Charles Mann's dual biography of Norman Borlaug (the 'Wizard' — technological optimist) and William Vogt (the 'Prophet' — conservationist) as archetypes for the two dominant frameworks for addressing humanity's environmental future.
Two worldviews on humanity's future: the Wizard (Borlaug/technological optimism) believes human ingenuity can solve resource constraints — feed more people through better crops, engineer our way out of environmental limits. The Prophet (Vogt/conservation) believes we must live within planetary limits — reduce consumption, respect carrying capacity. Mann argues both are inadequate alone and that the debate between them defines contemporary environmental politics. One of the most intellectually serious treatments of the sustainability debate.
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