Aldo Leopold's Odyssey - Rediscovering the Author of A Sand County Almanac - Julianne Lutz Newton (2006).pdf

Publication Date: February 22, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1597264423 | ISBN-13: 978-1597264426 | Edition: 1
A household icon of the environmental movement, Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) may be the most quoted conservationist in history. A Sand County Almanac has sold millions of copies and Leopold's writings are venerated for their perceptions about land and how people might live in concert with the whole community of life.

But who is the man behind the words? How did he arrive at his profound and poetic insights, inspiring generations of environmentalists? Building on past scholarship and a fresh study of Leopold's unpublished archival materials, Julianne Lutz Newton retraces the intellectual journey generated by such passion and intelligence.

Aldo Leopold's Odyssey illuminates his lifelong quest for answers to a fundamental issue: how can people live prosperously on the land and keep it healthy, too? Leopold's journey took him from Iowa to Yale to the Southwest to Wisconsin, with fascinating stops along the way to probe the causes of early land settlement failures, contribute to the emerging science of ecology, and craft a new vision for land use.

More than a biography, this articulate volume is a guide to one man's intellectual growth, and an inspirational resource for anyone pondering the relationships between people and the land.


From Booklist

Conservationist Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) is revered for his gorgeous prose, deep appreciation for the beauty and "rightness" of the living world, and profound moral sense of how we should live on the land. But the story of how this Yale-educated midwesterner become one of the nation's first professional foresters and a groundbreaking environmental educator, and developed his commonsensical "land ethic," has not been fully studied until now. Ecologist Newton offers not a biography but, rather, an exacting chronicle of Leopold's intellectual and professional odyssey. Leopold conceived of the land as "a fountain of energy" flowing through soil (soil conversation was a primary mission), plants, waterways, animals (Leopold was an avid hunter and the nation's leading wildlife expert), and humans. He knew that to sustain "land health" we needed to develop an "ecological conscience" and fend off the "industrial juggernaut." Newton's compelling and elucidating close reading of Leopold's keystone works greatly enhances our understanding of his scientific rigor, philosophical valor, and abiding sense of wonder. If only we would take his conservation ethic to heart. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Julianne Lutz Newton makes us feel the loss of what might have followed A Sand County Almanac by showing us in authoritative detail what led up to it. The result is a biography of ideas, a map of how far Leopold had moved between 1909...and his death..." - THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW "Aldo Leopold's Odyssey enriches our appreciation of both Leopold and A Sand County Almanac." - SCIENCE "Lucid and perceptive." - NATURAL HISTORY "Superb...a full and fascinating portrait." - AMERICAN SCIENTIST"

Paperback: 504 pages
Publisher: Shearwater; 1 edition (February 22, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597264423
ISBN-13: 978-1597264426