Book Description

Dr. John Carvalho, former Harvard academician and winner of the United States National Research Service Award, is no stranger to the word crisis. As a scientist, scholar and statesman he has spent decades working on the front lines of biomedical and theoretical exploration, global health, and the worldwide, human rights movement. The Crisis of Our Time is the astonishing, partial memoir and discourse regarding his life's career and philosophy concerning the planet's most pressing problems. Written in a way accessible to everyone, Carvalho, beginning with his passionate, poetic, and provocative first chapter, challenges us to discover that the disastrous, external crises of our lives emanate from the unity of our conscious and subconscious experiences. Indeed, the great troubles afflicting humanity--war, infectious disease, economic recession, terrorism, family discord, psychological trauma, human rights violations--dilemmas that appear unsolvable, actually originate when--without truthful self-reflection--we glorify mediocrity rather than strive to excel. Employing cutting-edge, scientific information; keen, historical insight; extensive, cultural experience; and profound, philosophical analysis; Carvalho dissects our crises to elucidate why they perpetuate. In so doing, he introduces his theory of "causal circular systems" to reveal how causes feed off and exacerbate effects, which, in turn, reinforce those same causes. Furthering his views, he explores global health, the example par excellence, as well as economics, political history, planetary climate change, and the most central crisis of all--Being or Nothingness--the fears of the Self--the dread of our mortality. Ultimately, this short but eye-opening book creates epic meaning while using an artistic, literary style that is virtually unseen in nonfiction. Anyone who genuinely seeks excellence over mediocrity, truth over falsity, meaning over purposelessness, and resolution over despair should read Crisis.