The themes explored in this book have never been so important and urgent, however it did feel like a struggle to follow and get into even though they are subjects I am very passionate about. Get in the right head space and give this a read.

For some reason, I thought this was fiction so I was a bit confused until I realised that it is in fact scientific non-fiction. The two biographies were an interesting way of writing that I haven't seen before, but it wasn't for me.

The current world population of 7.6 billion is projected to increase by 1 billion over the next 12 years and reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Growth will be mainly in developing countries, with more than half in Africa. This will present fundamental problems. “There are about too many people for too little land” said a few years ago the BBC broadcaster and naturalist, David Attenborough. How to feed ten billion? How to provide ten billion with clean water? How to provide enough energy? And how to do all these without irreparably harming our planet?

To explore these challenges, the author and science journalist Charles C. Mann, brings to life two significant individuals whose ideas and work in the 1950s and 1960s dominated the social and economic policies, and established two main currents of thought that are still alive and divide opinion today.

‘The Prophet’ is the ecologist and ornithologist William Vogt whose his bestseller book Road to Survival, linked overpopulation with environmental ills, and signaled the transition from the early conservation movement to the postwar environmental movement. Exponential population growth is driving many overwhelming problems on the planet, assert those who have followed Vogt’s ideas. Unless humankind drastically reduces consumption, they argue, our growing numbers and consumption will overwhelm the planet’s ecosystems.

‘The Wizard’’ is the agronomist and plant breeder Norman Borlaug. In the 1960s, Borlaug developed a wheat variety that fed the world and became one of the principal architects of the "green revolution". Today, he has become the symbol of ‘techno-optimism’,- the view that science and technology, properly applied, can help us meet the changing needs and demands of our fellow men.

Who is right, Vogt or Borlaug?

Charles C. Mann applies these two perspectives of thought to four great oncoming challenges. He takes Plato’s four elements: earth, water, fire and air, and adapts them to food, water, energy and climate change. Earth is agriculture, the food we need to feed the world. Water is drinking water. Fire is the energy we need and air represents climate change.

Mann looks at how Vogtians and Bolraugians view these great, oncoming challenges but does not offer answers of how to resolve them. Instead, he carefully and insightfully examines these two different points of view and wonders how would a Vogt or Borlaug approach the today environmental dilemmas.

Where do I stand? Like Mann I oscillate between the two stances. We live in a finite planet. Often the environment is seen as a little thing, just one small piece of the economy. But every little thing in our life depends upon this small piece. Consumption may be good for the economy, but consumerism is disastrous for the planet. On the other hand, the greatest resource we possess is our mind. Our creativity and inventiveness, our ability to produce ideas and exploit opportunities is our greatest hope to solve problems. Though the world faces challenges, we have made tremendous progress. The vast majority of the world’s population lives better and longer than ever before.

Where do you stand? This insightful, eloquent and very-well researched book can help you find some answers to your questions.