A deeper understanding of contemporary environmental problems requires us to know where we come from, and the study of environmental history will help us in that quest. Environmental history, in short, may be described as an attempt to study the interaction between humans and nature in the past. How have human societies affected their environment and vice versa? What does history tell us about ecological change?
The essays in Encountering the Past in Nature provide various approaches to the new discipline. Experts with diverse educational backgrounds tackle important issues in environmental history, ranging from the intellectual formation of environmental concepts to case studies of forest history and animal extinction. Most essays in the collection focus on the issue of wilderness and the various uses of forest resources. Encountering the Past in Nature also offers introductory essays on the historiography and methodology of this field of historical study.
Encountering the Past in Nature is a useful addition to the introductory texts currently available in the United States.
- ISBN10 0821440500
- ISBN13 9780821440506
- Publish Date December 2001 (first published 1 March 2001)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Ohio University Press
- Edition Rev. e.
- Format eBook
- Language English