Me and the Biospheres: A Memoir by the Inventor of Biosphere 2Synergetic Press is proud to announce the long-awaited release of Me and the Biospheres: A Memoir by the Inventor of Biosphere 2, the definitive autobiography of one of the most luminous minds of our time. Accomplished poet, philosopher, inventor and total systems scientist, John Allen is a charming and engaging guide to how the world's largest laboratory for global ecology ever built came to be. Anyone suffering from the Global Warming Blues will cherish this uplifting account of the most ambitious environmental experiment ever undertaken. Biosphere 2, a world under glass, covered three acres of Arizona desert. Contained within a magnificently designed air-tight, sealed glass and steel framed architectural setting were models of seven biomes: an ocean with coral reef, marsh, rainforest, savannah, desert, farm and a micro-city. Eight people lived inside this structure for two years (1991-1993) setting world records in human life support, monitoring their impact on the environment, while providing crucial data for future manned missions into outer space. John Allen prepared for the manifestation of Biosphere 2 by assembling many smaller projects: the creation of a ferro-cement hulled ship to study ocean and river ecologies and cultures; the development of a rainforest enrichment project, a theater group, world-class art gallery and more. As awe inspiring as the great cathedrals, Biosphere 2's building and operation demanded the efforts of the most diverse team of scientists, engineers, artists and thinkers from around the world with whom John Allen worked closely for decades. His memoir is a rich and complex narrative, filled with rollicking adventure, exceptional camaraderie and mind-bending science, lavishly illustrated with nearly four hundred photographs. Me and the Biospheres is a passionate call to reawaken to the beauty of our peerless home, Biosphere 1, the Earth. |
Contents
The Music of the Spheres | 1 |
Synergia Ranch Santa | 13 |
Theater of All Possibilities | 33 |
Copyright | |
22 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
agricultural biome Allen architecture artists atmosphere Bill Dempster biome bioregion Bios Biosphere Biosphere 2's biospherians Biospheric Design Birdwood Downs building Burroughs Caravan of Dreams carbon dioxide closed ecological systems closed life systems complex conference coral reef create creative cultures cybersphere Deborah desert director dome Earth Earth's biosphere ecology ecosystem energy engineering ethnosphere expedition experience forest Fort Worth friends Gazenko Ghillean Ghillean Prance Heraclitus human habitat IMAGE ON LEFT Institute of Ecotechnics John Kathelin Hoffman Kathmandu living London Margaret Augustine Marie Harding Mark Nelson Marronniers master Mission needed noösphere ocean October Gallery Odum Oleg Gazenko Ornette Ornette Coleman pals percent phere Phil plant play production rainforest recycling Richard Evans Schultes Roy Walford Russian Santa Fe savannah Schultes scientific scientists soil studies Synergetic Press Synergia Ranch Synopco technical Test Module theater Tibetan took tropical Vajra Vajra Hotel