The World Without Us
The World Without Us by Alan Weismanby Alan Weisman
Shares rank 65 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
A thought experiment on how the planet would recover if humans vanished, covering how cities, houses and artifacts would decay over time.
A thought experiment on how the planet would recover if humans vanished, covering how cities, houses and artifacts would decay over time.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Vivid look at decaying cities
“it outlines, for example, how cities and houses would deteriorate, how long man-made artifacts would last”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Amazonian civilization had estimated 3M people in 3% of forest area” Stays with readers for years
“Brilliant thought exercise that I still think about on a weekly basis 20 years later.”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Bison return to Illinois' Kane County after 200 years” Recommended as essential reading
“You should read "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman.”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Bison return to Illinois' Kane County after 200 years”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Cliff Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| The World Without Usby Alan WeismanThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it outlines, for example, how cities and houses would deteriorate, how long man-made artifacts would last”
“Brilliant thought exercise that I still think about on a weekly basis 20 years later.”
“You should read "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.