Laboratory Earth

Laboratory Earth taps the relevant knowledge from physical, biological, and social sciences needed to study the planet holistically.

This so-called Earth Systems Science fosters a new way to understand the Earth and our roles as inhabitants, with the purpose of building solutions to the bewildering global environment and overdevelopment.

Educational, business, health, and governmental organizations often dissect the world into narrow but highly specialized disciplines-economics, ecology, cardiology, meteorology, glaciology, or political science, to name a few.

But real world problems, like urban sprawl, public health, poverty, toxic waste, economic development, the ozone hole, or global warming, do not fit neatly into disciplinary boxes. However, author Stephen Schneider asserts that these contemporary issues must be viewed as systems of interconnected subelements.