This landmark work, first published by Sierra Club Books in 1988, has established itself as a foundational volume in the ecological canon. In it, noted cultural historian Thomas Berry provides nothing less than a new intellectual-ethical framework for the human community by positing planetary well-being as the measure of all human activity.

Drawing on the wisdom of Western philosophy, Asian thought, and Native American traditions, as well as contemporary physics and evolutionary biology, Berry offers a new perspective that recasts our understanding of science, technology, politics, religion, ecology, and education. He shows us why it is important for us to respond to the Earth's need for planetary renewal, and what we must do to break free of the "technological trance" that drives a misguided dream of progress.  Only then, he suggests, can we foster mutually enhancing human-Earth relationships that can heal our traumatized global biosystem.

"With this classic book, Thomas Berry broke crucial new ground in the human relationship with the planet. Its ripples will spread for generations to come." -- Bill McKibbon, author of Hope, Human and Wild

"The most provactive figure among [the] new breed of eco-theologians is Thomas Berry, a solitary American monk whose essays have aroused environmentalists like a voice crying for the wilderness." -- Newsweek

"The Dream of the Earth is a landmark. Instead of fantasies of human domination of Earth now become nightmares, Thomas Berry calls us back to our origins and to dream, imagine, and create an Earth-centric consciousness. There is no wiser or more hopeful guide through the years ahead." -- David W. Orr, Oberlin College

"The Dream of the Earth shows us how the convergence of modern science and a more venerable spiritual and religious affinity for creation can lead to a new covenant of ethical responsibility for the natural world. This book will long remain a classic of environmental philosophy and wisdom." -- Stephen R. Kellert, Yale University