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A review by cavalary
A 6-a extincție - O istorie nenaturală a Pământului by Elizabeth Kolbert
4.0
[EN: (RO below)]
For what this book aims to do, extrapolating from a handful of representative examples to demonstrate that we’re in the midst of the sixth known mass extinction in the history of life on this planet and that humans are responsible for it, I can find no reasons to complain. It’s written well, easy to read, and the examples and arguments are properly selected and presented. In particular, I’ll point out the appalling but all too common human behavior against other creatures depicted in chapter three, the fact that chapter four doesn’t depict an extinction caused by humans but shows both that extinction isn’t the “fault” of the species going extinct and how tightly even scientists tend to hold on to existing convictions despite the evidence, and chapter eleven, which shows that humans have been a disaster for other species pretty much since we started spreading all over this planet, so that idyllic image of a time when humans lived in harmony with Nature was probably never true.
Past that, however, it stops at pointing out a few extraordinary conservation and possibly restoration efforts, presenting them as proof of the good humans can do, even though all other evidence shows that in that case you can’t extrapolate in the same manner. Choosing to end in that manner instead of stressing that typical human behavior, at the individual level but far more importantly in terms of how society, past and present, is set up and functions, is responsible for all this destruction and needs to change, quickly and radically, is disappointing to say the least.
As for the translated edition I read, I spotted a handful of typos and translation errors, so I wonder how many I didn’t spot, especially since the translator didn’t seem sufficiently comfortable with the field. And I still don’t like the notes being at the end, and in this case the number would have allowed them to be footnotes… Which would have also likely avoided the couple of situations where the numbers in a chapter ended up off by one after a point.
[RO:]
Legat de ce incearca aceasta carte sa faca, extrapoland de la o mana de exemple reprezentative pentru a demonstra ca suntem in mijlocul celei de-a sasea extinctii in masa cunoscute din istoria vietii pe aceasta planeta si ca oamenii sunt responsabili pentru asta, nu pot gasi motive sa ma plang. Este scrisa bine, usor de citit, iar exemplele si argumentele sunt selectate si prezentate adecvat. In special, as atrage atentia asupra comportamentului ingrozitor dar atat de frecvent al oamenilor fata de alte specii prezentat in capitolul trei, faptului ca in capitolul patru nu se prezinta o extinctie dar se arata atat ca extinctia nu este "vina" speciei care dispare cat si cat de strans se agata chiar si oamenii de stiinta de convingerile existente in ciuda dovezilor, si capitolului unsprezece, care arata ca oamenii au fost un dezastru pentru celelalte specii cam de cand am inceput sa ne raspandim pe aceasta planeta, deci acea imagine idilica a unor vremuri in care oamenii au trait in armonie cu Natura n-a fost probabil niciodata adevarata.
Dincolo de asta, insa, se opreste la a arata cateva eforturi extraordinare de conservare si poate restaurare, prezentandu-le ca dovada a binelui pe care-l pot face oamenii, desi toate celelalte dovezi arata ca in acel caz nu poti extrapola in acelasi mod. Alegand sa incheie in acea maniera in loc sa sublinieze ca responsabil pentru toata aceasta distrugere este comportamentul uman tipic, la nivel individual dar cu mult mai important prin felul in care societatea, in trecut si prezent, este structurata si functioneaza, si asta trebuie sa se schimbe, rapid si radical, este cel putin dezamagitor.
Cat despre editia tradusa pe care am citit-o, am observat un numar de greseli de scriere si de traducere, deci ma intreb cate n-am observat, mai ales ca traducatoarea nu pare a se simti suficient de comfortabil in acest domeniu. Si tot nu-mi place sa fie notele la final, iar in acest caz numarul le-ar fi permis sa fie note de subsol... Ceea ce probabil ar fi evitat si cele cateva situatii in care numerele dintr-un capitol au ajuns sa devieze cu unu dupa un anumit punct.
For what this book aims to do, extrapolating from a handful of representative examples to demonstrate that we’re in the midst of the sixth known mass extinction in the history of life on this planet and that humans are responsible for it, I can find no reasons to complain. It’s written well, easy to read, and the examples and arguments are properly selected and presented. In particular, I’ll point out the appalling but all too common human behavior against other creatures depicted in chapter three, the fact that chapter four doesn’t depict an extinction caused by humans but shows both that extinction isn’t the “fault” of the species going extinct and how tightly even scientists tend to hold on to existing convictions despite the evidence, and chapter eleven, which shows that humans have been a disaster for other species pretty much since we started spreading all over this planet, so that idyllic image of a time when humans lived in harmony with Nature was probably never true.
Past that, however, it stops at pointing out a few extraordinary conservation and possibly restoration efforts, presenting them as proof of the good humans can do, even though all other evidence shows that in that case you can’t extrapolate in the same manner. Choosing to end in that manner instead of stressing that typical human behavior, at the individual level but far more importantly in terms of how society, past and present, is set up and functions, is responsible for all this destruction and needs to change, quickly and radically, is disappointing to say the least.
As for the translated edition I read, I spotted a handful of typos and translation errors, so I wonder how many I didn’t spot, especially since the translator didn’t seem sufficiently comfortable with the field. And I still don’t like the notes being at the end, and in this case the number would have allowed them to be footnotes… Which would have also likely avoided the couple of situations where the numbers in a chapter ended up off by one after a point.
[RO:]
Legat de ce incearca aceasta carte sa faca, extrapoland de la o mana de exemple reprezentative pentru a demonstra ca suntem in mijlocul celei de-a sasea extinctii in masa cunoscute din istoria vietii pe aceasta planeta si ca oamenii sunt responsabili pentru asta, nu pot gasi motive sa ma plang. Este scrisa bine, usor de citit, iar exemplele si argumentele sunt selectate si prezentate adecvat. In special, as atrage atentia asupra comportamentului ingrozitor dar atat de frecvent al oamenilor fata de alte specii prezentat in capitolul trei, faptului ca in capitolul patru nu se prezinta o extinctie dar se arata atat ca extinctia nu este "vina" speciei care dispare cat si cat de strans se agata chiar si oamenii de stiinta de convingerile existente in ciuda dovezilor, si capitolului unsprezece, care arata ca oamenii au fost un dezastru pentru celelalte specii cam de cand am inceput sa ne raspandim pe aceasta planeta, deci acea imagine idilica a unor vremuri in care oamenii au trait in armonie cu Natura n-a fost probabil niciodata adevarata.
Dincolo de asta, insa, se opreste la a arata cateva eforturi extraordinare de conservare si poate restaurare, prezentandu-le ca dovada a binelui pe care-l pot face oamenii, desi toate celelalte dovezi arata ca in acel caz nu poti extrapola in acelasi mod. Alegand sa incheie in acea maniera in loc sa sublinieze ca responsabil pentru toata aceasta distrugere este comportamentul uman tipic, la nivel individual dar cu mult mai important prin felul in care societatea, in trecut si prezent, este structurata si functioneaza, si asta trebuie sa se schimbe, rapid si radical, este cel putin dezamagitor.
Cat despre editia tradusa pe care am citit-o, am observat un numar de greseli de scriere si de traducere, deci ma intreb cate n-am observat, mai ales ca traducatoarea nu pare a se simti suficient de comfortabil in acest domeniu. Si tot nu-mi place sa fie notele la final, iar in acest caz numarul le-ar fi permis sa fie note de subsol... Ceea ce probabil ar fi evitat si cele cateva situatii in care numerele dintr-un capitol au ajuns sa devieze cu unu dupa un anumit punct.