byDavid Holmgren
------Customer reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
Sean Bresnahan
5.0 out of 5 starsA philosphical treatise on Permaculture
November 2, 2015
Format: Paperback
I actually bought this for a class. The project required a book of our choosing. The following is my response to the project questions.
Why did you choose this book?
I initially chose this book because I have had an interest in “sustainability” for a few years now. Over the summer of 2014, my wife’s family and I took a roadtrip to southern Florida to visit my brother-in-law, who was, at the time, an intern at a sustainability education center for missionaries, called H.E.A.R.T. villiage. There I first learned of the permaculture concept, and became enamored by it. In preparation for this project, I found a list of “essential” books on the topic, and chose this one because of the reviews.
Why is this an important topic?
As any environmental scientist will tell you, it is the people who work directly with the land who are in a unique place to bring about tremendous environmental change. Their intimate knowledge of how plants and animals interact with one another is the key to ecosystem restoration and stability.
“For any human culture to be considered sustainable it must have the capacity (proven only with historical hindsight) to reproduce itself down the generations while providing human material needs without cataclysmic and long-term breakdown. If it is energetically impossible for high energy society (such as ours) to be anything more than a pulse in the long run of human history, then it cannot, by definition, be sustainable, no matter how much we shuffle the technological deckchairs.”
Today, it is almost common knowledge that we are in need of global structural and economic reforms. Climate change, resource depletion, peak oil, desertification, etc. Modern civilization is a global one, and so these challenges are faced by everyone. We need systems and models that anyone can utilize to help our species mitigate and adapt to these problems.
Permaculture is one such system, and a very promising one at that.
Permaculture: (Permanent Culture) - The use of systems thinking and design principles that provide the organizing framework for implementing consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature - a creative design response to a world of declining energy and resource availability - yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs, simultaneously restoring damaged & destroyed landscapes.
Permaculture is a system with immediate gains (by way of production and restoration) and does not require environmentally taxing inputs. Nor does this practice require government intervention (something which I’m sure we all desire a bit less of.) Permaculture comes pre-packaged with straightforward principles and pathways that can aid our civilization in its much needed energy descent, can help restore damaged and destroyed landscapes, can provide bountifully to human material (and even psychological?) needs, and most importantly: can help us build a more sustainable and prosperous world.
The Book:
Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren.
C. 2002 - Sustainable Design - Environmental Ethics
What was the author’s purpose in writing this book?
“To explain permaculture to a wider audience that may not be attracted by the organic gardening label. It is especially aimed at activists, designers, teachers, researchers, students, and others grappling with the vexed issues of sustainability within a wide range of fields.”
Did the author make a logical argument?
Since this is mostly a work of philosophy, thankfully, Holmgren sets up the book’s argument in the introduction. “Like all ideas, permaculture is founded on some fundamental assumptions that are critical to both understanding and evaluating it:”
---The environmental crisis is real and of a magnitude that will certainly transform modern global industrial society beyond recognition. In the process, the well-being and even survival of the world’s expanding population is directly threatened.
---The ongoing and future impacts of global industrial society and human numbers on the world’s wondrous biodiversity are assumed to be far greater than the massive changes of the last few hundred years.
---Humans, although unusual within the natural world, are subject to the same scientific (energy) laws that govern the material universe, including the evolution of life.
---The tapping of fossil fuels during the industrial era was seen as the primary cause of the spectacular explosion in human numbers, technology, and every other novel feature of modern society.
---Despite the inevitably unique nature of future realities, the inevitable depletion of fossil fuels within a few generations will see a return to the general patterns observable in nature and pre-industrial societies dependent on renewable energy and resources.
Holmgren then goes on to explain how Permaculture differs from organic gardening or technological responses to these problems. Permaculture:
Gives priority to using existing wealth to rebuilding natural capital, especially trees and forests, as a proven storage of wealth to sustain humanity into a future with less fossil fuel.
---Emphasises bottom-up “redesign” processes, starting with the individual and household as the drivers for change at the market, community and cultural level.
---More fundamentally, was predicated on the likelihood of some degree of collapses and breakdown in technology, economics and even society, which is not envisaged or designed for by the “green tech” optimists but is a current reality for many people around the world.
---Sees pre-industrial sustainable societies as providing models that reflect the more general system design principles observable in nature, and relevant to post-industrial systems.
