Examining key environmental ideas within their social and historical context, "Modern Environmentalism outlines contemporary environmentalist approaches to valuing nature, economics, third world development, technology, ecofeminism and social change.Premodern ideas about nature and humankind's relationship to are explored through the writings of Malthus, Darwin, and other eminent thinkers. Science is placed at the heart of the society-nature debate, as author David Pepper explains how scientific "truths" about nature have been divorced from their social and ideological context. "Modern Environmentalism offers a greater understanding of the different approaches to establishing the desired state of ecology.