In 1980, economist Julian Simon challenged biologist Paul Ehrlich to a bet on the future prices of five metals. It captured the public's imagination as a test of coming prosperity or doom. This title weaves the two men's lives and ideas together in a lively narrative leading from the dawning environmentalism of the 1960s through the pivotal presidential contest between Carter and Reagan and on into the 1990s. Sabin shows how the fight between Ehrlich and Simon - between environmental fears and free-market confidence - helped create the gulf separating environmentalists and their critics today.