Biographies
You will find books with Reference in front of the call number on the 2nd floor, across from the Ocean Elevators. Online resources are available on campus or off-campus for current students, staff, and faculty. Check the library location guide for book locations.
American Environmental Leaders
A comprehensive and diverse award winning collection of biographies of the most important figures in American environmentalism. American Environmental Leaders presents more than 350 biographies of men and women who have devoted their lives to studying, debating, and organizing these and other controversial issues over the last 200 years. In addition to the scientists who have analyzed how human actions affect nature, we are introduced to poets, landscape architects, presidents, painters, activists, even sanitation engineers, and others who have forever altered how we think about the environment. The easy to use A_Z format provides instant access to these fascinating individuals, and frequent cross references indicate others with whom individuals worked (and sometimes clashed). End of entry references provide users with a starting point for further research. _ Easy to use A_Z format provides instant access to these fascinating individuals, and frequent cross references indicate others with whom individuals worked (and sometimes clashed) _ End of entry references provide users with a starting point for further research_ _
Call Number: Reference GE55 .B43 2000 (Print Resource)Publication Date: 2000
Ecology or Catastrophe: The Life of Murray Bookchin
The compelling biography of revolutionary social ecologist Murray Bookchin. Murray Bookchin was not only one of the most significant and influential environmental philosophers of the twentieth-century - he was also one of the most prescient. From deforestation to nuclear radiation, Bookchin has been at the forefront of every major ecological issue since the very beginning,often proposing a solution before most people even recognized there was a problem.Ecology or Catastrophe: The Life of Murray Bookchin is the first biography of this groundbreaking environmental and political thinker. Author Janet Biehl worked as Bookchin's collaborator and copyeditor for 19 years, editing his every word. Thanks to her extensive personal history with Bookchin aswell as her access to his papers and archival research, Ecology or Catastrophe offers unique insight into Bookchin's personal and professional life. Founder of the social ecology movement, Bookchin first started raising environmental issues in 1952. He foresaw global warming in the 1960s and arguedthat we should look into renewable energy sources as an alternative to fossil fuels. Wary of pesticides and industrial agriculture, Bookchin was also an early advocate of small-scale organic farming, which has developed into the present locavore movement and the revival of organic markets. EvenOccupy can trace the origins of its leaderless structure and general assemblies to the antihierarchical organizational form Bookchin developed as a libertarian socialist.Bookchin believed that social and ecological issues were deeply intertwined. Convinced that capitalism pushed businesses to maximize profits and ignore humanist concerns, Bookchin argued that eco-crises could be resolved by a new social arrangement. His solution was Communalism, a new form oflibertarian socialism he developed. An optimist and utopian, Bookchin believed we could use reason to solve all social and ecological problems.Both the biography of great thinker and a continuation of Bookchin's ecological and social call to arms, Ecology or Catastrophe is an indispensable text for environmentalists, political activists, and anyone looking for answers to today's ecological concerns.
Call Number: GF16.B66 B54 2015 (Print Resource)Publication Date: 2015
Biographical Dictionary of American and Canadian Naturalists and Environmentalists
Casting a wide net, this volume provides personal and professional information on some 445 American and Canadian naturalists and environmentalists, who lived from the late 15th century to the late 20th century. It includes explorers who published works on the natural history of North America, conservationists, ecologists, environmentalists, wildlife management specialists, park planners, national park administrators, zoologists, botanists, natural historians, geographers, geologists, academics, museum scientists and administrators, military personnel, travellers, government officials, political figures and writers and artists concerned with the environment. Some of the subjects are well known. The accomplishments of others are little known. Each entry contains a succinct but careful evaluation of the subject's career and contributions. Entries also include up-to-date bibliographies and information concerning manuscript sources.
Call Number: Reference QH26 .B535 1997 (Print Resource)Publication Date: 1997
Fifty Key Thinkers on the Environment
Fifty Key Thinkers on the Environment is a unique guide to environmental thinking through the ages. Joy A. Palmer, herself an important and prolific author on environmental matters, has assembled a team of thirty-five expert contributors to summarize and analyse the thinking of fifty diverse and stimulating figures - from all over the world and from ancient times to the present day. Among those included are: Philosophers such as Rousseau, Spinoza and Heidegger Activists such as Chico Mendes Literary giants such as Virgil, Goethe and Wordsworth Major religious and spiritual figures such as the Buddha and St Francis of Assisi. Lucid, scholarly and informative, these fifty essays offer a fascinating overview of mankind's view and understanding of the physical world.
