With Rachel Carson, Lynn Margulis and Donna Haraway, the science journalist and writer Charlotte Kerner portrays three remarkable thinkers in “We are Volcanoes” who were far ahead of their time and whose ideas are still highly relevant today. Real visionaries.
Marine biologist Rachel Carson (1907-1964) is best known for her stirring book “Silent Spring.” She is considered a pioneer of the modern ecology movement and a pioneer of science journalism. Lynn Margulis (1938 – 2011), as a microbiologist, further developed the endosymbiont theory and thereby pointed to the importance of symbioses as a driving force of evolution. And Donna Haraway (*1944), as a molecular biologist with a philosophical perspective, was already researching the border areas between humans, nature and machines, long before artificial intelligence was on everyone’s lips.
What all three have in common is the conviction that humans are not the crown of creation, but merely
a puzzle piece in a larger whole that needs to be kept in balance. Accordingly, Charlotte Kerner also puts the biographies of the American women into a more comprehensive context. In fictional passages, Carson, Margulis and Haraway repeatedly comment on each other’s ideas. This trick, which is unusual for a non-fiction book, creates interesting cross-connections.
There are also points of connection with other thought leaders, for example the poet Emily Dickinson or the science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin. In general, this multi-layered, unconventionally told book is more than “just” a triple biography. Using the three protagonists, Kerner also looks at the difficulties that women in science had to contend with in the past (and in some cases still have to this day). The fact that Carson, Margulis and Haraway always steadfastly pursued their ideas and beliefs despite all resistance from male colleagues and rigid institutions only further underlines the trio’s exceptional position – also from a feminist perspective.
Thus, despite some quite theory-heavy passages, “We are Volcanoes” is a valuable and thought-provoking work that looks not only to the past, but also to the challenges of the present and future. Christopher Walter
Charlotte Kerner
WE ARE VOLCANOES
The eco-visionaries: Rachel Carson, Lynn Margulis, Donna Haraway
Westend. 232 pages, €24
ISBN 978-3864894428