Our Natural History: The Lessons of Lewis and Clark - Hardcover

Botkin, Daniel B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399140484 ISBN 13: 9780399140488

Publisher: Putnam Pub Group, 1995

Synopsis

A journey along the same trail originally followed by Lewis and Clark argues that the idealized "balance of nature" has never existed and explains that nature is in a perpetual, and sometimes radical, state of change.

About this title

Review:

"In Our Natural History: The Lessons of Lewis and Clark, reissued with a new afterword by the author in celebration of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, Botkin uses the journals to depict vividly the West of Lewis and Clark's time, comparing it with his own journeys to these now greatly changed places. In the end, Botkin argues, we must 'come to a new understanding of the texture and weave of nature and of our relationship with it."―Nature Conservancy Magazine

Praise for the previous edition: "With scores of natural ecosystems endangered in at least half of the contiguous 48 states, the pertinent scientific question is, 'How can they be saved?' Botkin provides a bag of clues and a map. It is provocative and interesting reading."―Sierra Magazine

Our Natural History moves like a bracing hike in the Rockies with a partner who, unlike Lewis and Clark themselves, is possessed of the scientist's intellectual discipline and the naturalist's sense of wonder."―Audubon Magazine

"Everyone who shares an interest in the environment and the economic future should read this book. He has a view of the environment that is both practical and deeply rooted in history and fundamental science, and he emerges with important and innovative things to say about the perceived tensions between ecology and competitiveness. Centering these approaches on the journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition provides great continuity with the American West as it existed shortly after the United States became a nation."―Harold J. Morowitz, Director, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University

"Hard hitting and provocative. We can only hope that books like this will steer us toward a more respectful and environmentally sound way of life."―Booklist

About the Author:

Daniel B. Botkin, Ph.D., is director of the Program for Global Change at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

About this edition

• Publisher: Putnam Pub Group
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0399140484
• ISBN 13: 9780399140488
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 300