1: Why normal isn't so "normal" anymore -- Pt. 1: Getting down to cases. Digital darkness: a long-term, widespread failure of the Internet ; When do we eat? : breakdown of the global food-supply system ; The day the electronics died : a continent-wide electromagnetic pulse destroys all electronics ; A new world disorder : the collapse of globalization ; Death by physics : destruction of the earth through the creation of exotic particles ; Blown away : destabilization of the nuclear landscape ; Running on empty : drying up of world oil supplies ; I'm sick of it : a global pandemic ; Dark and dry : failure of the electric power grid and clean water supply ; Technology run amok : intelligent robots overthrow humanity ; The great unwinding : global deflation and the collapse of world financial markets -- Pt. III: X-events redux -- Notes and references -- Index. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Technology -- Social aspects Technology -- Social aspects -- Forecasting Social prediction |
Available copies
- 3 of 3 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 3 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elkford Public Library | 303.483 CAS (Text) | 35170000334375 | Adult Nonfiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Invermere Public Library | 303.483 CAS (Text) | IPL047606 | Adult Non Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Smithers Public Library | ANF 303.483 CAS (Text) | 35101000376520 | Stacks | Volume hold | Available | - |
Summary:
The modern industrialized world is a complex system on a scale never before witnessed in the history of humankind. Technologically dependent, globally interconnected, it offers seemingly limitless conveniences, choices, and opportunities. Yet this same modern civilization may be as unstable as a house of cards, fear complexity scientists like John Casti. All it would take to "downsize" our way of life is a nudge from what Casti calls an "X-event," an unpredictable occurrence with extreme, even dire, consequences. When an X-event strikes--and scientists believe one will--finance, communication, defense, and travel will stop dead in their tracks. The flow of food, electricity, medicine, and clean water will be disrupted for months, if not years. This book provides a tour of the catastrophic outlier scenarios that could quickly send us crashing back to the preindustrial age.--From publisher description.