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George Perkins Marsh
(1801-1882)
A Vermont farmer and congressman, George Perkins Marsh was among the first Americans to perceive mankind's harmful effect on nature. Marsh spent most of his life in public service. He served on the Vermont Governor's Council and spent three terms in Congress beginning in 1842. He also held several overseas diplomatic posts, including an appointment as the American Minister to Italy in 1861.
While in Italy, Marsh argued for forward-thinking conservation strategies in a landmark book Man and Nature, which explains what we now refer to as the "web of life." The book documents the far-reaching negative impacts of mankind's destruction of grass and forest cover with examples of the desertification of once-productive land in China, Europe and North Africa. Many historians view Man and Nature as the first popular introduction to the science of ecology. |