Whole Earth was a magazine which was founded in January 1985 after the merger of the
Whole Earth Software ReviewThe Whole Earth Software Catalog and The Whole Earth Software Review were two publications produced by Stewart Brand's Point Foundation as an extension of The Whole Earth Catalog.-Overview:...
(a supplement to the
Whole Earth Software CatalogThe Whole Earth Software Catalog and The Whole Earth Software Review were two publications produced by Stewart Brand's Point Foundation as an extension of The Whole Earth Catalog.-Overview:...
) and the
CoEvolution QuarterlyCoEvolution Quarterly is a descendant of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalog. It eventually became the Whole Earth Review.-History:...
. All of these periodicals are descendants of
Stewart BrandStewart Brand is an American writer, best known as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog. He founded a number of organizations including The WELL, the Global Business Network, and the Long Now Foundation...
's
Whole Earth CatalogThe Whole Earth Catalog was an American counterculture catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998...
. The last issue of the magazine, guest-edited by
Alex SteffenAlex Steffen is an American writer, editor, public speaker and futurist most noted for his bright green ideas.Steffen co-founded and ran the online magazine Worldchanging from its start in 2003 until its closure in 2010...
, was Spring 2003.
Overview
Fred TurnerFred Turner is an Assistant Professor at Stanford University in the Department of Communication and the acclaimed author of two books:* From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network and the Rise of Digital Utopianism...
discusses the creation of the
Whole Earth Review in
From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism. Turner notes that in 1983,
The Whole Earth Software Catalog was proposed by John Brockman as a magazine which "would do for computing what the original [
Whole Earth Catalog] had done for the counterculture: identify and recommend the best
tools as they emerged." The first issue was released in the Fall of 1984.
The Whole Earth Software Catalog was a business failure, however, and was only published twice, with only three of
The Whole Earth Software Review supplements published . At the same time, another Brand publication,
CoEvolution QuarterlyCoEvolution Quarterly is a descendant of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalog. It eventually became the Whole Earth Review.-History:...
evolved out of the original
Whole Earth Supplement in 1974. In 1985, Brand merged
CoEvolution Quarterly with
The Whole Earth Software Review to create the
Whole Earth Review.
This is also indicated in the issues themselves. Fall 1984, Issue No. 43 is titled
The Last CoEvolution Quarterly.The cover also states, "Next issue is 'Whole Earth Review': livelier snake, new skin." In January 1985, Issue No. 44 was titled
Whole Earth Review: Tools and Ideas for the Computer Age. The cover also reads "The continuation of
CoEvolution Quarterly and
Whole Earth Software Review." In an article titled "Whole Earth Software Catalog Version 1.1,"
Stewart BrandStewart Brand is an American writer, best known as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog. He founded a number of organizations including The WELL, the Global Business Network, and the Long Now Foundation...
states that there are three intended audiences for the new
Whole Earth Review: a) The audience of
The Whole Earth Software Catalog, b) The audience of
The Whole Earth Software Review and c) The audience of
CoEvolution QuarterlyCoEvolution Quarterly is a descendant of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalog. It eventually became the Whole Earth Review.-History:...
.
The office of
Whole Earth Review was next door to
The WELL- Titled works :* The Well , 1986 novel by Elizabeth JolleyMusical albums:* The Well , by Waking Ashland* The Well, 2001, by Jennifer Warnes* The Well, a song from the "Come to the Well" album by christian group Casting Crowns...
, another project that Stewart Brand and associates co-founded.
Whole Earth had a special role in promoting
alternative technologyAlternative technology is a term used to refer to technologies that are more environmentally friendly than the functionally equivalent technologies dominant in current practice....
or
appropriate technologyAppropriate technology is an ideological movement originally articulated as "intermediate technology" by the economist Dr...
. In deciding to publish full-length articles on specific topics in natural sciences, invention, arts, etc.,
Whole Earth (like its predecessor,
CoEvolution Quarterly) was a journal aimed primarily at the educated layperson. The industrial designer and educator
J. BaldwinJames Tennant Baldwin is an American industrial designer and writer...
served as the technology editor. Tool and book reviews were in abundance, and ecological and technology topics were interspersed with articles treating social and community subjects. One of the journal's recurring themes was “the commons” (a thing, institution or geographic space of, or having to do with, the community as a whole), and the related “
tragedy of the commonsThe tragedy of the commons is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this...
”.
Stewart Brand and the later editors invited reviews of books and tools from experts in specific fields, to be approached as though they were writing a letter to a friend. In this, he adopted a technique which editor Byron Dobell had suggested to
Tom WolfeThomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
, early in the latter’s career, a method which had started a whole literary genre called “the new journalism” known for its intimacy and impact.
Whole Earth editors
Kevin KellyKevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog. He has also been a writer, photographer, conservationist, and student of Asian and digital culture.-Biography:...
and
Howard Rheingold-See also:* Collective intelligence* Information society* The WELL* Virtual community-External links:***** at TED conference** a 48MB Quicktime movie, hosted by the Internet Archive...
both went on to become influential figures in technology. Besides having a social focus and interest in the computer revolution,
Whole Earth always made efforts to be at the forefront of technological innovation, being the first to publish articles about speculations on
space colonizationSpace colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
,
molecular nanotechnologyMolecular nanotechnology is a technology based on the ability to build structures to complex, atomic specifications by means of mechanosynthesis. This is distinct from nanoscale materials...
and the
technological singularityTechnological singularity refers to the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such an intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as...
.
External links