The solution to the energy and growth problems that Thurow foresaw was to make the government more energetic, and of course to grow the state. Our world is doomed, Rifkin realized. The book was widely praised by academics and politicians, but there is no Fourth Law outside the author's imagination. Rifkin continues to appear on best-seller lists. Intellectual life is coming to an end, announced Postman.
Literacy is dead.
That was before book superstores, much less Internet access to every book on Earth. Books that are both myopic and future-oriented. Volumes whose authors have retained influence and stature despite their wrongheadedness. Congratulations to Irfan and Brendan , who were the first two to suggest Rachel Carson's Silent Spring at about the same time. The winners and runners up each will get a free copy of The Future and Its Enemies , by Virginia Postrel.