Arguably, one of the most important things Holmgren argues about the permaculture concept, is that it is predicated on the natural flows of universal energy laws - either humanity will naturally begin to adapt in this way (and so formulaic principles and pathways can help us mitigate more effectively), or perhaps they will bridge the energy gap (fusion?)...however, new technology does not come prepackaged with a “wisdom chip,” so organizing societies in sustainable ways is the most responsible and sensible thing we can do. Given the tenacity with which Holmgren defends these principles and pathways, with the wealth of 25 years of personal observation and experimentation and a myriad of scientific wisdom, I say that yes, his arguments are quite solid.
Do you feel the items were logically based and true?
Yes. Example: refer to IPCC report AR5
Did the author keep you interested?
I have been trained to study Philosophy, so this is my jam. However, I might warn those I would recommend this book to about its intellectual density.
Share your favorite part of the book:
---The Permaculture Flower (“The key domains that require transformation to create a sustainable culture.”)
---The Twelve Permaculture Principles (“Generalized principles can be derived from the study of both the natural world and pre-industrial societies.”)
---How he repeatedly makes the point that “The process of providing for people’s needs within ecological limits and in more sustainable ways requires a cultural revolution.”
---How he explains that “business as usual” tactics will not solve the crises we are facing.
What did you like most about the book?
How carefully and logically it was written. How well mapped out its principles are.
What did you like least?
This is not a typical gardening book, but more of a philosophical treatise on the underpinnings of the permaculture concept. Having a background in philosophy and a craving for deep ecological understanding, I really enjoyed it. However, it is hard to recommend to anyone without those requisites. It is not, in any sense, light reading. The issues Holmgren raises could be very disturbing to some. It attempts to make a perennial statement of ethics, so for anyone who has studied moral philosophy, it might seem a bit misanthropic for those not already convinced by its precepts. The biggest problem with the book is its unashamedly anarchistic view of civilization, and so its callous attitude toward government. This will be an immediate turnoff to some, and leaves gaping holes where large scale policy recommendations might have been beneficial. (Though this was his point. Radical change is individual change.)
What will be your lasting impression of the subject?
This book was definitely highly influential to me. It helped me mentally structure my interest in sustainability, and helped me develop specific methods of systems thinking that I had before only conceptualized. I will be using this book throughout my academic career.
Did you learn something new from the book?
One of the most important concepts I learned from this book was the relationship between natural laws and human action. Specifically, Holmgren’s recognition of the 4th energy law of maximum power efficiency as a sociogeobiophysical design principle, and the application of this law to humane terra formations. Demonstrations of these kinds of relationships introduced “systems thinking,” and ultimately has lead me to pursue the field of systems ecology.
Would you recommend this book? How would you rate it?
Yes. However, as I’ve said, I’d warn the reader of its philosophical density. On a scale of ten, I’d give it a rating of 8.5.
2 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Frank Fremerey
1.0 out of 5 starsHolmgren turns a good idea into a religionNovember 6, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Holmgren turns a good idea into a religion. Sustainable agriculture is too important for a closed shop policy. The book shows the ideas but it is more of a cult than a practical guide to sustainable agriculture.
I recommend other books to start with like the ones from Shepard or Savory or Toensmeier. If you want a new religion go for Holmgren. If you want advice for practical sustainable agriculture go somewhere else.
6 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
JLau
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Ideas needs better editing
December 21, 2011
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I wanted to love this book but I felt it was so hard to read.
Very creative and deep thinking but unless you have a pretty good understanding of permaculture this book might just fly by your head.
I had a hard time understanding some examples when it was describing David's native Australian countryside. Also it felt like it was a jumble of notes compiled together. Sort of reminded me of Bruce Lee's Tao of JKD. They try and categorize each section into the Permaculture principles but there is so much jumping around and reconnect I lose sight on what that section is focusing on.
Lots of run on sentences that were really wordy. I had to read over many things two to three times to try to wrap my head around things. You really need to be focused to take in the information in this book. It does show how permaculture is a diverse web of interactions both on an ecological and principle level. But if you studied permaculture you'd know that already.
If you're serious about permaculture get it and dive in. You'll find nuggets of information. But be warned you might get frustrated with his writing style.
11 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Thomas I. Ellis
5.0 out of 5 stars
An essential and foundational guide to the theoretical foundations of PermacultureMay 26, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
A masterpiece of rigor and moral clarity. Holmgren has taken the next important step in the global Permaculture movement started by the brilliant and charismatic Bill Mollison, in that he has crystallized Mollison's insights into a mandala of twelve key principles.
