Once humans took charge of fire, fire remade humans and commenced remaking the world. “We got small guts and big heads because we could cook food,” says Stephen Pyne, the world’s leading historian of fire. “We went to the top of the food chain because we could cook landscapes. And we have become a geologic force because our fire technology has so evolved that we have begun to cook the planet.“
The understanding of wildfire as an ecological benefit got its biggest boost from Pyne’s 1982 landmark book, Fire in America. Since then he has encompassed the whole of fire history--from analysis of the chemical reaction that “takes apart what photosynthesis puts together” to study of the massive industrialization of combustion in the last two centuries. “The Anthropocene might equally be called the Pyrocene,” he says. A professor and “distinguished sustainability scholar” at Arizona State University, Pyne is author of 15 books on fire, including Fire: Nature and Culture and Between Two Fires: A Fire History of Contemporary America. "Fire Slow, Fire Fast, Fire Deep," Stephen Pyne, SFJAZZ Center, Hayes Valley, San Francisco, 7pm, Tuesday, February 9. The show starts promptly at 7:30pm. To be sure of a seat: • Long Now Members <https://longnow.org/membership/> can use the discount code on the Pyne Seminar page to reserve 2 free seats <http://longnow.org/seminars/02016/feb/09/fire-slow-fire-fast-fire-deep/>. • You can purchase tickets for $15 each <http://longnow.org/seminars/02016/feb/09/fire-slow-fire-fast-fire-deep/>. • Seminar at SFJAZZ Center <http://www.sfjazz.org/visit/directions> 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 • Tune into the live audio stream <http://longnow.org/live/> for Long Now Members at 7:30 PT - become a member <https://longnow.org/membership/> for just $8 a month. Share this talk: Stephen Pyne, "Fire Slow, Fire Fast, Fire Deep" Long Now talk on 2/9 http://goo.gl/kQEyhY <http://goo.gl/kQEyhY> Talks coming up: March 14 (Mon.) - Jane Langdale, Radical Ag: C4 Rice and Beyond <http://longnow.org/seminars/02016/mar/14/radical-ag-c4-rice-and-beyond/> April 11 (Mon.) - Priyamvada Natarajan, Solving Dark Matter and Dark Energy <http://longnow.org/seminars/02016/apr/11/solving-dark-matter-and-dark-energy/> May 2 (Mon.) - Walter Mischel, The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control <http://longnow.org/seminars/02016/may/02/marshmallow-test-mastering-self-control/> High-quality videos of the talks and other benefits (such as priority tickets) are available to Long Now members. Membership, which starts at $8/month ($96/year), helps support the series and other Long Now projects. Joinable here <https://longnow.org/membership/>. This is one of a monthly series of Seminars About Long-term Thinking (SALT) organized by The Long Now Foundation. Free audio and my summaries of all previous talks are available for download here <http://longnow.org/seminars/> (or stay up to date with the podcast here <http://longnow.org/seminars/podcast/>). You'll find a range of long-term thinking items on our Blog <http://blog.longnow.org/> (RSS <http://feeds.feedburner.com/longnow>). If you would like to be notified by email (like this one) of forthcoming talks, go here <http://list.longnow.org/mailman/listinfo/salt> to sign up online. Any questions, contact Danielle Engelman at Long Now -- 415-561-6582 x1 <tel:415-561-6582%20x1> or danie...@longnow.org <mailto:danie...@longnow.org>. You are welcome to forward this notice to anyone you think might be interested. --Stewart Brand s...@longnow.org <mailto:s...@longnow.org> -- The Long Now Foundation -- http://longnow.org/ <http://longnow.org/> Seminars & downloads -- http://longnow.org/seminars/ <http://longnow.org/seminars/> Interval Events -- http://theinterval.org/events/ <http://theinterval.org/events/> •Twitter <https://twitter.com/longnow> - up to the minute info on tickets and events •Long Now Blog <http://blog.longnow.org/> - daily updates on events and ideas •Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/longnow> - stay in touch through our fan page
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