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Powerful Tools for Self and Community (Re)-Development
The odyssey of the Todds began during a tumultuous period in recent human history marked by intense political and economic strife and destructive military conflict. Over a number of years through careful experimentation, the Todds developed ten key principles of ecological design in an attempt to guide, or as they say, steward, the planet towards a sustainable future. Ecological design is quite interdisciplinary in scope, and seeks to integrate biological principles into agriculture. By blending agriculture, renewable energy and architectural concepts, the Todds seek to create sustainable mini-ecosystems, as opposed to communities, which incorporate humans while at the same time mimicking the larger biosphere. As such, the Todds have made the first viable and quantifiable attempt to employ scientific principles that will ultimately allow 'humankind' to become 'one with the environment'. These scientists recognized early on that humanity depended on nature for its survival, and that any attack on nature is ultimately an attack on all of humanity.

With this in mind, the Todds lament humanity's wholesale movement away from the cosmological towards mechanistic approaches to existence. Using their ecological principles, they have successfully redesigned homes, ships, and communities to achieve a more balanced, sustainable, and ultimately environmentally friendly and caring lifestyle for many people the world over. As such, this book expands upon the principles and concepts put forth in their previous book, Tomorrow Is Our Permanent Address, and gives the reader conceptual and fully actualized examples of self-sustaining structures and communities firmly grounded in ecological principles. Throughout the book, concepts such as permaculture and passive solar design are integrated into existing structures, forming the basis for growing, self-sustaining communities.

I see many philosophical similarities between this book and Masanobu Fukuoka's enlightening books The One Straw Revolution and The Road Back to Nature. Although the Todds and Fukuoka started from different points in time, space and experience, both have achieved the same goal albeit with different methods. On the one hand, Fukuoka criticizes the modern human predicament from the standpoint of Eastern philosophy and religion, and uses natural farming as a means to bring man closer to, if not completely back to, nature. On the other hand, the Todds approach the problem of sustainable human economic and social development from a scientific standpoint and bring the precepts of ecological design to bear in an attempt to realign humanity with the natural world. For both, the concept of equilibrium, referred to as 'balance' in the case of Fukuoka and 'homeostasis' for the Todds, is critical in both their respective philosophies and approaches. Moreover, both also realize, like many other astute interlopers on the mortal plane, that it is folly to attempt to improve upon nature; rather, human beings should strive to work with nature and allow nature to form the basis for all life. Finally, the Todds explicitly emphasize what Fukuoka deftly implied in his philosophy and approach to living- that all organisms, including humans, are simultaneously independent and interdependent entities.

In conclusion, as urban planners and engineeers increasingly look to nature as a basis for product and community design, this book will form the cornerstone for these endeavors.