Seven major scholars discuss the perspectives that the fields of literature, history, religion, philosophy, environmental ethics, and anthropology bring to the natural environment and our place in it. The book represents a continuation of the Center for the Study of World Religions' highly regarded Religions of the World and Ecology series.

The scientific, political, and economic policy debates about the global environmental crisis have tended to ignore its historical, ethical, religious, and aesthetic dimensions. This book addresses that omission by highlighting these humanistic components that are integral to the fabric of our ecological understanding.