Featuring leading scientists, ecologists and authors, Animate Earth makes the case for a new holistic scientific revolution as an essential step towards solving the environmental crises created in large part by conventional science's mechanistic view of the earth.
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400 years ago the scientific revolution initiated our disconnect from nature. Despite its many benefits, the approach encouraged people to think of nature as something solely to exploit to meet our needs. Now, with current environmental dangers and uncertainties, the film articulates the need for another scientific revolution, one that reconnects us with the planet by viewing the earth as a living system, as an animate being.
Animate Earth is presented by Dr. Stephan Harding, Oxford-trained biologist, renowned ecologist, and colleague of British scientist James Lovelock, originator of the Gaia Theory. The film also features commentary from Brian Goodwin, Iain McGilchrist, Fritjof Capra, Vandana Shiva, Jules Cashford and Satish Kumar. Animate Earth begins with Dr. Harding’s description of his own transformation from a conventional scientist to one who balances the traditional approach with a more holistic, intuitive view. The film goes on to provide an overview of the evolution of scientific thinking from the ancient Greeks to the Enlightenment, and explores the roots and inspiration for today’s holistic scientific thinking, especially in the theories of Goethe and Lovelock.
Harding and the other experts take this thinking to the next level by articulating the principles involved in the new scientific revolution, an approach that at its core recognizes that the planet’s great, deeply interconnected life-sustaining systems are full of meaning and significance.
"An enlightening film.... Learn how the field of science is finally recognizing the Earth as one complex, life-sustaining system. "
- Center for Ecoliteracy
"Highly recommended...an excellent resource. A colorful presentation challenging us to rethink our relationship with nature. The underlying message of this DVD is that the earth is a living network of patterns and wholeness in which everything is interconnectedWith a holistic approach, it is believed that we can address the world’s crisis of global warming, climate change, decline in biodiversity, and population explosion in order to insure the survival of our planet for future generations."
– Science Books and Films
"A wonderful film. No one tells the awesome story of how we can use science to deeply connect with the earth better or with more inspiration than Stephan Harding."
–David W. Orr, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, Oberlin College
"Stephan Harding lays bare the flaws in today’s narrowing and numbers-bound scientific model, and eloquently articulates the case for a more intuitive holistic approach."
– Jonathon Porritt, Forum for the Future
“An animate universe feels so right for me experientially and now, thanks to people like Dr Stephan Harding and films like Animate Earth, it computes intellectually too.
–Bruce Parry, BBC TV Presenter