Review
A new approach to ecology... well worth consideration by ecologists, science historians, and anyone interested in how human ecology should be integrated with the biological sciences.
(Nancy Stack
Science 2006)
Kingsland does a masterful job weaving together the history of ecology in the United States.
(William H. Schlesinger
Bioscience 2006)
Kingsland has ambitiously followed the growth of American ecology from the end of the 19th throughout the 20th century, looking at social, economic, and scientific influences... Quite worthwhile for any ecologist interested in the history of their field.
(Matthew L. Forister
Quarterly Review of Biology 2006)
Kingsland breaks new ground by tightly linking the intellectual history of ecological science with changes in the land.
(Gregg A. Mitman
Journal of American History 2006)
Anyone interested in the history of American ecology and its relationship to our changing perspective on the environment will find this a worthwhile read and a clear exposition of those changes.
(Larry Thomas Spencer
Environmental History 2006)
In contrast to other historical accounts, Sharon Kingsland’s book emphasizes the ways that human ecology centered in urban settings has shaped the discipline.
(Joel B. Hagen
Isis 2006)
The details of how the field began and the accounts of the ecological pioneers make this book an enjoyable account of scientific history.
(Timothy J. Motley
Brittonia 2007)
This fine book provides an excellent opportunity to reflect back on the ecological sciences and their entanglement with environmental concerns in the USA... A refreshing and novel approach that breaks new grounds in our understanding of how ecology became a dominating scientific approach to the environment.
(Peder Anker
Centaurus 2006)
Deeply researched and well written, Kingsland's study is likely to become a standard reference for scholars from many fields.
(Andrew Kirk
American Historical Review 2008)
An important, innovative scholarly contribution that nicely captures both the excitement and frustration of American botanists as they struggled to professionalize their discipline. Kingsland does a marvelous job of reconstructing the American botanical landscape during a crucial period in its development.
(Mark V. Barrow, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University )
From the Back Cover
In the 1890s, several initiatives in American botany converged. The creation of new institutions, such as the New York Botanical Garden, coincided with radical reforms in taxonomic practice and the emergence of an experimental program of research on evolutionary problems. The Evolution of American Ecology, 1890–2000 explores how these changes gave impetus to the new field of ecology. Sharon E. Kingsland argues that the creation of institutions and research laboratories, coupled with new intellectual directions in science, were crucial to the development of ecology as a discipline in the United States. Understanding the origins of ecology in turn helps us to understand its later development through the twentieth century.
"A new approach to ecology... well worth consideration by ecologists, science historians, and anyone interested in how human ecology should be integrated with the biological sciences."— Science
"Kingsland does a masterful job weaving together the history of ecology in the United States."— Bioscience
"Kingsland has ambitiously followed the growth of American ecology from the end of the 19th throughout the 20th century, looking at social, economic, and scientific influences... Quite worthwhile for any ecologist interested in the history of their field."— Quarterly Review of Biology
"Kingsland breaks new ground by tightly linking the intellectual history of ecological science with changes in the land."— Journal of American History
"Anyone interested in the history of American ecology and its relationship to our changing perspective on the environment will find this a worthwhile read."— Environmental History
"The details of how the field began and the accounts of the ecological pioneers make this book an enjoyable account of scientific history."— Brittonia
"A refreshing and novel approach that breaks new grounds in our understanding of how ecology became a dominating scientific approach to the environment."— Centaurus
Sharon E. Kingsland is a professor of the history of science at the Johns Hopkins University.
