Roots of Ecology

"Readers who know Frank Egerton's earlier publications on the history of ecology will enjoy /i/Roots of Ecology,//i/ a beautifully illustrated study of natural history's deep roots and the journey toward modern concepts of ecology. Egerton clearly demonstrates how centuries of concern about understanding the natural world challenged skilled observers and philosophers."--Alan Covich, University of Georgia

"In /i/Roots of Ecology: Antiquity to Haeckel,//i/ Frank Egerton deals with the origins of ecology in great depth and breadth, showing the diversity of the origins of the ecological sciences and their debt to ideas going back to antiquity. Not just a history, this will be a source book and a focal point for present-day and future historians of ecology."--Eric L. Mills, Professor Emeritus, Dalhousie University; University of King's College

"There is no better guide than historian Frank N. Egerton to explore and understand the deep roots and historical background of natural history and modern ecology. /i/Roots of Ecology//i/ is the latest and most splendid achievement of Egerton's work."--Jacques Grinevald, retired professor of IHEID and University of Geneva, Switzerland

"For centuries before ecology emerged as a discipline, scientists studied ecological phenomena. Frank Egerton's ambitious and illuminating overview of ecology's historical roots will be essential reading for ecologists and for historians of natural history and the field sciences."--Stephen Bocking, Trent University

"Frank Egerton vividly narrates the long past of a new science. One cannot help but be fascinated by seeing so much knowledge and so many different practices tied together to describe the eventual emergence of scientific ecology."--Jean-Marc Drouin, Professeur du Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Centre Alexandre Koyre

Frank N. Egerton is Professor Emeritus in the History Department at University of Wisconsin in Parkside.