IGA's NEW YEAR LECTURE
Thursday 22nd January, 2008
Prof. Iain Stewart (University of Plymouth) will present a lecture entitled:
Costing The Earth?
Our human history is deeply rooted in the planet we live on. In a new BBC series 'How Earth Made Us', I'll examine how our civilisation is founded in the rocks underfoot, as shiny metals were forged into swords and ploughshares, precious stones became the prizes of glittering imperial conquests, and ancient carbon fuelled modern global furnaces. And yet, many of the gravest threats that humanity faces in the 21st century loom from an ever more uncertain and predictable natural world. In this talk I'll explore how, as geologists seek to be viewed as stewards rather than exploiters of Planet Earth, a key question arises: will it be the well being of our human economy or the integral functioning of the Earth economy that will become the normative value guiding the global community into the future?
VENUE: Walton Theatre, Arts Block, Trinity College, Dublin 8pm