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Re: Envir. Sustainability/Al Bartlett



Wayburn places his comments concerning the following posting at the
beginning of his reply to save time on the spell checker. The next
passage is in quotes to indicate that it is copied out of context from
what follows.
"The immediate consequence of overpopulation is the decline of democracy,
followed by political instability, which seems to be on the increase in
all parts of the world. In an unstable society, physics will be an early
casualty. Can you imagine trying to do physics in the former
Yugoslovia?"
************************************************************
The above quote strikes me as a misdirection of concern. One can do
physics anywhere. If it comes to that - without pencil and paper even.
One cannot do physics when one is dead or - in all likelihood - when
one is starving to death. Besides democracy has been and continues to
be a ridiculous myth - partly because physicist are willing to do what
ever the plutocrats wish them to do. I was shocked and a little
saddened - as a watched scientists, albeit nominative chemical engineers
switch from what I supposed to be a deep and abiding interest in reaction
kinetics, say, to super-conductivity as soon as the boss blew his
whistle. "If Mickey is a mouse, and Goofy is a dog, what is Pluto?" - or
rather what is a scientist?

Obviously, I am thrilled to see this posting. It raises the topic
that consumes my life and has been impoverishing me for ten years.
Perhaps I shall have something to say - especially if someone else will
say something. Unfortunately, I have damaged my right eye (temporarily)
and I am seeing the screen very poorly, so I shall not have much to say
for a couple of more days and one can see how late this response is
already.

Regards to all / The Amateur
*************************************************************************
On Mon, 29 Sep 1997 12:09:41 +0000 jane.jackson@asu.edu (Jane Jackson)
writes:
Colleagues: Here are excerpts from the AAPT Summer meeting
invited talk by Prof. Al Bartlett. The full text is at:
http://doorstop.astsoft.com/~wall/barthome.htm
(Also on that web page is Al Bartlett's 1994 published article
entitled ARITHMETIC, POPULATION, AND ENERGY. It's a detailed
analysis with several good suggestions for practical action.)
I hope these excerpts stimulate discussion of this vital issue!
Cheers,
Jane Jackson

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY (excerpts; summer 1997)
by Prof. Albert Bartlett (retired, U of CO)

Sustainability is what it's all about! We need to know the meaning of
sustainability. An understanding of exponential arithmetic is a
prerequisite to an understanding of the problems of achieving
sustainability. I assume that you are all well acquainted with the
arithmetic of exponential growth, and in particular with the fact that
steady growth can give astronomically large numbers in a modest period
of
time.

To understand sustainability we turn first to the most widely quoted
definition, which is for sustainable development:
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS DEVELOPMENT THAT MEETS THE NEEDS OF THE
PRESENT
WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE ABILITY OF FUTURE GENERATIONS TO MEET THEIR
OWN
NEEDS. (The World Commission on Environment and Development, Gro
Harlem
Brundtland, "Our Common Future", Oxford Univ. Press, 1987)

We need a more detailed understanding of the meaning of sustainability
than
we can gain from this one statement.
- First: Sustainability has to mean, "For a time period long compared
to a
human lifetime."
- Second: Exponential arithmetic shows that steady growth of numbers
of
things for long periods of time is impossible.
The inescapable observation that follows from these two facts is that
the
term "sustainable growth" is an oxymoron!

Now let's look at a quotation from our national leaders:
"We will renew America's commitment to leave our children a better
nation -
a nation whose air, water, and land are unspoiled, whose natural
beauty is
undimmed, and whose leadership for SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GROWTH is
unsurpassed. (Emphasis has been added.) William J. Clinton,
Al
Gore: "Putting People First; how we can all Change America." Times
books,
NYC, 1992, pg. 94-95.

Our leaders' lack of understanding of sustainability is a major
problem.

[Bartlett now cites several facts that point to the urgency of
thinking
seriously about sustainability; facts concerning global warming, the
ozone
hole, food, oceanic fisheries, fresh water, and petroleum.] All of
these
problems are caused by population growth. None of these problems can
be
'solved' if population growth continues.

Physicists tend to worry about physics, while leaving the problems of
society, and in particular the problems of sustainability, to others.
Physicists have a tremendous stake in the global future. Compared to
survival, physics is a luxury that can exist only in a stable society.
The
immediate consequence of overpopulation is the decline of democracy,
followed by political instability, which seems to be on the increase
in all
parts of the world. In an unstable society, physics will be an early
casualty. Can you imagine trying to do physics in the former
Yugoslovia?

I sense that the topics that are discussed in our texts, and probably
in
our classes, are becoming more and more theoretical (and interesting
to
physicists) but are becoming less and less relevant, in the sense that
these topics have little relation to the world in which our students
will
live and function. Topics such as heat and thermodynamics are given
less
emphasis or are omitted, in order to gain time to talk about exotic
advanced concepts.

I think the most crucial problem is in the introductory physics
classes at
all levels in institutions ranging from high schools to the large
universities. The majority of the students in these introductory
classes
will probably never take another physics course. We have only one
chance
to help these students.

Do we want to frustrate these students by exposing them to some of the
vocabulary of quantum mechanics, or do we want to try to give them a
solid
background in the fundamental elementary topics that are essential to
an
understanding of the world of their everyday experiences?

THE KEY TO SUSTAINABILITY LIES IN UNDERSTANDING THE SIMPLE CLASSICAL
SCIENCE OF THE EVERYDAY NEWTONIAN WORLD.

Is there anywhere in the large introductory course where we can reach
large
numbers of students with discussions of the problems of growing
populations
and sustainability? This question gains great urgency from the fact
that
we live in a world that worships growth and that talks
enthusiastically
about "sustainable growth," which is a clear impossibility.

This optimistic exclusion of reality exists not only at the national
level;
it also exists in the communities where we live and work. [Al talks
now
about the monthly town meetings in his city of Boulder, where he is
the
ONLY person who speaks up to call attention to the causal role of
population growth in problems such as overcrowding of schools, traffic
congestion, air pollution, excessive regulation, rising taxes, uncivil
behavior.] When I raise the issue, everyone, including the leaders,
listens politely and then goes on as though nothing had been said.

We know we are facing limits; we deny this critical fact. Yet the
population continues to grow and physicists who have the ability to
understand the problems, by and large don't speak out in our
classrooms or
in the public that we serve. We pride ourselves on our critical
thinking,
yet most of us fail to apply our critical thinking abilities to the
contemporary problems of society.

[etc. Below are Al's final statements.]

In our education for survival of society we must focus on:
1) Exponential arithmetic as applied to populations and resources,
2) heat and thermodynamics as they apply to our uses of energy and
other
resources and to our understanding of processes, especially
irreversible
processes.
3) Most of all, we must, through example, inspire our students to be
critical in their thinking. The explosion of knowledge and
communication
has been accompanied by an explosion of anti-knowledge. If students
leave
our classes and are unable to separate sense from nonsense, they will
be of
little value to a society that is going to face enormous real
problems.

It may be that no other academic discipline is seriously or
realistically
concerned with education for sustainability.

It's up to us.



Jane Jackson (Prof. of Physics, Scottsdale Comm. College--on leave)
Dept.of Physics, Box 871504, Arizona State Univ.,Tempe AZ 85287-1504.
jane.jackson@asu.edu (602)965-8438 FAX:965-7331
Modeling Workshop Project: http://modeling.la.asu.edu/modeling.html