Call Number: GE40 .F54 2001 (Print and Electronic Resource)Publication Date: 2001
Planet Savers: 301 Extraordinary Environmentalists
Protecting the planet is everyone's work. But we all have our own heroes in whatever area we are working. Planet Savers brings together the varied stories of the hundreds of movers and shakers that have spoken up throughout history and taken action to defend the world from pollution, deforestation, species loss and climate change. From Theodore Roosevelt to Al Gore; from Francis of Assisi to David Attenborough – and from hundreds more men and women that you will know little, if anything, about. Scientists, artists, business people, priests, lawyers, poets, politicians, activists and more, from every continent of the world. Their work has enthused us about the natural world and warned us that we must do much more to preserve it. The Indian woman who became the world's first environmental martyr; the Baptist Reverend who asked "What Would Jesus Drive?"; the Quaker big game hunter who set up the first conservation organisation; the Shakespearian actor who revolutionised organic gardening; and the housewife whose campaign against toxic waste forced a President to act. The book is a cornucopia of people who from time immemorial have put their careers, reputations and lives on the line to protect our planet from its governing inhabitants – the human race. Today, as thousands of species of animals and plants are faced with extinction, thousands of years of indigenous knowledge is lost in the face of technological advance, and we become more and more aware of the potential doomsday scenario of a warming world, we need Planet Savers more than ever. Our inspiration can be the 301 environmental lives portrayed in this book. These people cared enough to do something about it. Planet Savers is both a tribute and a catalyst: a tribute to the people that loved the planet enough to want to act to save it, and a catalyst for the people who will be inspired to act after reading it. New Planet Savers are at work right now in rainforests and megacities; in community centres and boardrooms; at road protests and in courtrooms, all over the world. If this book has one great aim it is to inspire you, the reader, to join them. It is a book that every home should own.
Call Number: (Electronic Resource)Publication Date: 2007
Shapers of the Great Debate on Conservation: A Biographical Dictionary
Through biographical examinations of some of the key figures in the debate on conservation, this book seeks to explore a range of subjects, such as the evolution of the conservation movement, its implications for policy-makers, and how it impacts the daily lives of people everywhere. The varying approaches taken by these individuals will serve to emphasize that there are many definitions of conservation, and that many viewpoints are valid. Detailed observations of important figures on both sides of the debate, including some of the most famous and familiar and some less so, provide readers with the knowledge they need to form their own opinions on this topic. Major biographies include individuals such as Rachel Carson, Dixy Lee Ray, John Muir, and James Watt. An introductory essay, an appendix of shorter entries on additional figures, and a bibliography are also included.
Call Number: (Electronic Resource)Publication Date: 2004
Early American Nature Writers: A Biographical Encyclopedia
At a time when the environment is of growing concern to students and general readers, nature writing is especially meaningful. This book profiles the literary careers of 52 early American nature writers, such as John James Audubon, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Caroline Stansbury Kirkland, Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, and Mabel Osgood Wright. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and discusses the writer's life and works. Entries close with primary and secondary bibliographies, and the encyclopedia ends with suggestions for further reading. Global warming, pollution, and other issues have made the environment a topic of constant discussion these days. Many environmental concerns were treated by early American nature writers, who recognized the beauty of the natural world in an age of commercial expansion. Some of the most famous writers of the 18th and 19th centuries wrote about nature, and their works are stylistic masterpieces. At a time when students are being encouraged to read and write about nonfiction, these masterworks of early American nature writing are all the more important. This book gives students and general readers a welcome introduction to early American nature writers. The volume begins with an introductory essay on the history of early American nature writing and its anticipation of present day concerns. The book then provides alphabetically arranged entries on 52 writers, including: Elizabeth Agassiz, John James Audubon, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Caroline Stansbury Kirkland, Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, Edith M. Thomas, Henry David Thoreau, Bradford Torrey, and Mabel Osgood Wright.
Call Number: PS163 .E18 2008 (Print Resource)Publication Date: 2007
American Nature WritersCall Number: Reference PS163 .A6 1996 (Print and Electronic Resource)Publication Date: 1996
To find biographies on conservationists and environmental activists, use these subject searches in UCSB Library Search
- Conservationists United States Biography
- Naturalists United States Biography
- Environmentalists United States Biography