Hamaker saw that this “Interglacial Soil Demineralization and Retrogressive Vegetational Succession” required humanity to reverse the ongoing soil depletion practices of most agriculture and forestry, and to wisely and generously replenish soils worldwide, restoring them to high mineral and fertility levels such as were known to produce the awesome forests and vegetation of the Climatic Optimum ca. 8000-5000 yrs. before present. This can be done not only by returning all available organic matter back to the soil, as organic farming recommends, but also through soil remineralization with complete mineral-spectrum rock mixtures such as found in natural glacial and river gravel mixes, finely ground into gravel dust. Single rock types like basaltic rock can be very beneficial for remineralization, but Hamaker urged us to use broad mixtures when practical to best copy Nature’s method of creating Earth’s most fertile soils. Remineralization insures all the biologically essential elements are present in a natural balance, thus freeing us from the addictive chemical “fertilizers” and biocides that destroy the soil.

Hamaker and Weaver review evidence that past interglacial periods like our own came to rapid ends, and stress the wisdom of acting swiftly and with unprecedented foresight to head off the next long glacial period by remineralizing and re-planting the Earth, enabling the revitalized soil and tree and plant life to draw down CO2 levels from the current 370+ ppm to the approximate normal interglacial range of 260-280 ppm. While Hamaker’s timing predictions were off concerning the point in the interglacial-to-glacial transition when humanity would be too crippled by severe weather and forest fire devastation to organize adequate response, there is no doubt these extremes and their consequences are increasingly laying to waste the infrastructure and life-support bases of human civilization. The accelerating soil depletion and food quality decline are rapidly eroding the nutritional basis of human health and sanity, and widespread crop failure and starvation are happening now! Therefore, it would be very wise to give this book, with new introductory message from Don Weaver, fresh consideration in its free World Wide Web edition of 2002 (about 220 pages), along with Don’s new book, To Love And Regenerate The Earth: Further Perspectives on The Survival of Civilization (about 540 pages). That book expands upon and reinforces the arguments of The Survival of Civilization and should convince anyone—including the skeptical scientist and political representative—that the Hamaker Thesis is an invaluable gift to the world that deserves fair, full, serious, and urgent consideration. Both books are available now for free at www.remineralize.org.