A fascinating look at the historical relationship between environmental issues and scientific study, social attitudes, and public policy from the 17th century to the present. The Environment and Science: Social Impact and Interaction explores the history of how science investigates nature and how those studies both shape and are shaped by the social attitudes, philosophies, and politics of their times. It follows the changes in perceptions of the natural world and humankind's place in it from the European colonization of North America through the Industrial Revolution and westward expansion, to the rise of the consumer economy and the recent hardening of the ideological battle lines over environmental policy. Coverage includes the emergence of ecology as a science and conservation as a movement, the long history of conflicts between business interests and environmentalists, and the role of scientific studies in debates over atomic and nuclear power, pesticides, toxic emissions, and other human-made sources of environmental degradation. Biographical sketches of major contributors to the study of human/environment interaction, including Carolus Linnaeus, Henry David Thoreau, Charles Darwin, Rachel Carson, and Barry Commoner Primary source documents from key environmental writers

As recently seen by the Kitzmiller vs. Dover case, the evolution versus creation debate never goes away. The best way to understand these debates is to read the arguments of the individuals involved. This reference work provides over 40 of the most important documents to help readers understand the debate in the eyes of the people of the time. Each document is from a major participant in the debates -- from the predecessors of Darwin to the judges of the influential court cases of the present day. The editors have included an introduction and analysis of each document that places it within historical and scientific context. Evolution and Creationism: A Documentary and Reference Guide aims to enhance our understanding of the debate by presenting over 40 documents that shed light on the origins, goals, and history of the ongoing debate. The volume examines such topics as: BLDarwin's theory of natural selection, and reviews of his work from his contemporaries BLThe rise of Fundamentalism and its opposition to evolution BLFrom "Equal-Time" to the de-emphasis of evolution in the schools BLEvolution and its discontents at the beginning of the 21st century In addition, the work includes an extensive bibliography and reference guide to relevant print and electronic resources.

"Engineering" has firmly taken root in the entangled bank of biology even as proposals to remake the living world have sent tendrils in every direction, and at every scale. Nature Remade explores these complex prospects from a resolutely historical approach, tracing cases across the decades of the long twentieth century. These essays span the many levels at which life has been engineered: molecule, cell, organism, population, ecosystem, and planet. From the cloning of agricultural crops and the artificial feeding of silkworms to biomimicry, genetic engineering, and terraforming, Nature Remade affirms the centrality of engineering in its various forms for understanding and imagining modern life. Organized around three themes-control and reproduction, knowing as making, and envisioning-the chapters in Nature Remade chart different means, scales, and consequences of intervening and reimagining nature.

"Engineering" has firmly taken root in the entangled bank of biology even as proposals to remake the living world have sent tendrils in every direction, and at every scale. Nature Remade explores these complex prospects from a resolutely historical approach, tracing cases across the decades of the long twentieth century. These essays span the many levels at which life has been engineered: molecule, cell, organism, population, ecosystem, and planet. From the cloning of agricultural crops and the artificial feeding of silkworms to biomimicry, genetic engineering, and terraforming, Nature Remade affirms the centrality of engineering in its various forms for understanding and imagining modern life. Organized around three themes-control and reproduction, knowing as making, and envisioning-the chapters in Nature Remade chart different means, scales, and consequences of intervening and reimagining nature.