Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World - Hardcover

McNeill, John Robert; McNeill, J.R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393049175 ISBN 13: 9780393049176

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2000

Synopsis

Explores the massive ecological changes that have transformed the physical world in this century and states that the ongoing environmental degradation is reversible and that the historical change that results is open-ended. 15,000 first printing.

About this title

Reviews

Our profligate, fossil fuel-based civilization is ecologically unsustainable and creates perpetual environmental disturbance, says Georgetown University history professor McNeill, but he remains undecided as to whether humanity has entered a genuine, full-blown ecological crisis. Nevertheless, the evidence he presents in this comprehensive, balanced survey is alarming. Soil degradation now affects one-third of earth's land surface, though intensive fertilizer use and genetic engineering of crops have masked the ill effects. From Mexico City to Calcutta, from China to Africa, megacities choke on air pollution as economic development takes priority over other concerns. Acid rain has decimated lake and river life, crops and forests across Europe and North America. International in scope, McNeill's kaleidoscopic, textbookish history hops from Soviet phosphate mining in the Arctic to deforestation by white settlers in southern Africa, documenting the pollution of oceans and seas; the unchecked "harvesting" of fish and whales; environmentally influenced, disease-producing shifts in human-microbe relations; disruptive invasions by new species (sea lampreys in the Great Lakes, rabbits in Australia); and the massive impact on ecosystems resulting from urbanization, population growth, wars, oil spills, nuclear power accidents. McNeill's study underscores the mixed consequences of environmental and political decision making. For example, the Green Revolution fed additional millions, but it also promoted monoculture and strengthened landed elites in Asia and Latin America. The book closes with a capsule history of the environmental movement, gauging its successes and influence. This scientifically informed survey makes a useful resource for environmentalists, scholars, globalists, biologists, policy makers and concerned readers. 40 photos and 15 maps not seen by PW. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

McNeill (history, Georgetown Univ.) offers a concise synthesis of humanity's relationship to and alteration of the environment during the 20th century. Divided into 12 chapters, each with a brief introduction and summary of the topics discussed therein, his volume examines Earth's lithosphere, pedosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. McNeill interprets the human impact on the earth politically, economically, and socially, noting that history and ecology cannot be separated, as each influenced the other. Whether it be defoliants used to fight a war in Vietnam, the construction of military-industrial complexes, or the production and consumption of consumer goods, the environmental damage was severe but not always irreversible. As a history of causes and consequences, McNeill's volume will be a welcome addition to environmental history collections and will appeal to the general reader who wants a quick overview.
-Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley Coll., Mt. Carmel, IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393049175
• ISBN 13: 9780393049176
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416