This powerful and compelling book is not only a look at man's mythical desire for a return to Eden, Arcadia, or any Golden Age, but also a thoughtful and provocative look at our place in the environment -- for better and for worse -- that shows how closely connected we and our world have become.

Writing in lively, imaginative prose and drawing deftly upon disciplines as varied as biology, geology, anthropology, history, physics, and music, Evan Eisenberg examines the ways in which people have envisioned and tried to re-create the earthly paradise even as they have dealt with the often disastrous effects of their increasing manipulation of the environment. An encyclopedic survey of efforts to heal the dangerous rift between culture and nature, The Ecology of Eden is a landmark work one that is enormously suggestive, informative, and a joy to read.