These principles go well beyond the detailed suggestions for regenerative gardening techniques that comprise most Permaculture literature--they are generalized so as to be universally applicable, yet clear and precise in their explanations. This theoretically dense book should be read slowly and deliberately in a group--a book club, for example, so that these principles can be thoroughly grasped and discussed. If Bill Mollison's Permaculture Design Manual is the practical permaculture "bible," this book is its theoretical complement.
2 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book on permaculture principlesSeptember 18, 2007
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I read this book and could see how this thinking about use and re-use, planning and observing will help not just my garden but my life. Really useful examples of each principle and in depth discussion of what they mean, how they can be applied in lots of cases.
3 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
jeremeyweeks
3.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Permaculture bookJanuary 22, 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This is a good book for those who are new to permaculture.
I think there are better ones out there, but this covers the basics.
One person found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Virginia L.
5.0 out of 5 stars
but of joy! You -- the designerFebruary 7, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This is an outstanding book -- it is wholesome and commendable in its approach to global-sized solutions; even more so, it is dynamic in it's challenge to imagine, apply and actually "feed" the improvements, which can be brought about..The reader is guided well, in traveling through the usable concepts, to find his or her vision uplifted into a realistic permanence. It opens up heavy doors so that you personally and collectively experience the realness..., not only of needed survival, but of joy! You -- the designer, architect or cultivator -- are encouraged and 'brought to life'! At that point, you can join in the dance of being woven with that magical "tapestry" of life -- where there's harmony between life being lived, and all the things living! Buy this book, absorb it; then exude its usable power to the world around you!
3 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
micki madison
5.0 out of 5 starsFive StarsMarch 18, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
great book
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Mulkerin Mark
1.0 out of 5 stars
More numbers, less wisdom please!March 3, 2008
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
In purchasing this book, I'd hoped to start learning the strategies and techniques for transforming a piece land into an environmentally sustainable legacy for future generations. Perhaps, I misunderstood the book's description when it specified that it would teach me the foundations of permaculture design and the 12 permaculture design principles.
Instead of providing a useful guide to designing a more sustainable environment for someone who wants to change their lifestyle for their own philosophical and ethical beliefs, the book takes one on 277 page New Age ramble. Rather than offering sound scientific reasons why permaculture offers a reasonable path through climate change and likely energy declines, the author offers platitudes and dubious claims.
I was bounced from preferences for traditional cultures (never mind traditions like female circumcision or traditional building methods that collapse in earthquakes) to citations of Hari Krishna practices as something to emulate to anti-patriarchal graphs and ending with a profound sense of disappointment. Yes, Mr. Holmgren, you can be a male Western scientific materialist and still want to create a sustainable environment and society for your children.
41 people found this helpful
Helpful4 comments Report abuse
Lee
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good information but hard to readJuly 16, 2008
Format: Paperback
Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability
I found this book incredibly hard to read.
I couldn't wrap my head around Holmgren's style of prose, and the layout and ideas in this book. It is wordy, meandering, and confusing - and I found myself lost in chapter after chapter as Holmgren's explanations went way over my head, leaving me confused and befuddled. This would not be a good introduction to permaculture, and no good at all as a teaching book or textbook.
I wish I could have given this book a higher rating than two stars, but I simply wouldn't recommend it to any but the diehard permaculture enthusiast who feels s/he must have every book on the subject in her/his possession.
I feel that Holmgren has somehow missed the simplicity of permaculture and become bogged down in unnecessary complexity, taking his readers with him. He presents a neat little set of diagrams, but I lost touch with what to do with them early on, and it was all downhill from there. Maybe the book improved towards the end, but as I never finished it I shall never know. Which is a shame.
Holmgren has done wonderful work in the field of permaculture and sustainability. His record in the field is commendable. I feel sad I can't recommend this book. I hope his next venture is more readable.
From now on, I'll stick with Mollison (the father and founder of permaculture) whose books I have found to be all incredibly readable, intelligent, and action-provoking.
28 people found this helpful
Helpful2 comments Report abuse
cobber gal
3.0 out of 5 starsGive me the practical Holmgren insteadAugust 13, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
It's an intellectualisation trip, possibly forced on him by doctrinaire disciples. Permaculture is eminently practical, founded in observations of reality. This feels to me like an "apologia" for something real that needs no justification.
