03207nam a2200433 a 4500 ebr10523542 CaPaEBR m u cr cn||||||||| 110405s2011 enk sb 001 0 eng d 2011012811 9780857287793 (hardback) 9780857287809 (papercover) 0857287796 (hardback) 085728780X (papercover) 9780857289254 (e-book) CaPaEBR CaPaEBR (OCoLC)767731725 CB478 .D85 2011eb 909.82 22 Dukes, Paul, 1934- Minutes to midnight [electronic resource] : history and the Anthropocene era from 1763 / Paul Dukes. London ; New York : Anthem Press, 2011. xii, 153 p. Anthem world history Includes bibliographical references and index. Machine generated contents note: Preface 1. Introduction: Times and Approaches 2. Enlightenment and Revolutions, 1763-1815 3. Nations and -Isms, 1815-1871 4. Natural Selection, 1871-1921 5. From Relativity to Totalitarianism, 1921-1945 6. Superpower, 1945-1968 7. Planet Earth, 1968-1991 8. Minutes to Midnight, 1991- Notes. "The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by a group of atomic scientists to symbolise the perils facing humanity from nuclear weapons. In 2007 it was set at five minutes before the final bell, including for the first time the threat of climate change as well as new developments in the life sciences and nanotechnology. This book aims at an analysis of the evolution of our present predicament throughout the Anthropocene Era beginning in 1763, making special reference to the history of the period, the study of the subject and major advances in the natural sciences. Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson set out the basis for a scientific approach to the pre-industrial stages of historical development in the Enlightenment of the late eighteenth century, when the American and French Revolutions created a vocabulary of modernity. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as the industrial revolution unfolded in several stages, nationalism, imperialism and totalitarianism were among the phenomena impeding the update of the Enlightenment programme as well as the fulfilment of the aspirations of 1776 and 1789. Our present predicament demands a rigorous examination of its origins and an assertion of a scientific pandisciplinary approach involving history and other academic specialisations"-- Provided by publisher. Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2013. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries. Science and civilization. Nature Effect of human beings on. Global environmental change. Human ecology. History, Modern. Electronic books. local ebrary, Inc. Anthem world history. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/rucke/Doc?id=10523542 An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web; click to view 238784 238784