Ahead of his time
A century and a half ago, a Vermont farmer travelled to the Mediterranean, first as minister to Turkey and later as minister to the newly-unified Italy. While there, he observed long-range effects of practices occurring in his home state: deforestation, soil run-off, flooding, lowering of the water table. And he made notes.
George Perkins Marsh, statesman, polymath (18 languages) and astute observer of the natural environment, worked on his magnum opus, Man and Nature, for several decades before publishing it in 1864.
The book is not an easy read. It’s long and full of lengthy explanatory/anecdotal footnotes. But it’s rewarding to realize how clearly this 19th-century author understood “ecosystem services.”
Branner Library’s 1885 edition is in the Locked Stacks; but Green Library has several circulating editions, including the 2003 “Weyerhaeuser Environmental Classic” edition highlighted above.