EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE AND THE WESTERN WORLDVIEW

Abstract Earth system science has influenced and continues to influence our understanding of the relationship between humans and nature. The first important lessons were that our planet is not the center of the universe and we are not the goal and culmination of evolution. Awareness of earth system evolution liberated humankind from the constraints of a world once thought to be unchanging and unchangeable. But the discovery of change in nature raises questions about limits. Quantitative exploration of the natural world has taught us that there are material limits on what humans can do, and that humans suffer when these limits are ignored. We are beginning to see indications that we may not be able to understand, predict, and control the natural world as we can understand, predict, and control what happens in the laboratory. There may be intellectual as well as material limits on human aspirations.