An Environmental History of Northeast Florida (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P.Bullen Series) - Hardcover

Miller, James J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813016002 ISBN 13: 9780813016009

Publisher: University Press of Florida, 1998

Synopsis

This text describes how natural features transformed and how cultural traditions of native people, as well as Spanish, English, and American colonists, developed in response to opportunities and constraints of the environment, using the example of northeast Florida.

About this title

Review:

"Without a doubt a significant contribution to an overall understanding of northeast Florida. . . . Reveals much about land use in the state of Florida and the larger southeast U.S. . . . Frees the reader to consider the human impact (in environmental history) and our relationship to the land. This book makes you think."

-- ROBERT L. THUNEN, University of North Florida

From the Author:

What is environmental history and why read about it?
Environmental history is a different way of exploring what happened in the past. It concerns not just people, but the many components that make up our surroundings: the geology, the soils, the drainage, the biological communities, the climate, and how they interact and change. How did the land change over time? How does the environment provide opportunities and constraints for people? How did people change the landscape? How did different cultures adapt to changing environments? Can environmental factors explain historical patterns? How can we apply the answers to such questions to policy decisions about environmental issues?

Environmental History of Northeast Florida explores a region of 5000 square miles over 18,000 years. The environmental and human changes are profound, and an account of them demonstrates not only how the region came to be what it is today, but also how environmental processes work on a large time scale. Trying to understand the land based solely on what we observe today is like trying to understand a movie by seeing only the ending.

Environmental history presents a big picture, a long view. Its scope is purposefully broad to avoid the narrowness of specialization and the compartmentalization of traditional approaches in the natural and social sciences. It offers a framework that accommodates widely disparate factors in understanding history as well as the present. To the extent it reveals a more accurate understanding of environmental factors and procceses, it has the potential to improve our management of our surroundings in the future.

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0813016002
• ISBN 13: 9780813016009
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 244