INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

The Natural History of Indiana

The Natural Heritage of Indiana
Edited by Marion T. Jackson; Indiana University Press; $49.95; http://iupress.indiana.edu

At $49.95, this richly illustrated coffee table book is the bargain of the century and the most essential argument/presentation to motivate Hoosiers to care about our state’s environment. Respect for Mother Earth permeates the 58 essays covering six major topics, including Indiana’s Landscape, Natural Regions and Biota, past and present; effects of the Changing Landscape, Protecting What Remains and Prospectives on what actions are essential. Essayists conclude that protecting natural areas does not come easily for Hoosiers. Most poignant is the grossly unheeded plea issued by The Nature Conservancy a half-century ago: “We are obligated, as was Noah, to round up representatives of all living things, and see them safely through the flood — the onrushing flood of civilizations.” Jackson, summarizing, concludes the daunting task is “how to redirect human priorities, how to produce a new ethic” that “will permit a human well-being — sustainable Earth balance.”