David Farrier

David Farrier is a Scottish professor of literature and takes a journey around the world considering what trace elements future archaeologists might discover of our civilization millions of years hence. I hesitate to give away too much because that is a plot spoiler, but for example there are the usual suspects like plastics and radiation. He makes a case the longest lived artifacts will be in space such as junk on the moon or in geosynchronous orbit, also oil and gas bore holes in areas of stable geography since they punch down far beneath the surface making them immune from erosion. His writing is informed by literature and there are quite a few allusions to classic novels and poetry. It is oddly comforting to think along these very long time scales as it makes what is happening in the shorter time of global warming, say the next 100k years, seem less momentous.… (mere)