The Big Ratchet: How Humanity Thrives in the Face of Natural Crisis (44 page)

    
view of biotechnology,
187

Bosch, Carl,
109

Boserup, Ester,
13–14

Bottlenose dolphin,
41
,
42

Bowen, Samuel,
139

Boyd, Robert,
38
,
45

Brain

    
evolution of human,
42–43

    
intelligent,
40

Brandt, Hennig,
66

Brazil

    
deforestation,
ix–xi

    
diet transformation in,
192

    
overweight people,
194

    
soybean production,
x

Breastfeeding,
57

Britain, guano trade,
90–91

Bt
crops,
168
,
186

Bubonic plague,
80

Buffalo bones, phosphorus from,
114

Calories burned to produce food,
122

Canals,
71

Capron, Horace,
138

Capuchin monkeys,
44

Carbon, cycling of,
23–24
,
26–27
,
125

Carbon dioxide

    
global warming and,
27

    
as greenhouse gas,
121
,
196
,
202

    
nitrous oxide compared to,
121

    
in photosynthesis,
74

    
temperature effect on atmospheric,
27

    
from volcanoes,
24
,
26
,
27

    
weathering and,
26

Carnivore,
74

Carson, Rachel,
161–163
,
169

Carter, Jimmy,
182

Cassava mealybug,
150
,
167

Catton, William, Jr.,
13

Chemical poisonings,
167–168

Children, number of,
6

Chile,
90
,
91

Chimpanzee,
43–44
,
45
,
48

China

    
agriculture in ancient,
75–78

    
diet transformation,
191–192

    
pest control in,
151

    
soybean domestication in,
139

Cholera,
77
,
86

Chrysanthemum,
151
,
152
,
154
,
158
,
167
,
169

Cities, growth of population in,
5

Civilization

    
farming link to,
8

    
food as engine of,
7–10

    
overshoot and,
13–14

Clear Lake, California,
160–161

Climate

    
agriculture’s impact on,
196–197

    
change from greenhouse gases,
125

    
fluctuations in,
43

    
shift from foraging to farming and,
55–56

Clover,
62–63
,
75
,
78
,
80–82

Coal

    
energy from,
81–82

    
industrial revolution and,
81–82

    
opening of energy bottleneck by,
123

    
steam engine tractors,
123

Coffee, as New World commodity,
96

Collar harnesses,
78

Colorado potato beetle,
158–159

Columbus, Christopher,
10
,
93–94

Comets,
30

Communication

    
by animals,
50

    
cumulative learning,
44–46

    
genetic inheritance,
39

    
language,
50–51

    
transition to cooked meals and,
49

Continents,
24–25

Continuously Habitable Zone,
20

Cooking,
49

Corals, phosphorus from,
116

Corn,
133–136

    
as biofuel,
198

    
Bt,
168
,
186

    
farming in Amazon region,
60

    
fungal disease of,
148

    
high-fructose corn syrup,
193

    
origin of,
53–54
,
93

Cortés, Hernando,
94

Cotton,
Bt,
168
,
186

Cows, greenhouse gases released in production of,
196

Crick, Francis,
186

Crookes, Sir William,
105–106
,
107
,
108
,
136
,
141

Crop rotation

    
in China,
75–76

    
in Egypt,
78

    
in Europe,
80

Crops, genetically engineered,
168
,
186

Crosby, Alfred,
94

Cross-fertilization,
130–131

Crows, tool use by,
48

Culsius, Carolus,
98

Culture

    
cumulative learning and,
45–46

    
defined,
37
,
45

    
evolution of,
38
,
39

    
genes and,
46

    
role in human evolution,
37–38

Cumulative learning,
44–46
,
49
,
50

Dairy farming,
46

Dalrymple, Oliver,
123

Dams,
101
,
124

Darwin, Charles

    
hybrid vigor principle,
129

    
inbreeding,
128–129

    
natural selection and,
37–38
,
127–128

    
On the Origin of Species,
128

Dawkins, Richard,
10

DDT.
See
Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane

de la Vega, Garcilaso,
89

Dead zone,
121

Death rates,
6

Decomposition,
65
,
67

Deforestation,
ix–xi
,
60
,
69–70
,
197

Demographic transition,
6

The Descent of Man
(Darwin),
38

Detasseling,
148–149

Detergents, phosphate,
119

Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT),
151

    
ban on,
163–164

    
biomagnification of,
160–161
,
164

    
consequences of use,
157
,
159–165
,
199

    
early synthesis of,
153

    
exemptions for use of,
165

    
for gypsy moth control,
156

    
human health effects of,
164–165

    
long-range transport of,
164

    
persistence in the environment,
160

    
properties of,
156–157
,
160

    
resistance to,
157–159

    
in World War II,
154

Dickens, Charles,
86

Diet

    
changed by Haber-Bosch process,
112

    
eating locally and sustainably-produced foods,
202

    
fat in,
191–193

    
movement toward more plant-based,
202

    
overweight and obesity increase and,
193–195

    
protein-deficient,
61

    
shift to more meat, less starch,
142–144
,
191–192

    
sugar in,
96–97
,
193

    
transformation by New World crops,
96

    
transformation from farmer to urbanite and,
192–195

    
in transition from foraging to farming,
191

Digestive tracts, short,
43

Dinosaurs, extinction of,
32

“Dirty dozen” chemicals,
164

Disease

    
in ancient China,
77

    
spread from Old World to New

    
World,
95

    
spread with crowding of people,
55

    
water contaminated with human waste and,
86
,
87

Diversity of life,
29–32

Dobzhansky, Theodosius,
38

Domesticated animals,
52–53

    
human labor supplemented by,
73
,
74–75
,
78–79

    
of New World,
93

    
transport to New World,
94–95
,
97

Domesticated plants,
52–55
,
184–185

Dominant gene,
131–132

Doomsday vault,
185

Dorset, Bill,
139

Drake Well,
124

Drinks, sugary,
193

Drought, in England (1790s),
82

Dutch Elm disease,
156

Dwarf genes,
174
,
176–177

Earth

    
average temperature,
20

    
basic machinery of,
18–19

    
life development on,
30–32

    
life supported on,
18–19

    
magnetic field,
21

    
number of species on,
30

    
recycling machinery of,
23–28

    
tilt of,
22–23

Earthquakes,
25

East, Edward Murray,
134
,
172

East India Company,
139

Economic entomology,
147
,
153

Ecuador,
90

Egypt

    
crop rotation in,
78

    
Nile River and,
71–72

    
pest control by ancient Egyptians,
151

Ehrlich, Paul,
175
,
176

Einkorn,
52

Elephants, learning by,
40

Emerson, Ralph Waldo,
109–110

Emerson, Rollins Adam,
134
,
172

Emmer,
52
,
185