fantastic book, intro Enviro. Thought

The chapters from de Steugger's Origins of Modern Enviromental Thought have been my favorites so far in our Environmental Philosphy class. The book serves I think the best possible introduction to the environmental ideas and movement as 'beginnings' within books and papers by the 'great' thinkers who put to paper thoughts that must be considered in our modern society with the continuation of our human lives and the health of our planet in mind. That some major political acts are included goes of course further to show how much progress has been made (even if some are not as far-reaching or have been stripped in their scope in the semi-recent years). I enjoyed the brief talks about St. Francis of Assissi and also some of the older philosophers who wrote about overpopulation and recognize how their thoughts cause today's and yeasterday's thinkers to take direction. That Emerson and Thoreau have consistently encouraged the works of other environmentalist is very heartening, Thoreau even being often voted as the most influential of environmentalists I find neat - leave it to a subject as holistic as environmental philosophy to give a poet mass credit. I look forward to reading the chapters that were not covered in the assignment and will use this book as a starting point for my initial extracurricular readings. Ive already ordered Silent Spring and most look forward to reading Naess' literature on the Deep Ecology and Roderick Nash's Wilderness and the American Mind. Im sure I will be propelled by these writings to learn more and I anticipate learning about the more international personalities like Schweitzer and the framers of the Kyoto Protocol.