Nature and the English Diaspora: Environment and History in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand

by Thomas Dunlap

Overview

This book is a comparative history of the development of ideas about nature, particularly of the importance of native nature in the Anglo settler countries of the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It examines the development of natural history, settlers' adaptations to the end of expansion, scientists' shift from natural history to ecology, and the rise of environmentalism. Addressing not only scientific knowledge but also popular issues from hunting to landscape painting, this book explores the ways in which English-speaking settlers looked at nature in their new lands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521651738
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/28/1999
Series:	Studies in Environment and History
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Part I. Making the Land Familiar: 1. Natural history and the construction of nature; 2. Remaking worlds: European models in New Lands; Part II. Beyond Conquest: 3. Reaching limits, 1850–1900; 4. National nature, part I; 5. Changing science, 1880–1930; Part III. Finding Firm Ground: 6. Reaching limits, 1920–40; 7. National nature, part II; 8. An ecological perspective, 1920–50; Part IV. New Knowledge, New Action: 9. The diffusion of ecology, 1948–67; 10. The new world of nature.

Editorial Reviews

"Dunlap's fine book, accessible to both scholars and a popular audience, covers many other provocative issues, including early-twentieth-century conservation efforts and late-twentieth-century environmental activism." Suzanne Marshall, History

"...what the book does, it does well.Dunlap handles his subjects deftly and concisely. The result is a kind of popularization not unlike that which it celebrates. The book stands to formal historical scholarhsip as the natural history essay does to formal science. It reads like a guided nature walk through environmental history - not a bad way to learn about a new place, or a bad way to introduce the complex settlement history of four nations." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"...very well organized and very well documented." Choice

"...very well organized and very well documented." Choice

From the Publisher