"The Age of Fire" by Stephen J. Pine Publisher: China Translation and Publishing House

Introduction · · · · · ·
Fire has been burning vigorously throughout the history of life on Earth. However, in the past two million years, one species has gained the ability to wield fire, rapidly transforming itself and, ultimately, the world—the fire-wielding species: humans. Humans have used fire in many ways. By cooking our food, we developed a more complex digestive system and a more developed brain. By changing the landscape, we climbed to the top of the food chain. Now, by changing the face of the Earth, we have become the shaper of geological forces.

From ancient times to the present, we have been weaving stories about what happened after humans met fire, trying to understand the world and find our place in it. Under the catalysis of fire, the climate has changed globally, ushering in a new geological era for the Earth. This book focuses on this special period of history and defines it as "The Pyrocene". This is a narrative perspective that reinterprets the "Anthropocene", telling how humans use fire as a pen to rewrite the history of the Earth, and how we find our mission as the planet's "fire guardians".

About the Author
Stephen J. Pyne is an emeritus professor at Arizona State University and an environmental historian who specializes in fire history and management. In 1995, he won the Robert Kirsch Award from the Los Angeles Times. He has published more than 40 books, most of which are monographs on fire. Among them, The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica was selected as one of the "10 Best Books of 1987" by the New York Times, and Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire won the "Forest History Society Best Book Award".