Acknowledgments
About the Author
Danilo J. Anton, a Uruguayan-Canadian geographer, received his
doctorate in 1973 from the Universite Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France. His
distinguished career has taken him from Saudi Arabia, to Mexico, to Uruguay, to
Canada. In Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Dr Anton managed the Sand Research Program and
was Coordinator of the Geology and Mineral Division of the University of
Petroleum and Minerals. In Mexico, he taught marine geology and geomorphology in
Acapulco and managed the Center for Geographical Research in Guerrero. In
Uruguay, he was Director of the Geography Department at the Faculty of Sciences
of the University of Montevideo. And, in Canada, he spent several years as a
consultant specializing in water issues, eventually joining IDRC. On behalf of
IDRC, Dr Anton has initiated and monitored many successful projects in Africa,
Asia, and Latin America, particularly in the fields of alternative water
resources and environmental management. Dr Anton is widely published in the
fields of geomorphology, hydrogeology, and environmental science. His most
recent published work includes revisionist texts on South American history and
the IDRC book Thirsty Cities: Urban Environments and Water Supply in Latin
America (1993), which deals with the environmental problems of Southern
megalopolises and whose video version has been presented on public television in
Canada and many other countries around the world.
About the Institution
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is a public
corporation created by the Parliament of Canada in 1970 to support technical and
policy research to help meet the needs of developing countries. The Centre is
active in the fields of environment and natural resources, social sciences,
health sciences, and information sciences and systems. Regional offices are
located in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
About the Publisher
IDRC BOOKS publishes research results and scholarly studies on
global and regional issues related to sustainable and equitable development. As
a specialist in development literature, IDRC BOOKS contributes to the body of
knowledge on these issues to further the cause of global understanding and
equity. IDRC publications are sold through its head office in Ottawa, Canada, as
well as by IDRC’s agents and distributors around the world.
About the book
Diversity globalization and the ways of nature
The conquest of the Americas was the first step on the path to
globalization. Today, 500 years later, we are rapidly approaching the prophecied
global village and, consequently, natural and cultural uniformity.
But what of diversity? Diversity is more than a tropical rain
forest. It is found in the oceans, the deserts, and the myriad of human cultures
around the world. Without diversity, the birth of new ideas and life itself
would be impossible.
In Diversity, Globalization, and the Ways of Nature, Danilo J.
Anton explores this conflict. He illustrates how the main engine of
globalization, the “information revolution,” can be used to promote
public participation, capture traditional knowledge, and provide new methods of
defending our natural environment.
Diversity, Globalization, and the Ways of Nature is an
innovative and original examination of our shared, planetary environment and
will interest general readers, academics, development workers, and students and
professionals in social and environmental sciences alike.
The Author
Danilo J. Anton is a Uruguayan-Canadian geographer with over 25
years’ experience in geomorphology, hydrogeology, and environmental
science. He is currently the urban environment specialist at IDRC’s
Montevideo office, where he has initiated and managed many successful research
projects in over 30 countries around the world: including desertification in
sub-Saharan Africa, environmental problems of Third World
“megacities,” and the development of alternative water sources, such
as snow and ice in Pakistan and coastal fogs in Chile and
Peru.
