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 Author
George Perkins Marsh (1801—1882) was a U.S. diplomat, scholar, and conservationist whose greatest work, Man and Nature (1864), was one of the most significant advances in geography, ecology, and resource management of the 19th century. Educated at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., Marsh developed a successful law practice, but his wide-ranging mind led him into the study of classical literature, languages (he was fluent in 20 by the age of 30), and the applied sciences of silviculture and soil conservation. In 1842 he was elected to Congress, where he was greatly influenced by former president John Quincy Adams, a fellow congressman whose foresight and ideas of government’s role in natural resource preservation and management anticipated those of Theodore Roosevelt. After serving a second term in Congress, Marsh was appointed minister to Turkey by Pres. Zachary Taylor, during which assignment he studied Middle Eastern and Mediterranean geography and agricultural practices. He sent many specimens to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., before his recall in 1852. Marsh was a lecturer in English philology and etymology at Columbia University and the Lowell (Mass.) Institute. He became a member of the Republican Party in 1856. In 1861 Pres. Abraham Lincoln made him the first minister to Italy, a position he held until his death. During that period he summarized his accumulated knowledge and experience in Man and Nature, or Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action (1864).
