MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Wild Foxes, Hokum, I’ve Seen All I Need to See, and Ada: My Mother the Architect
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A useful work of political ecology
MARTIN GRAHAM recommends a book that makes a critique of neoclassical economics and attempts to envision a sustainable global future
The global average in 2021 was 50,000 kilocalories per head, in the US, however it was 190,000 kilocalories per head
[NASA Earth Observatory/CC]
JAMES WALSH revels in a miscellany of beautifully observed characters, ranging from the parodic to the frankly batshit
MALC McGOOKIN appreciates a graphic novel that records the history of the legendary peace camp and surveys the state of the right to protest in contemporary Britain
SYLVIA HIKINS recommends a fascinating, revealing, superbly acted evening of theatre
New releases from Otherlands Trio, Isabelle Bodenseh, Kris Davis and the Lutoslawski Quartet
STEVEN ANDREW praises a beautifully written and enjoyable read
The Physics of Capitalism: How a New Political Ecology Can Change the World
by Erald Kolasi
Monthly Review Press £27.99
READERS who struggle with the maths and abstractions inherent in the physics of the 20th and 21st centuries — Einstein, Niels Bohr and all that flowed from their work — should not be deterred by the title of this book.
Erald Kolasi draws only on classical physics to show how energy flows determine the fate of complex systems, including economic systems and life itself. It also equips him to provide a devastating critique of neoclassical economics and enables him to give us a vision of a sustainable global future — all without resorting to a single equation!
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MARTIN GRAHAM welcomes, with reservations, a scholarly addition to the unfinished business of understanding how capital works on a world scale
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a valuable contribution to discussions around the need to de-carbonise energy production
GUILLERMO THOMAS recommends a useful book aimed at informing activists with local examples of solidarity in action around the world
ELIZABETH SHORT recommends a bracing study of energy intensive AI and the race of such technology towards war profits