You already know the facts and the legend, Stewart Brand. Considering the length of time he's been in the public eye, he's done an amazing job of making important contributions to the public dialog and understanding on a freakishly regular basis beginning all the way back to The Whole Earth Catalog.
I've written before about how I spent the formative years of my youth relentlessly enscounced in the Carneige Library, Fort Smith, Arkansas. There, some of the oversized books were kept out for display and The Whole Earth Catalog was constantly on one of the reading desks. For an ordinary boy with a fascination with tools, this was an amazing way to while away my hours. Many hours.
This week, the Wal Street Journal decided to pay attention to Brand and spills some significant ink on a lovely color photo. The occasion is the publication of his new book, Whole Earth Discipline wherein, among other things, he makes a case for nuclear energy.
Notice this from the interview:
I think I was the most prolific reader of books in the world for a while in the Whole Earth Catalog days. I was basically reviewing 10 books a day, 20 books a day. So I developed a pretty rapid way of sucking the marrow out of a book.
Often the first place I'll go is the index because I'll be looking for what does this person know, what do they refer to? I'm looking for the shortcut. I'll read the first line to see if they know how to start a book. I'll look around for a part of this [book] that I think I know about and see how what they know compares to what I know. And am I learning stuff. [more]