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Al K. Mickel
5.0 out of 5 starsa catalytic read from the permaculture cofounderAugust 4, 2017
Format: Paperback
a brilliant work. his ideas take root in yours and each reread fertilizes their growth. it's not a conventional "how-to" permaculture book. he doesn't offer new growing methods but rather new thinking methods. buy it and read it and re-read and re-read again.
HelpfulComment Report abuse
David Flanagan
5.0 out of 5 starsRekindled my interest in PermacultureSeptember 15, 2003
Format: Paperback
This book has rekindled my interest in Permaculture.
The author, David Holmgren, is the co-creator, with Bill Mollison of the
term "permaculture", and the co-author of the original permaculture
book, _Permaculture One_. Now, some 25 years after that seminal
book, Holmgren has written a timely and comprehensive synthesis that
brings permaculture principles together in an exiting new way.
The book highlights our place at a unique moment in history: at the peak
of the global oil production curve; at the beginning of the end of cheap
fossil energy. This is, for me, the book's most compelling motif: it
positions permaculture as a strategy for a future of inevitable "energy
descent".
Although Holmgren hints that this energy descent may take any
number of horrific pathways, he appears to have chosen the term
"descent" as a hopeful alternative to collapse, crash, or dieoff.
Holmgren insightfully points out that is not just our reserves of fossil
fuel that we've been burning through. Since the Reagan/Thatcher years,
he claims, global capitalism has been on a frenzy of job cutting and
"just-in-time" inventory reduction. This amounts to a destruction of
the embedded intelligence and a severe draw-down of the capital stocks
of our institutions: a severe loss of embedded energy. Furthermore, he
worries that due to privatization and short-term bottom-line thinking,
maintenance on our built-environment and physical infrastructure has been
neglected: another huge loss of embedded energy.
On a hopeful note, Holmgren compares this situation to a forest fire: as
the conflagration of global capitalism burns through its huge pulse of
embedded energy, the time will be ripe for pioneers to take root and
produce a flush of new growth. It is a moment of high potential for
systemic change, and Holmgren's book hopes to provide "Principles and
Pathways" to seed and guide that change.
The subtitle of this book includes the phrase "Beyond Sustainability".
It is a well-established insight of permaculture that sustainability is
not enough: in a world that is already degraded, we need to achieve an
excess yield beyond sustainability that we can feed back into the great
work of restoration. Holmgren's contribution to this area is to point
out is that it is hard to even give meaning to the term "sustainability"
while we are in the midst of a dramatic energy descent with constantly
declining energy availability. We must, of course, aim for a soft
landing and a smooth transition to a sustainable future but our
immediate problem is to safely negotiate the descent itself.
All this is in addition, of course, to Holmgren's wise and fresh take on the more traditional subject matter of permaculture design. This book is a must-read, equal in stature to Mollison's _Permaculture: a Practical Guide for a
Sustainable Future_.
122 people found this helpful
Helpful1 comment Report abuse
Samantha Alice
3.0 out of 5 starsA very intellectual bookOctober 24, 2007
Format: Paperback
This is a philosophical treatise on the underpinnings of permaculture.
Not a gardening book as such, altho examples of gardening and landscaping are used to illustrate the theories.
I found it enjoyable, but not light reading.
I would reccommend it, if you have an intellectual craving for deep ecological understanding.
18 people found this helpful
Helpful2 comments Report abuse
Aaron Z Witham
5.0 out of 5 starsTrue sustainabilityJune 6, 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I've studied many different facets of sustainability, and this book does the best job of putting the key concepts together in a holistic manner.
Permaculture is not just about food.
It's about
- the energy that sustains us,
- how we thrive in a world of limited resources, and
- how we use human ingenuity to its full extent.
To be sustainable we have to be extraordinarily smart and plan carefully.
Holmgren's explanation of permaculture is a great starting roadmap for how we can do this as a society.
HelpfulComment Report abuse
David Crowther
4.0 out of 5 starsThought ProvokingApril 21, 2013
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I found the book a delight to read and thought provoking not only regarding permaculture gardening, but more about society culture.
It made me reflect on how things were done only 30 years ago (my memories) and the massive change in energy consumption and waste increase and my contribution - a paradigm changer.
Enjoy!
