Air Date: Week of September 4, 1998

This week, facts about...E.F. Schumacher.

Transcript

CURWOOD: Twenty-five years ago, E.F. Schumacher published Small is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered. In it, Mr. Schumacher touted his concept of small, self-sufficient communities that use renewable energy and develop sustainably. By the 1970s his ideas, already popular in Europe, spread to North America, and his book has since been translated into about 20 languages. E.F. Schumacher, "Fritz" to his friends, was a German-born economist who studied Buddhist, Taoist, and Roman Catholic theology. He was considered radical for pointing out that all technological advances do not represent progress, and the risks technology poses to freedom and quality of life. A man who loved his garden, E.F. Schumacher was also president of The Soil Association, which promotes organic farming. He advocated locally-based, small-scale, and affordable technology for developing countries. That notion has come to be called "appropriate technology." After his death in 1977, Schumacher Societies were formed to continue his work. In addition to Small is Beautiful, E.F. Schumacher also authored Good Work, and A Guide For The Perplexed. And for this week, that's the Living on Earth Almanac.