The title Whole Earth Catalog came from a previous project by Stewart Brand. In 1966, he initiated a public campaign to have NASA release the then-rumored satellite photo of the sphere of Earth as seen from space, one of the first images of the “Whole Earth”. He thought the image might be a powerful symbol, evoking a sense of shared destiny and adaptive strategies from people.
The overview effect is a cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts during spaceflight, often while viewing the Earth from outer space.
It is the experience of seeing first-hand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, “hanging in the void”, shielded and nourished by a paper-thin atmosphere.
The effect may also invoke a sense of transcendence and connection with humanity as a whole, from which national borders appear petty.
Moon voyages became popular in the 1630s, their underlying inspiration Galileo’s telescope and the curiosity it piqued about the planet; but the way of reaching the new world on the moon was more important than the substance of an ideal society. Kepler’s Somnium of a man on the moon viewing the earth was in the service of the Copernican hypothesis.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation.
It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand, not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch.
Steve Jobs
Steve Job’s 2005 Commencement Address
