The Environmental Movement: From Its Roots to the Challenges of a New Century

Environmentalism is one of the most powerful social revolutions of the twentieth century. It has affected our legal and educational systems, the economy, politics--and our day-to-day lives. And it will continue to promote change in the new millennium.

Noted science writer Laurence Pringle examines this extraordinary force. He traces the movement's evolution from its grassroots beginning in seventeenth-century New England town meetings to its present-day focus on global issues. He describes the key events and concerns that have shaped it and tells how writers, thinkers, scientists, politicians, and ordinary people have played major roles through the years. Finally, he looks forward to a new century, discussing some of the challenges that must be faced and overcome in the years ahead.

Informative and thought provoking, The Environmental Movement is important reading for everyone who cares about our planet.

Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL)

Laurence Pringle, whom the Chicago Tribune calls "one of America's top nonfiction writers for young readers," concentrates mainly on biological and environmental subjects. He is the highly acclaimed author of over ninety books for young people, among them Smoking: A Risky Business and Vanishing Ozone. Laurence Pringle is the recipient of two major awards for his body of writing--the Eva L. Gordon Award for Children's Science Literature and the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award. He lives in West Nyack, New York.

Laurence Pringle grew up in farm country near Rochester, New York. For four years he attended a one-room school (one teacher with grades one through eight!). He spent many hours alone outdoors and to this day feels at home in the wild and a kinship with nature.

Larry studied wildlife ecology at Cornell University and later earned a master's degree in the same subject at the University of Massachusetts. He began a doctoral program in forest ecology at Syracuse University but then switched to journalism. He began to write articles that were published in nature and outdoor magazines.

A turning point came in 1963. After teaching science for a year, and after taking more journalism courses, Larry became an editor of Nature and Science, a new children's science magazine, published at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

"We had a small staff," he recalls, "and I learned a lot about writing, editing, and picture research. I also learned that my science background and curiosity about nature could be put to good use in children's magazines and books."

His first book, Dinosaurs and Their World, was published in 1968. He became a full-time freelance writer and photographer in 1970. Since then he has had numerous articles and photographs published, but concentrates on writing nonfiction for young people.

Today Larry is the highly respected author of nearly eighty books. His titles include fictional picture books and an inspiring and funny book about human error (The, Earth Is Flat and Other Great Mistakes), but his books are mostly about wildlife, ecology, and natural-resource issues.

Many of them, including Death Is Natural and Living Treasure: Saving Earth's Threatened Biodiversity, have been named NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children. In recognition of his work, Larry has received a Special Conservation Award from the National wildlife Federation and the 1983 Eva L. Gordon Award for Children's Science Literature.