Years before pesticides and other pollutants began to endanger species, humans had no trouble finding less-sophisticated ways of endangering wildlife. When the twentieth century had barely begun, the passenger pigeons had been slain to the last and the American bison had been hunted to the brink of extinction. Love of and concern for nature called people like Florence Merriam Bailey to action.

In Rachel Carson and Her Sisters, Robert K. Musil redefines the achievements and legacy of environmental pioneer and scientist Rachel Carson, linking her work to a wide network of American women activists and writers and introducing her to a new, contemporary audience.Rachel Carson was the first American to combine two longstanding, but separate strands of American environmentalism—the love of nature and a concern for human health. Widely known for her 1962 best-seller, Silent Spring, Carson is today often perceived as a solitary “great woman,” whose work single-handedly launched a modern environmental movement. But as Musil demonstrates, Carson’s life’s work drew upon and was supported by already existing movements, many led by women, in conservation and public health. On the fiftieth anniversary of her death, this book helps underscore Carson’s enduring environmental legacy and brings to life the achievements of women writers and advocates, such as Ellen Swallow Richards, Dr. Alice Hamilton, Terry Tempest Williams, Sandra Steingraber, Devra Davis, and Theo Colborn, all of whom overcame obstacles to build and lead the modern American environmental movement.

The fascinating development of natural history studies in North America is portrayed through the life stories of 22 naturalists. The hope is that once people personally encounter the natural world and become aware of its intricacy, fragility, beauty, and significance, they will recognize the need for conservation.

For the first time, this volume presents Vernon Bailey’s correspondences and field notes spanning the majority of his life and career, collected and annotated by David J. Schmidly. Born in 1864 and raised on a Minnesota farm, Vernon Bailey became the first person to conduct extensive biological surveys of Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Oregon. He was one of the founding members of the American Society of Mammalogists and pioneered the humane treatment of animals during fieldwork, developing and patenting traps designed to limit injuries or unnecessary stress. From an early age, Bailey developed an affinity for animals, observing their behaviors and eventually collecting specimens for closer study. He developed his own traps for catching mammals, birds, and reptiles and taught himself taxidermy from a book. When he was twenty-one, Bailey began sending samples of the animals he preserved to C. H. Merriam, the chief of the newly created Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the USDA, later renamed the Bureau of Biological Survey and now the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Merriam was so impressed with Baily’s work that he hired him, appointed him special field agent, and promptly sent him to the “inner frontiers” of the western and southwestern United States, despite the fact that Bailey had no formal training in biology. During his long career, Bailey kept detailed field notes, chronicling his travels and wildlife observations. These writings provide fascinating insight into not only people’s relationships with and efforts to understand wildlife but also the ways the country was rapidly growing and changing at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Author Dorcas S. Miller profiles the adventurous lives of nine courageous women, combining the written account of each woman along with her own life story. By experiencing the thrill of the outdoors, these women redefined the term ladylike in an age where women's roles were mostly limited to home and family. They hiked, paddled, and ventured far from civilization, and in doing so returned to their other lives stronger from the experiences. The stories of these bold lives will captivate readers; the moving words of these courageous women will inspire hopeful adventurers and armchair travelers alike.

We humans share Earth with 1.4 million known species and millions more species that are still unrecorded. Yet we know surprisingly little about the practical work that produced the vast inventory we have to date of our fellow creatures. How were these multitudinous creatures collected, recorded, and named? When, and by whom? Here a distinguished historian of science tells the story of the modern discovery of biodiversity. Robert Kohler argues that the work begun by Linnaeus culminated around 1900, when collecting and inventory were organized on a grand scale in natural history surveys. Supported by governments, museums, and universities, biologists launched hundreds of collecting expeditions to every corner of the world. Kohler conveys to readers the experience and feel of expeditionary travel: the customs and rhythms of collectors' daily work, and its special pleasures and pains. A novel twist in this story is that survey collecting was rooted not just in science but also in new customs of outdoor recreation, such as hiking, camping, and sport hunting. These popular pursuits engendered a wide scientific interest in animals and plants and inspired wealthy nature-goers to pay for expeditions. The modern discovery of biodiversity became a reality when scientists' desire to know intersected with the culture of outdoor vacationing. General readers as well as scholars will find this book fascinating.