Word for Nature: Four Pioneering Environmental Advocates, 1845-1913

by Robert L. Dorman and Janice Ed. Dorman

Book Overview

The careers and ideas of four figures of monumental importance in the history of American conservation--George Perkins Marsh, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and John Wesley Powell--are explored in A Word for Nature . Robert Dorman offers lively portraits of each of these early environmental advocates, who witnessed firsthand the impact of economic expansion and industrial revolution on fragile landscapes from the forests of New England to the mountains of the West. By examining the nineteenth-century world in which the four men lived--its society, economy, politics, and culture--Dorman sheds light on the roots of American environmentalism. He provides an overview of the early decades of both resource conservation and wilderness preservation, discussing how Marsh, Thoreau, Muir, and Powell helped define the issues that began changing the nation's attitudes toward its environment by the early twentieth century. Dorman's readings of works including Marsh's Man and Nature , Thoreau's The Maine Woods , Muir's The Mountains of California , and Powell's Report on the Lands of the Arid Region reveal their authors' influence on environmental thought and politics even up to the present day.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807823961
• ISBN13: 9780807823965
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Four environmentalists, before the term was invented

Dorman explores the origins of American conservation and environmentalism by studying four key men of the nineteenth century -- George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882), Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), John Muir (1838-1914), and John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). Thoreau and Muir appear often in works of this kind, and Powell is occasionally added and is best known for his trip down the Colorado River and into the Grand Canyon. But what of Marsh? This Vermont lawyer, legislator, and industrialist published the book _Man and Nature_ in 1864. His travels to Europe and the Middle East were part of his enlightenment into the relationship between humans and Nature. He was one of the first individuals to admit that "all nature is linked together by invisible bonds" and to see man as a "destructive power" in the scenario. He recommended restoration efforts for the rampant deforestation in the northeastern America of the mid-1800s and suggested governmental control of such an endeavor, in spite of that institution's many failings. For the biography of Marsh alone, Dorman's book is worthwhile reading. But even if you think you already know the basics about the other three personalities, you'll learn something new here. Dorman doesn't just rehash old information; he provides a fresh interpretation of their contributions, illustrating the societal influences that formed their belief systems, and connecting each man to at least one of the other three at least once. A good addition to the 21st-century environmentalist's bookshelf.