The Earth as Transformed by Human Action

transformation of the earth by human action during the past three centuries was the grand theme of a symposium held in 1987 at Clark University as part of its centennial-year celebration. symposium papers have now been published in a volume of awesome size, impressive content, and discouraging expense-The as Transformed by Human Action: Global and Regional Changes in the Biosphere over the Past 300 Years, edited by B. L. Turner II and others xvi and 720 pp. ; maps, diagrs. , refs. , index. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. 100. 00. ISBN 0-521-36357-8. title of the volume indicates an ambition that it be seen as a sequel to the pioneering work of George P. Marsh (1864, 1885). notion that the earth has been transformed rather than modified, the word preferred by Marsh, is a fitting rhetorical response to the acceleration of human-induced environmental changes. However, most readers will not regard Marsh as the predecessor of this new publication; rather, they will associate it with the much-appreciated symposium volume, Man's in Changing the Face of the Earth (Thomas 1956). Comparison of the quality of the two volumes will be accomplished gradually, as the wisdom offered then and now is digested by current and future scholars. Many of the essays in Man's Role have enjoyed the compliment of frequent citation. Among geographers especially, titles such as Cultural Differences in the Interpretation of Natural Resources, Man as a Maker of New Plants and New Plant Communities, Clearing of the Woodland in Europe, and Changing Ideas of the Habitable World produce feelings of comfortable familiarity. This happy fate can be predicted for many or at least several of the chapters in The Transformed, on the assumption that appreciation of the volume will not be inhibited too seriously by its high price. Man's Role was published by the University of Chicago Press according to an agreement with the Werner Gren Foundation that the publication would be offered at the lowest practicable price. book was first offered at 12. 50 and is still available at 45. 00; more than 18, 000 copies of the hardbound edition have been sold, as well as 24, 000 copies of the twovolume paperback edition. Sales of this magnitude are not likely for The Transformed, which seems destined for libraries rather than faculty offices or student desks.