Nature as Measure: The Selected Essays of Wes Jackson

Jackson, a well-known and admired advocate for sustainability especially as it relates to agriculture, has the rare ability to transform his convictions into captivating prose. His sentences are simple and yet express profound thoughts: %E2%80%9CSoil is a living organism which is larger than the life it supports%E2%80%A6But it is itself now dying.%E2%80%9D Very little is out of bounds in his essays, including reworking the tenets of Judo-Christian religion in %E2%80%9CThe Religious Dimension.%E2%80%9D Explaining how the U.S. is poised for significant change, he ruminates, it isn%E2%80%99t the first time the country has experienced a major consciousness shift because %E2%80%9Cafter all, change is the rule.%E2%80%9D Jackson fervently supports the American farmer and in %E2%80%9CFalsehoods of Farming%E2%80%9D attempts to defend the occupation itself. His examination of the World Trade Center-Pentagon attack in the context of our %E2%80%9Cconsumptive culture%E2%80%9D is sobering. If there is any criticism to make, it%E2%80%99s that few of these essays are new, but have been repurposed from books originally published in 1987 and 1994. Jackson%E2%80%99s thoughts are still as significant and profound as they were nearly 20 years ago, making it just as easy to relish his inspiring words in 2011. (Oct.)