Something New Under the Sun

A landmark work of environmental history told in an absorbing narrative style. J. R. McNeill's startling history explores the massive change we have brought to our physical world in this century. To a degree unprecedented in human history, we have refashioned the very air, water, and soil we inhabit. McNeill tells this story with a keen eye for character and a refreshing respect for the unforeseen in history. He tells us of Thomas Midgely, the chemical engineer who indirectly did more damage to the atmosphere than any other human being: Midgely discovered that adding lead to gasoline made it burn better, and he followed that breakthrough with the invention of Freon, which ruptures the ozone layer when it drifts into the stratosphere. Also surprising, but more hopeful, is the story of how Japan transformed itself from a polluter's paradise through 1965 to a country of clean air twenty years later without sacrificing economic performance. Through his history of people and the planet in this global century, McNeill shows us that environmental degradation is reversible, and historical change open-ended. This is a volume in The Global Century Series, general editor, Paul Kennedy.

J. R. McNeill is professor of history at Georgetown University.