the late environmentalist, author, & philosopher
For more information about Edward Goldsmith please see the About page
Introduction to The Careless Technology, eds. M. Taghi Farvar and John P. Milton, 1973. The technologist in antiquity tended to be held in low esteem. Like the Titans, he must steal the fire from the Gods, and thereby earn the wrath of Zeus. Among extant primitive societies he fares scarcely better: the blacksmiths, for instance, [...]
Towards a unified science (TUS). « previous chapter · contents · next chapter » Man has a strong tendency to erect a powerful psychological barrier against any attempt to explain his mental and cultural behaviour in terms of a general behavioural model. In his desperate efforts to maintain a to-him psychologically necessary dualism he has invented at [...]
Edward Goldsmith examines the manufacturing of ‘needs’ in a consumer-oriented society with the example of modern transport. A leading article for The Ecologist Vol. 3 No. 1, January 1973. Republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006). See ordering information for the Funbook. In calculating the relative costs of road and rail transport, [...]
Review of: The Environmental Future edited by Nicholas Polunin, Macmillan This book contains the proceedings of the first International Conference on the Environmental Future held in Finland from 27 June to 3 July 1971. The object of the meeting was, “to bring together for free discussion in a stimulating atmosphere, as complete a range of [...]
Towards a unified science (TUS). « previous chapter · contents If the notion of causality is to be retained in a unified science it needs to be seriously re-examined. A complete “causal” explanation of any event, such as John Smith’s falling down the stairs and breaking his leg, would involve among other things taking into account [...]
Editorial article published in the The Ecologist Vol. 3 No. 8, August 1973 – in which Goldsmith anticipates the 1973 oil crisis and much of what has gone on in the Middle East since. Should people be made to face facts or be left with their illusions? Most people would opt for the former course [...]
A leading article for The Ecologist Vol. 3 No. 8, August 1973. Republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006). See ordering information for the Funbook. The first prerequisite of good management, whether it be of a fish and chip shop or of a nation state the size of Britain, is to get [...]
Mr W. P. Howard, Secretary of The Asbestos Information Committee has written to us attempting to refute the statement made in The Ecologist Vol. 3 No. 1 (“Asbestos and cancer”), to the effect that “low levels of asbestos in the air increase the risk of cancer to the general public”. This is our response. A [...]
