Book Review: Nature’s Ghosts
Nature’s Ghosts: Confronting Extinction from the Age of Jefferson to the Age of Ecology
By Mark V. Barrow, Jr.
In the time of Thomas Jefferson, many people - including scientists - didn’t believe that a species could become extinct. That would violate the natural order of things. The complete loss of a species would imply imperfection in God’s creation. The natural world was thought of as a “long chain containing every possible kind of organism in a linear, continuous series”. Destroying a species would break this chain. It was only after the destruction of several species that many would accept extinction as an idea.
In Nature’s Ghosts, Mark Barrow talks about our country’s stumbling attempts to preserve nature. Slowly, we have come to realize our impact on natural history. This is largely due to the work of naturalists studying, documenting, and publicizing the decline of our wildlife. The book touches on Thomas Jefferson, John Audubon, and John Muir, but it mostly concerns itself with the numerous lesser known dedicated naturalists who have shaped our understanding of our wildlife.
This book is very different from most of the books I recommend on this website. It doesn’t focus on politics and wars. It is about wildlife and conservation in the United States, which is far more important than many of us realize.
More info:
- Mark V. Barrow, Jr., is an associate professor of history at Virginia Tech.
- Nature’s Ghosts was published by University of Chicago Press. The publisher’s site includes an excerpt.
- See the book on Amazon.
- For more reviews of recently published books related to American history, visit 1776’s book review page.
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