Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth Volume I

by William L. Thomas Jr., Lewis Mumford, Carl O. Sauer

Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth Volume I [Jun 01, 1956] Thomas, William L.; Mumford, Lewis and Sauer, Carl O.

Genres: Environment, Ecology

448 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1956

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's essays survey the major ways that human's have directly degraded vast areas of the planet over the course of history. It was written before knowledge of climate change was well established, so the focus is on the physical destruction of ecosystems by human economic activities. And these may still be the main threats to world sustainability, so this perspective should be kept well in mind.

[Will Lashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published papers from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research's seminal 1955 conference on what we now call anthropogenic change, this collection by earth sciences and other specialists about the human "impress" on our environment is now a seldom read classic. It continued into a second volume, and both volumes are enthralling monuments in the history of environmental studies.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prescient. Written and edited in late 50s, describes the schism between Man the Particle (a participant in Nature) and Man the Wave (a force against it) in our undererstanding of Who What Where Why and What we are doing to our planet. If it was bad then, it's gotta be ten times worse today! Volume 2 is almost twice the size, and completes the picture.