author : Charles C. Mann

Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, Columbus did not land in a sparsely settled, near-pristine wilderness. Recent research has shown that Indians arrived millennia earlier than previously thought and shaped the lands around them in ways we are only now beginning to understand. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Native cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering. Perhaps most surprising, many researchers believe that past Indian cultures created much of today’s Amazon forst. This is a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.

Vogt (the Prophet) was the intellectual forefather of the environmental movement, and believed that in our using more than the planet has to give, our prosperity will bring us to ruin. Borlaug’s research in the 1950s led to the development of modern high-yield crops that have saved millions from starvation. The Wizard of Mann’s title, he believed that science will continue to rise to the challenges we face.

Mann tells the stories of these scientists and their crucial influence on today’s debates as his story ranges from Mexico to India, across continents and oceans, and from the past and the present to the future.