Man And Nature Or Physical Geography As Modified By Human Action

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1864 Edition.

George Perkins Marsh is often considered America's first environmentalist. Perkins was a diplomat, author, and philologist, and far ahead of his time in terms of his views on the environment. Man and Nature, or Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action presents readers with the opportunity to read the words of the father of the environmental movement in the United States. The book begins with an introduction that presents ancient Rome as a case study for the importance of conservationism. Marsh uses a variety of sources to paint a picture of Rome as an area ripe with natural resources that were over utilized and eventually destroyed by man's actions. The second chapter discusses the effects of transferring and modifying vegetable and animal species, and argues for organic life as vital to environmental sustainability. The book goes on to examine specific ecosystems, and the impacts man has had on them, including forests, bodies of water, and deserts. March concludes his work with a discussion of projected and possible changes to geography that man has caused, and the potential impacts of these changes. Marsh was clearly well ahead of his time in terms of his environmental attitudes. Man and Nature is a plea to readers to recognize the value of our natural landscapes and to ensure their protection. His words are every bit as poignant today as they were when they were written. Man and Nature, or Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action is a seminal text of the conservationist movement. It is a must read for any modern environmentalist, and a sad reminder that the issues facing man today have gone unresolved for nearly two centuries. This is an important work and one that deserves to be read by a wide audience. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Please note, there are other reprints of this seminal text from other publishers, which have poor formatting - this edition has been reformatted with care and attention to detail. This is the classic reprint of George P. Marsh's 1864 ground breaking work on environmental philosophy and the effect of man on the natural world."The object of the present volume is: to indicate the character and, approximately, the extent of the changes produced by human action in the physical conditions of the globe we inhabit; to point out the dangers of imprudence and the necessity of caution in all operations which, on a large scale, interfere with the spontaneous arrangements of the organic or the inorganic world; to suggest the possibility and the importance of the restoration of disturbed harmonies and the material improvement of waste and exhausted regions; and, incidentally, to illustrate the doctrine, that man is, in both kind and degree, a power of a higher order than any of the other forms of animated life, which, like him, are nourished at the table of bounteous nature." - George Marsh

George Perkins Marsh (1801–1882) was the first to reveal the menace of environmental misuse, to explain its causes, and to prescribe reforms. David Lowenthal here offers fresh insights, from new sources, into Marsh’s career and shows his relevance today, in a book which has its roots in but wholly supersedes Lowenthal’s earlier biography George Perkins Marsh: Versatile Vermonter (1958). Marsh’s devotion to the repair of nature, to the concerns of working people, to women’s rights, and to historical stewardship resonate more than ever. His Vermont birthplace is now a national park chronicling American conservation, and the crusade he launched is now global. Marsh’s seminal book Man and Nature is famed for its ecological acumen. The clue to its inception lies in Marsh’s many-sided engagement in the life of his time. The broadest scholar of his day, he was an acclaimed linguist, lawyer, congressman, and renowned diplomat who served 25 years as U.S. envoy to Turkey and to Italy. He helped found and guide the Smithsonian Institution, shaped the Washington Monument, penned potent tracts on fisheries and on irrigation, spearheaded public science, art, and architecture. He wrote on camels and corporate corruption, Icelandic grammar and Alpine glaciers. His pungent and provocative letters illuminate life on both sides of the Atlantic. Like Darwin’s Origin of Species, Marsh’s Man and Nature marked the inception of a truly modern way of looking at the world, of taking care lest we irreversibly degrade the fabric of humanized nature we are bound to manage. Marsh’s ominous warnings inspired reforestation, watershed management, soil conservation, and nature protection in his day and ours. George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation was awarded the Association for American Geographers' 2000 J. B. Jackson Prize. The book was also on the shortlist for the first British Academy Book Prize, awarded in December 2001.