HelpfulComment Report abuse
J.W.K
5.0 out of 5 stars
BEYOND SUSTAINABILITYJanuary 28, 2004
Format: Paperback
That the world we now live in is unsustainable goes without saying. Our skyrocketing population puts enormous pressure on the productive and absorptive capacities of the land, outstripping the natural carrying capacity of the planet by some twenty percent (see Radical Simplicity, by Jim Merkel). In effect, we are stealing away the life of the planet and the life of future generations. As ever more fisheries collapse, forests shrink, rangelands deteriorate, soils erode, species vanish, temperatures rise, rivers run dry, water tables fall, ozone depletion expands and polar ice caps melt across the globe, the single most important question humanity has faced resonates ever louder: How can we live sustainably?
Amid the cacophony of scholarly and political debate surrounding this issue, the hushed emergence of permaculture has by and large gone unnoticed. Defined as the use of systems thinking and design principles to consciously design "landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs," the permaculture concept is nothing less than the science of sustainability. And since the joint publication of Permaculture One: A Perennial Agricultural System for Human Settlements (now out of print) by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the mid-seventies, permaculture has become a veritable movement - a legitimate answer to the environmental and agricultural crises which plague humanity.
Unfortunately, for the past twenty-five years, those who wished to learn more about permaculture were limited to joining expensive seminars and workshops, thereby ensuring marginal public exposure. All of this has changed, though, with the publication of this book. Holmgren provides us with a no-nonsense guide to permaculture, accessible to laypersons and scholars alike.
If you are interested in moving away from consumer dependency and becoming a responsible productive person, this book is for you. The skills and ideas imparted here are not only necessary for those who seek to create a healthful, sustainable way of life, they are empowering. In my opinion, permaculture is the best tool we have with which to begin creating a viable, perhaps more-than-merely-sustainable future.
To get an idea of what permaculture actually looks like on the ground, check out Ecovillage Living, by Hildur Jackson and Karen Svensson, and visit the Crystal Waters Permaculture Village website.
A remarkable resource.
j.w.k.
94 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Sean Siemen
5.0 out of 5 starsIf you want to live Permaculture you must read and have this bookApril 3, 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Holmgren's writing style is a bit heady which may turn some readers off. But, if you're willing to deal with that, the book is a trove of information and perspective that every permaculturist should have on hand. The key to reading is recognizing that each environment is unique and that permaculture isn't a set of "how to's" for doing but rather "how to's" for thinking. That is what this book is best at - developing your thinking skills so you can develop permaculture applications where you are. Glad I bought it!
2 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
H.Hieronimi
5.0 out of 5 starsAn important actualization of the permaculture concept - essencial readingJanuary 21, 2009
Format: Paperback
Well, here we have THE important actualization of the permaculture concepts for the new milenium-
I agree with many of the other reviewers, that this book is probably not an easy read, since here Holmgren goes into a deep and profound analisis of ecological and systemic concepts. My tip - read this book slowly, two to five pages are enough, and than go out in the garden and experience....citing Permaculture Principle number 1: "Observe and Interact"....
This book is probably not something for beginners, who want to have practical tips on how to make a garden (well, there is enough literature around on that issue), nevertheless I consider it essencial reading for those folks who have some experience in sustaiability issues and some permaculture design practice -
this book changed my life, and reinspired my more than 19 year permaculture experiences and practices.
Permaculture is much more than just a curious gardening filosofy, and here the lesser known co-originator of the concept destilles his 25 year or more practical permaculture experience in his twelve deep and empowering permaculture principles, that challenge most of the more mainstreamish sustainability concepts. Holmgren is an incredible conceptualizer.
This is a book for all those people, who are seriously interested in permaculture design/practice and sustainability issues. Also, I like Holmgrens more reflective and modest style, that contrasts a bit the more polemic, straightforward and sometimes provocative style of Mollisons permaculture Books - Highly recommended !!!
6 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
KA Black
4.0 out of 5 stars
Book arrived in new condition no problem, content has good info, but a little more metaphysical then it needs to be,August 15, 2013
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
To people that already understand and practice sustainable life styles, the graphs on the beliefs and symbols on the theoretical concepts might be somewhat like preaching to the choir. This book is almost a religious push between the two people that created this concept. I'm not putting any thing in this book down, I just plodded through the metaphysical stuff and was excited to find the practical and useful information contained in this book. I guess I'm more of an engineer then a philosopher, my weakness - my strength.
2 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Ana Sarvan
5.0 out of 5 starsA great read! I am pretty new to the holistic ...December 16, 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
A great read! I am pretty new to the holistic permaculture design and this book gives a very deep overview of the movement. I think it will be an excellent pre-reading for my future permaculture courses which i plant to attend. Would recommend to anyone who is interested in permaculture as a way to build a good starting therorethical knowledge. The challenge follows with the future application of the principles here explained.
