Man and the ecosphere—Readings from Scientific American.

[First paragraph(s)...]
This collection of papers is virtually "All You Have Wanted To Know About Ecological Crises-And Never Cared To Ask"; in fact about the only one of the most notorious doom-sayers who is missing from the list of authors appears to be Barry Commoner. There are 27 articles and these are grouped in four categories: the first deals with the Good Old Days before anyone had anything much to worry about except where their next meal was coming from and how soon they would be likely to die and by what means; the second describes the plight of Man coming up-at last-against the limitations of his environment; the third deals with pollution in most of its forms and man becoming the victim of his own technology; and the fourth surveys what might be done to stave off the inevitable and how we might be able to make life worth the living in the meantime.