George P Marsh
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
After being appointed the United States Minster Resident to the Ottoman Empire in 1849, George P. Marsh had the opportunity to travel the world and visit the sites of ancient civilizations. Troubled by what he saw, Marsh came to the conclusion that these societies were victims of self-destruction and that the same fate could be in store for the nations of today. Moved to action, Marsh would go on to publish Man and Nature: Or, Physical Geography as...
Author
Language
English
Description
In Man and nature George Perkins Marsh challenged the general belief that human impact on nature was generally benign or negligible and charged that ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean had brought about their own collapse by their abuse of the environment. By deforesting their hillsides and eroding their soils, they had destroyed the natural fertility that sustained their well-being. Marsh offered his compatriots in the United States a stern...