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Kathy Shaw
5.0 out of 5 starsThis book is amazing!February 15, 2013
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I recommend this book not only for confirmed permies like myself, but also for anyone wanting to know more about how man and nature fit together and not in separate spheres. Something that sounds as simple as sustainably growing food has enormous far-reaching impacts that could change the world, given the chance. The book shows how principles of permaculture apply in a far reaching context. I found it to be inspiring, educational and enlightening.
One person found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Sholto
3.0 out of 5 starsThe book of ParadoxAugust 26, 2003
Format: Paperback
David Holmgren can see distant horizons. His renown genius brings post-peak (world energy production) paradigms into our view of imminent landscapes and humans action. Readers should be warned that the issues David raises could be very disturbing. You should first seriously evaluate the stability of your emotions and metabolism. I would not recommend this book to someone feeling socially isolated, unsupported, urban discontent, emotionally vulnerable, or terrified by global scales and city speeds.
The radical aspect of David's approach is to recognize the (Leibniz-Lotka-Volterra-H.T.Odum) 4th energy law of maximum power efficiency as a sociogeobiophysical design principle. David's thought can be characterised as the application of this law to humane terraformations. And in this regard he is quite a thinker.
In this book David aims at an all-encompassing statement of perennial ethics. And in this regard I can't help feeling that messiah Holmgren is premature in self-publication. David is surprisingly ignorant of moral philosophy, and does not appear to feel any obligation to read any of the basic texts or discourses in the area. This just doesn't feel right. Especially since David's polyvision seems confused by higher-order complexities of Nature; such as cities, Nation states, transnational organizations and televisions.
With regard to all scales of government policy formation, he has very little to say and he refers to no models. Perhaps this is because he is living off the land sustainability, and isn't afforded the time to read more widely? Whatever the case I feel very uncomfortable about it, and about him referring to me as an authority on other matters.
On the one hand the work stands as an important indicator for smaller-scale post-industrial organization. On the other hand an EMERGY-literate Holmgren would give greater weighting to his ecological conspiracy. In the mean time deeper ecosystem philosophers should master H.T. Odum's `Ecological and General Systems' - the source.
30 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Paul Oveisi
5.0 out of 5 starsThe big picture on permaculture. A solid read. ...August 9, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
The big picture on permaculture. A solid read. No Xs and Os here but a comprehensive analysis of the culture, science and worldview perspective of permaculture principles. This should be on every permies bookshelf.
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Kerry E
4.0 out of 5 starsExcellent introduction to principlesDecember 27, 2012
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I found this book gave me an understanding of the ethic behind permaculture. This is not the book to help you design your garden. But if you want to understand why we need to go down this path, then this is the book for you!! I have since purchased Introduction to permaculture, which is more on how to set up the garden.
One person found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsStart here if you want to learn about PermacultureFebruary 20, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
You can't get any better authority than this. Also watch Holmgren's YouTube videos to get a sense of the writer.
HelpfulComment Report abuse
laverniagrandma
1.0 out of 5 starscondition of the book was excellent, however David Holmgren spends almost the entire time ...February 11, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
condition of the book was excellent, however David Holmgren spends almost the entire time convincing the reader that he is knowledgable and doesn not provide any information on sustainable permaculture
2 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Oliver Smith Callis
5.0 out of 5 starsEmpoweringJanuary 26, 2008
Format: Paperback
Reading this book, although in the beginning a bit of a dense and sluggish read, was a major pivotal moment for me. Holmgren presents a visionary perspective and context of humanity's position, provides profound and thought provoking discourse on the underlying philosophies and patterns of permaculture design, and projects an image of an inspiring future and a path to get there with confidence.
Once I got to the second half of the book, the pace picked up and I felt positively engaged right through to the end. It has supplied me with valuable tools and concepts which I use and refer to almost daily, as I am confronted by the bull-headed, sometimes irrational, sometimes blatantly parasitic structures humanity has surrounded itself with.
But Homgren's greatest gift to me, from the end of the book, was his argument for not needing to denigrate our forebears' roles in the situation we find ourselves in today; especially as permaculture design provides us with some of the key tools of thought that will empower us in todays times of monstrous change. This really helped me to release any stress I was creating around blame, freeing up that mental space to be employed in creative problem solving.
8 people found this helpful
