Human Ecology The Story of Our Place in Nature from Prehistory to the Present

9780202020358

0202020355

This new edition of a widely adopted primary and supplementarytext explores human adaptations to environmentsover time. It is biologically and culturally sophisticated,drawing on an impressive array of archaeological andpaleontological research. Campbell proceeds from earlier,simpler biomes to later, more complex ones, examining selectedaspects of the prehistory and history of the humanspecies. Human Ecology offers a succinct introductionto the history of these adaptations within ecosystems: ashared concern among anthropologists, biologists, environmentalists,and the general reader.In the years since this book was first published, theproblems that the human species has faced have becomemore serious. As predicted, world population has rapidlyincreased, and with it starvation, malnutrition, and disease.Our precious environment is being devastated. Inparticular, the tropical rain forests, our richest resource,are being cut and burned at an alarming rate with theaccompanying degradation of the forest soils. Their floraand fauna, including their human inhabitants, are beingdestroyed. All this is being done for short-term financialgain without any long-term planning or understanding ofthe risks involved.There are no simple and humane short-term solutionsto the central problem of increasing population pressure.In the long-term, the only hope of making possible a life ofquality for all, rather than a life of starvation and squalor,is through education. It is essential that we understandthe limits that exist to the earth’s productivity and theoverriding importance of maintaining richly diversifiedfauna and flora. If we understand how we arrived at thislife-threatening situation, the resolution will becomeclear. Non-violent and viable solutions do exist and can beimplemented, but the human race first must understandand face up to the nature of its frightening predicament.