The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead In A Reckless Age

"I covered climate change for NPR for many years and gradually concluded that our greatest challenge isn’t the science, the technology or even the economics, but how to change human behavior. Bina Venkataraman zeroes in on the heart of this problem in The Optimist’s Telescope. We, individually and collectively, rarely look ahead more than a few steps, whether it’s investors focused on quarterly profit reports or farming practices that increase yields today but deplete resources for the future. After framing these problems with vivid anecdotes, Venkataraman musters all the optimism she can manage to suggest how we might be able to overcome something that feels like plain old human nature."