Yi-Fu Tuan has spent a lifetime as a writer, teacher, and scholar exploring the relationship between the places and spaces that surround us and the inner self. In particular, he has shown, in his twenty-two previous books, what it means to achieve human dignity within the varied communities we create.
Although we humans, by nature, may be flawed, as evidenced by war and injustice and environmental destruction, Professor Tuan affirms that all of us, by virtue of our remarkable senses and even more remarkable minds, are able to savor the wonders of our earthly home, as no other species can. Moreover, we humans are, by nature, moral beings. For this reason, we find true fulfillment and ultimate happiness by doing good, an emptying of the self in service to others that, paradoxically, enriches and extends the self as few other ways can.
In The Last Launch, Professor Tuan's final book, we are given his views on a vast and complicated array of topics that would seem to require volumes to explore. Yet his essays, expressed straightforwardly, also have their place in conveying big ideas—especially to the often impatient yet deeply curious young at heart, whatever their age. And it is to them that these unforgettable messages in the bottle, tossed hopefully into the sea, are addressed. Who knows what hearts and minds they may stir to life?
