Planetary Improvement

An examination of clean technology entrepreneurship finds that “green capitalism” is more capitalist than green. Entrepreneurs and investors in the green economy have encouraged a vision of addressing climate change with new technologies. In Planetary Improvement, Jesse Goldstein examines the cleantech entrepreneurial community in order to understand the limitations of environmental transformation within a capitalist system. Reporting on a series of investment pitches by cleantech entrepreneurs in New York City, Goldstein describes investor-friendly visions of incremental improvements to the industrial status quo that are hardly transformational. He explores a new “green spirit of capitalism,” a discourse of planetary improvement, that aims to “save the planet” by looking for “non-disruptive disruptions,” technologies that deliver “solutions” without changing much of what causes the underlying problems in the first place. Goldstein charts the rise of business environmentalism over the last half of the twentieth century and examines cleantech's unspoken assumptions of continuing cheap and abundant energy. Recounting the sometimes conflicting motivations of cleantech entrepreneurs and investors, he argues that the cleantech innovation ecosystem and its Schumpetarian dynamic of creative destruction are built around attempts to control creativity by demanding that transformational aspirations give way to short-term financial concerns. As a result, capitalist imperatives capture and stifle visions of sociotechnical possibility and transformation. Finally, he calls for a green spirit that goes beyond capitalism, in which sociotechnical experimentation is able to break free from the narrow bonds and relative privilege of cleantech entrepreneurs and the investors that control their fate.

An examination of clean technology entrepreneurship finds that “green capitalism” is more capitalist than green. Entrepreneurs and investors in the green economy have encouraged a vision of addressing climate change with new technologies. In Planetary Improvement, Jesse Goldstein examines the cleantech entrepreneurial community in order to understand the limitations of environmental transformation within a capitalist system. Reporting on a series of investment pitches by cleantech entrepreneurs in New York City, Goldstein describes investor-friendly visions of incremental improvements to the industrial status quo that are hardly transformational. He explores a new “green spirit of capitalism,” a discourse of planetary improvement, that aims to “save the planet” by looking for “non-disruptive disruptions,” technologies that deliver “solutions” without changing much of what causes the underlying problems in the first place. Goldstein charts the rise of business environmentalism over the last half of the twentieth century and examines cleantech's unspoken assumptions of continuing cheap and abundant energy. Recounting the sometimes conflicting motivations of cleantech entrepreneurs and investors, he argues that the cleantech innovation ecosystem and its Schumpetarian dynamic of creative destruction are built around attempts to control creativity by demanding that transformational aspirations give way to short-term financial concerns. As a result, capitalist imperatives capture and stifle visions of sociotechnical possibility and transformation. Finally, he calls for a green spirit that goes beyond capitalism, in which sociotechnical experimentation is able to break free from the narrow bonds and relative privilege of cleantech entrepreneurs and the investors that control their fate.

The need for these tables became pressing when hundreds of astronomical cuneiform tables in the British Museum became available for study, partly through the copies made in the 1880s and 1890s. All these texts originally came from some archive in Babylon which was discovered by Arabs in the middle of the 19th century. Most of the texts were written from about 330 B.C. to the first century A.D. Many of the texts are fragments of the original clay tables which have broken. In many cases, a fragment contains only parts of a few legible lines. Much of the information is of an astronomical character. It is evident that for investigations of these tablets the possibility of rapid scanning of accurately dated planetary positions is of primary importance.

Planetary Exploration Horizon 2061: A Long-Term Perspective for Planetary Exploration synthesizes all the material elaborated and discussed during three workshops devoted to the Horizon 2061 foresight exercise. Sections cover the science of planetary systems, space missions to solar system objects, technologies for exploration, and infrastructures and services to support the missions and to maximize their science return. The editors follow the path of the implementation of a planetary mission, from the needed support in terms of navigation and communication, through the handling of samples returned to Earth, to the development of more permanent infrastructures for scientific human outposts on the Moon and Mars. This book also includes a special chapter entirely devoted to contributions from students and early-career scientists: the “Horizon 2061 generation and a final chapter on important avenues for the actual implementation of the planetary missions coming out of our “Dreams for Horizon 2061 : International cooperation, and the growing role and initiatives of private enterprise in planetary exploration. Provides a logical link between scientific questions and the technologies needed to thoroughly address them Organized chapters present a logical road map of subjects, while also stimulating a cross-disciplinary understanding of the scientific and technical challenges of planetary exploration Contains illustrations and tables that capture and synthesize knowledge of a broad readership

Proceedings of the Third Alexander von Humboldt Colloquium on Celestial Mechanics

An easy-to-use field guide for teaching on climate injustice and building resilience in your students--and yourself--in an age of crisis. As feelings of eco-grief and climate anxiety grow, educators are grappling with how to help students learn about the violent systems causing climate change while simultaneously navigating the emotions this knowledge elicits. This book provides resources for developing emotional and existential tenacity in college classrooms so that students can stay engaged. Featuring insights from scholars, educators, activists, artists, game designers, and others who are integrating emotional wisdom into climate justice education, this user-friendly guide offers a robust menu of interdisciplinary, plug-and-play teaching strategies, lesson plans, and activities to support student transformation and build resilience. The book also includes reflections from students who have taken classes that incorporate their emotions in the curricula. Galvanizing and practical, The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators will equip both educators and their students with tools for advancing climate justice.

WHEN JOHN MASON JUNIOR IS INFORMED THAT HE HAS BEEN SELECTED AS THE NEW PLANETARY PRESIDENT HE IS INDIGNANT AS HE REALISES THAT HE HAS BEEN A PAWN OF THE WORLD COALITION GOVERNMENT EVER SINCE HE BEGAN MAKING CHANGES AND ESTABLISHING A NEW UNDERGROUND SOCIETY THAT HAS THRIVED AND GROWN UNDER HIS CAPABLE SUPERVISION. NOW, AT SIXTY THREE, HE IS FACED WITH SOME OF THE GREATEST CHALLENGES OF HIS LIFE. HE CAN FINALIZE THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE ETERNITY CLINICS THAT HAVE BEEN SO MUCH A PART OF THE DEATH ORDER CULTURE ON THERA FOR THE PAST TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AND DICOVER THEIR TERRIBLE SECRET. DISCOVERING THE COLONISTS' ORIGINAL CHARTER HE DECIDES THAT FUTURE LAWS WILL BE ESTABLISHED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THAT CHARTER. BASING HIS FIRST EXECUTIVE ORDER ON THE SEVENTH PRINCIPLE IN THE CHARTER, JUNIOR ABOLISHES THE CLASS DISTINCTIONS LAW THAT HAS SEPARATED EXECUTIVES AND WORKERS FOR SO MANY CENTURIES. REVIVING THE SCIENCES THAT WILL ALLOW THERANS TO VENTURE OUT INTO SPACE, JUNIOR STARTS SETTING UP VARIOUS NEW GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES AND APPOINTING FORMER WORKERS AS GOVERNMENT MINISTERS. HOWEVER, JUNIOR FACES HIS GREATEST CHALLENGE EVER WHEN HE IS ATTACKED AND STABBED BY AN ASSASSIN.