Books
An impassioned generational perspective on how to stay sane amid climate disruption.
FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL’S LITERARY AWARD
A CBC BEST CANADIAN NONFICTION BOOK OF 2022
AN INDIGO TOP TEN BEST SELF-HELP BOOK OF 2022
Climate and environment-related fears and anxieties are on the rise everywhere. As with any type of stress, eco-anxiety can lead to lead to burnout, avoidance, or a disturbance of daily functioning.
In Generation Dread, Britt Wray seamlessly merges scientific knowledge with emotional insight to show how these intense feelings are a healthy response to the troubled state of the world. The first crucial step toward becoming an engaged steward of the planet is connecting with our climate emotions, seeing them as a sign of humanity, and learning how to live with them.
“A rare look at the internal work required to meaningfully confront the existential threats climate change poses to our institutions, our futures, and our selves. If you are ready to feel through eco-anxiety, grieve what’s lost, and imagine what comes next, read this courageous book.”
—Naomi Klein, author of On Fire and This Changes Everything
“In this intriguing and engaging work, Britt Wray explores the internal ecology of climate anxiety with insight and sensitivity. She shows finally that meaningful living is possible even in the face of that which threatens to extinguish life itself, and that addressing global climate change begins with attending to the climate within.”
—Dr. Gabor Maté, author of When the Body Says No
“Dr. Britt Wray doesn’t ever look away from the hard emotional truths of the climate crisis. But it’s also exactly from this scary place that she is able to help us manifest something we all desperately need nowadays: strength. Generation Dread is a vital and deeply compelling read.”
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—Adam McKay, award-winning writer, director and producer (Vice, Succession, Don’t Look Up)
Jurassic Park meets The Sixth Extinction in Rise of the Necrofauna, a provocative look at de-extinction from documentarist and science writer, Britt Wray.
PRAISE
FEATURED IN THE NEW YORKER "BOOKS WE LOVED IN 2017"
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SELECTED BY THE SUNDAY TIMES AS A "MUST READ BEST BOOK"
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A SCIENCE NEWS FAVORITE BOOK OF 2017
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Finalist for the 2018 Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Award
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Shortlisted for the 2018 Non-Fiction Saroyan Prize and Lane Anderson Award
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“Britt Wray reintroduced me to the earth... What stuck with me more than the ambitious science—which Wray makes exceptionally accessible—is her attention to the paradoxes of human vanity.” - The New Yorker
“Wray does a tremendous job of navigating the technicalities and controversies. The result is a triumph of clear thinking as gripping as any blockbuster.”
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— BBC Wildlife
“Wray explains scientific and ecological obstacles brilliantly. She is even better at disentangling ethical issues.”
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— The Sunday Times
“De-extinction is so hot a topic it sizzles. Science writer Britt Wray braves the heat for a neat overview of the science and its ethical and environmental implications.”
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— Nature
Reviews
“A captivating whirlwind tour through the birth and early life of the scientific idea known as ‘de-extinction. ”
— Beth Shapiro, author of How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction
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“One of the most lucid and comprehensive reviews available of the controversial emerging field of de-extinction, offering a wonderful balance of fact, interview, analysis, and opinion. I will be dipping into this book again and again.”
— Philip Seddon, co-author of the IUCN De-extinction Guidelines and Professor of Zoology, University of Otago, New Zealand
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“Timely and thought-provoking–a beacon of discussion-worthy science.”
— George Church, Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School
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“The tale she has to tell is an interesting one. Not only does she discuss the scientific pursuit of de-extinction but she also thoughtfully addresses the ethical objections to reviving a dead species.”
— Literary Review
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“Rise of the Necrofauna offers an in-depth take on de-extinction ... and it directly grapples with a fascinating bioethical debate.”
— The Globe and Mail
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Jurassic Park meets The Sixth Extinction in Rise of the Necrofauna, a provocative look at de-extinction from documentarist and science writer Britt Wray.
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What happens when you try to recreate a woolly mammoth―fascinating science, or conservation catastrophe?
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In Rise of the Necrofauna, Wray takes us deep into the minds and labs of some of the world’s most progressive thinkers to find out. She introduces us to renowned futurists like Stewart Brand and scientists like George Church, who are harnessing the powers of CRISPR gene editing in the hopes of “reviving” extinct passenger pigeons, woolly mammoths, and heath hens. She speaks with Nikita Zimov, who together with his eclectic father Sergey, is creating Siberia’s Pleistocene Park―a daring attempt to rebuild the mammoth’s ancient ecosystem in order to save earth from climate disaster. Through interviews with these and other thought leaders, Wray reveals the many incredible opportunities for research and conservation made possible by this emerging new field.
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But we also hear from more cautionary voices, like those of researcher and award-winning author Beth Shapiro (How to Clone a Woolly Mammoth) and environmental philosopher Thomas van Dooren. Writing with passion and perspective, Wray delves into the larger questions that come with this incredible new science, reminding us that de-extinction could bring just as many dangers as it does possibilities. What happens, for example, when we bring an “unextinct” creature back into the wild? How can we care for these strange animals and ensure their comfort and safety―not to mention our own? And what does de-extinction mean for those species that are currently endangered? Is it really ethical to bring back an extinct passenger pigeon, for example, when countless other birds today will face the same fate?
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By unpacking the many biological, technological, ethical, environmental, and legal questions raised by this fascinating new field, Wray offers a captivating look at the best and worst of resurrection science.
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Foreword by George Church: Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical school, where his lab is trying to create a woolly mammoth-like species using gene editing techniques. He is also the author of Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves.
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Published by Greystone Books in partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.