The Background of Ecology is a critical and up-to-date review of the origins and development of ecology, with emphasis on the major concepts and theories shared in the ecological traditions of plant and animal ecology, limnology, and oceanography. The work traces developments in each of these somewhat isolated areas and identifies, where possible, parallels or convergences among them. Dr McIntosh describes how ecology emerged as a science in the context of nineteenth-century natural histor

‘The breadth [of The Background of Ecology] is admirable, the references are thorough and usefully indexed, and the writing is clear.’

Source: Science

‘[Robert McIntosh’s] classification of doctrinal tendencies and portrayal of leading controversies provides a valuable guide to a vast and still largely uncharted sea … it is throughout a reference work of distinction and one which is sure to be of interest to ecologists as well as to historians.’