The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age

This is an outstanding book. The author’s fluid writing style makes this book very readable and gripping at the same time. She effortlessly weaves between contemporary narratives and historical events, even peppering in a few mythological stories! What makes this a powerful read is the way the book sets up a clear picture of the current climate crisis supported by scientific data and empirical evidence, and then moves onto point out that it does not need to be a runaway train. By making the right choices, we as individuals, communities, and organizations can still impact and change the trajectory of this crisis. The book provides powerful examples as well as tools to convince the readers that by making responsible and strategic choices, we could be the ancestors, who shepherd earth’s resources, and leave a shared heirloom to our children, with as many options as possible for the future generations. In full disclosure, I am related to the author. However, my reactions to the book are objective.

This book is a work of genius.It should be read by every politician, educator and leader in the world. This is not a self help book..it is a compendium of information and examples about how we should manage our and the earth's future. It is a MUST read. I wish the brilliant writer and thinker had a blog and TV program about it and courses in every school in the world taught the lessons within. This book could and should change the world. Get it Read it and get others to read and ACT on it.

Brilliant, readable, actionable book tackles the urgent question of how we can better incorporate future implications of our actions in current decisions at personal, corporate, national level. The author makes a good case of why this is essential for progress on everything from sensible land use planning to stemming the rise of antibiotic resistance to confronting climate change. She diagnoses the causes for our habitual shortsightedness and proposes a range of remedies that can be undertaken now by individuals, firms, and governments. All of this is backed up by a lovely combination of reference to recent scholarship, author's own experience and extensive interviews, and a good dose of simple wisdom.

Bina Venkataraman's book is a wonderful combination of engaging storytelling and practical strategies for long-term planning that will be valuable to any reader. Her book explores diverse topics--ranging from fisheries in the Gulf to small town politics to Fukushima--in a manner that is clear, concise and relevant. After reading this book, I found myself going back over what I learned and finding ways to apply this knowledge in both my personal and professional life. I'm recommending it to all my colleagues! (And will probably be buying a couple more copies for gifts!)

Right now we face so much competition for our time and attention. And as a society, we face very big challengings like extreme weather events and climate change. Bina Venkataraman covers all these issues and more in this very smart book. You'll learn about a bunch of interesting research and about how governments are trying to tackle big challenges. It's a really smart and fast read. Well worth it!

This was a good read to get a different perspective on our societies challenges with looking ahead. Somewhat obvious issues and I felt like it was a little long winded at times.

Brilliant mix of anecdotes and research - and with some helpful, tactical things to consider to become a better ancestor. I imagine that I will be revisiting the concepts in this book again and again. I enjoyed the audio version (and any time an author reads her own book) as well as the print version.

A thoughtful overview of the structural problems that are hindering our ability to plan for the future in a sustainable way. The author gives poignant examples from a variety of industries (agriculture, fishing, business, medicine, government etc), which were very fascinating. The depth and range of her research makes this very nebulous subject specific and concrete.

The book's main thesis is about patiently waiting and not taking rash decisions. I implore you take the advice and do so, read this review and don't waste either your time or money on the book. In over 9 chapters and 275 pages Bina tells story after story that somehow give fundaments for her thesis, yet I feel the entire book could have been written in less than a chapter. Should you be the person that likes reading an endless amount of non-fiction factual reports about modern political, environmental, society challenges , and how they are being overcome this book is for you. If not, pass over to the last 2 pages of the 9th chapter. That is all you need.