Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work

by Curt D. Meine, Wendell Berry (Contribution by)

Overview

This biography of Aldo Leopold follows him from his childhood as a precocious naturalist to his profoundly influential role in the development of conservation and modern environmentalism in the United States. This edition includes a new preface by author Curt Meine and an appreciation by acclaimed Kentucky writer and farmer Wendell Berry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780299249045
Publisher:	University of Wisconsin Press
Publication date:	10/19/2010
Edition description:	1, With a new preface by the author and an appreciation by Wendell Berry
Pages:	676
Sales rank:	1,000,232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Curt D. Meine is director for conservation biology and history with the Center for Humans and Nature; senior fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation; research associate with the International Crane Foundation; and associate adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is coeditor of The Essential Aldo Leopold, also published by the University of Wisconsin Press.

Read an Excerpt

“Of all the conservationists who have preceded us, Leopold was the most radical, the most complete, and therefore the most needed. . . . Because his writing has, to such an extent, the quality of his character, and because his character was so much that of a conservationist, it is particularly needful that we should know the story of his life. Curt Meine has supplied this need, and he helps us to see clearly how Leopold’s writing originated in his life. . . . Leopold was indistinguishably a man of words and a man of deeds, and we see this more clearly in Meine’s biography than in Leopold’s writings.”—Wendell Berry, from the appreciation

Table of Contents

Aldo Leopold: A Reader's Testimony Wendell Berry xi

Preface to the 2010 Edition xvii

Preface to the 1988 Edition xxxiii

Acknowledgments xxxv

Part I Midwest

1 Sources (1843-1887) 3

2 Prospect Hill (1887-1904) 12

Part II East

3 Lawrenceville (1904-1905) 33

4 New Haven (1905-1906) 51

5 Forest School (1906-1909) 62

Part III Southwest

6 Apache: The Breaks of the Blue (1909-1911) 87

7 Carson: A Delightful Turmoil (1911-1913) 106

8 On Top (1913-1915) 124

9 "To Promote the Protection and Enjoyment of Wild Things..." (1915-1919) 144

10 Chief of Operations (1919-1922) 175

11 Pioneers and Gullies (1923-1924) 211

Part IV Wisconsin

12 A Fish out of Water (1924-1928) 231

13 "Game Methods: The American Way" (1928-1932) 259

14 Consulting Forester (1932-1933) 291

15 The Professor (1933-1934) 308

16 The Value of Wilderness (1934-1935) 340

17 Toward a Biotic View of Land (1936-1939) 362

18 Digging Deeper (1939-1941) 397

19 Land Use and Democracy (1942-1945) 430

20 A Portent of a Different Future (1945-1947) 474

21 Finale (1947-1948) 506

Epilogue 521

Abbreviations Used in Notes and Bibliography 533

Notes 535

Bibliography 589

Index 621

Editorial Reviews

An excellent, full-length biography of a figure central to the environmental history of the United States.”—Science

“Aldo Leopold is laboriously researched, masterfully synthesized, and felicitously written. . . . Through Meine’s fascinating and lively narrative, we can at last . . . become better acquainted with one of the most important minds in the history of conservation.”—The Bloomsbury Review

“Meine has done a masterful job in presenting to his reader the family man, sportsman, natural resource manager, administrator, professor, philosopher, and poet.”—Western Historical Quarterly

“This is a story well worth reading and, happily, it’s good fun to boot. The author has skillfully captured Leopold the man, the scientist, the philosopher—furthermore, anyone who begins to read it will soon be captured, too.”—Gaylord Nelson, former U.S. Senator and founder of Earth Day

“At this time no writer is better situated in place or time than Meine to understand and to put into practice Leopold’s ideas about man and nature. . . .Meine’s biography of Leopold remains our best account of Leopold’s exemplary evolving ethical journey.” —Jim Ballowe, North Dakota Quarterly

From the Publisher