This book presents a large-scale multidisciplinary evaluation of what has happened and is happening to the earth under man's impress. It includes the papers presented by fifty-three eminent scholars at a major conference on ecology—one of the first ever held—sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. A pioneering publication in the field of environmental research, the work has steadily contributed to ecological studies, and is now considered a classic.

The volume is organized into three parts. Part 1 deals with man's rise to the status of ecological dominance, and includes discussions of such topics as the role of fire as the first great force harnessed by man, early food-producing populations, the clearing of Europe's woodlands, subsistence economies and commercial economies, and the natural history of urbanization.

Part 2 investigates environmental changes such as man's impact upon the seas and coastlines. The highly topical ecology of wastes is discussed, as well as urban-industrial demands and the depletion of natural resources.

Part 3 is concerned with the limits of the earth's resources. It includes papers dealing with the population spiral, possible limitations of raw-material consumption and energy use, and technological denudation.

Each part is accompanied by a report summarizing the ideas discussed at the conference by the participants.

Our World from the Air: Conflict and Adaptation (E. A. Gutkind)

Retrospect: Man's Tenure of the Earth

Through the Corridors of Time

Symposium Discussion: Retrospect Process: Introductory

Man's Effects on the Seas and Waters of the Land

Alterations of Climatic Elements

Slope nad Soil Changes through Human Use

Modifications of Biotic Communities

Ecology of Wastes

Urban-Industrial Demands upon the Land

Symposium Discussion: Process. Prospect: Limits of Man and the Earth

The Role of Man

Symposium Discussion: Prospect. Summary Remarks

Index