The most beautiful and influential photographs ever made were of the whole earth seen from space. They were taken from the moon, almost as an afterthought, by the astronauts of the Apollo space programme. They inspired a generation to think more seriously about our responsibility for this tiny oasis in space, the 'blue marble' falling through empty darkness. This is a book about the long road to the capture of those unforgettable images. It is a history of the space programme and of the ways in which it transformed our view of the earth and changed the lives of the astronauts who walked in space and on the moon. It is the story of the often blemished visionaries who inspired that journey into space: Charles Lindbergh, Robert Goddard and Wernher Von Braun, and of the courageous pilots who were the first humans to escape the Earth's orbit.

"Our current environmental crises-- most notably, climate change-- call on us to upgrade to a new way of life that will sustain us and our world far into the future. When you read this timely, accessible, and thought-provoking book, you will discover: We already have the capacities and tools to create a health and environmental revolution; Specific actions you and I can take now that will help us and our world prosper -- not just in the future, but immediately; How the strategies shared in this book can uplift our society and democracy; Why creating a high-tech and high-nature way of life could spark an economic boom ... Through science and stories, Our Earth, Our Species, Our Selves makes the case for hope, optimism, and practical solutions we can take individually and collectively to green our technology, green our economy, strengthen our democracy, and create social equality."--Page 4 of cover.

Human health depends on the health of the planet. Earth’s natural systems—the air, the water, the biodiversity, the climate—are our life support systems. Yet climate change, biodiversity loss, scarcity of land and freshwater, pollution and other threats are degrading these systems. The emerging field of planetary health aims to understand how these changes threaten our health and how to protect ourselves and the rest of the biosphere. Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves provides a readable introduction to this new paradigm. With an interdisciplinary approach, the book addresses a wide range of health impacts felt in the Anthropocene, including food and nutrition, infectious disease, non-communicable disease, dislocation and conflict, and mental health. It also presents strategies to combat environmental changes and its ill-effects, such as controlling toxic exposures, investing in clean energy, improving urban design, and more. Chapters are authored by widely recognized experts. The result is a comprehensive and optimistic overview of a growing field that is being adopted by researchers and universities around the world. Students of public health will gain a solid grounding in the new challenges their profession must confront, while those in the environmental sciences, agriculture, the design professions, and other fields will become familiar with the human consequences of planetary changes. Understanding how our changing environment affects our health is increasingly critical to a variety of disciplines and professions. Planetary Health is the definitive guide to this vital field.

Published as part of the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, here is a comprehensive, action-oriented look at our changing environment and what we can do to protect and enhance our natural resources. Photographs and line drawings.

"The truth and power in these words will move your mountain if you let them." - Craig Shearer, Founder, Solar Freedom International. "Ariole's clarity of vision dispels the fog that keeps us small and suffering. This truly is the simplicity of healing." - Isabella Lazlo, Founder, Beloved Mother - Nurturing Ourselves and Our Earth. What will it take to motivate humanity from complacency into solution-directed action to resolve our collective crises of global peace, environmental sustainability, poverty and population explosion to name a few? * Awareness * Vision * and Will. In this ground-breaking new book, Ariole K. Alei deftly connects the dots revealing the direct inter-relationship between personal emotional, mental, physical and spiritual healing, the healing of the rifts within humanity, and the healing of our relationship with our environment.

An impassioned call to heal the wounds of our planet and ourselves through the tenets of our spiritual traditions, from a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize It is so easy, in our modern world, to feel disconnected from the physical earth. Despite dire warnings and escalating concern over the state of our planet, many people feel out of touch with the natural world. Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai has spent decades working with the Green Belt Movement to help women in rural Kenya plant—and sustain—millions of trees. With their hands in the dirt, these women often find themselves empowered and “at home” in a way they never did before. Maathai wants to impart that feeling to everyone, and believes that the key lies in traditional spiritual values: love for the environment, self-betterment, gratitude and respect, and a commitment to service. While educated in the Christian tradition, Maathai draws inspiration from many faiths, celebrating the Jewish mandate tikkun olam (“repair the world”) and renewing the Japanese term mottainai (“don’t waste”). Through rededication to these values, she believes, we might finally bring about healing for ourselves and the earth.