In 1955, an influential group of scholars, who included historians, geographers, ecologists, and zoologists gathered at the Princeton Inn for the international symposium “Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth.” Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, conference participants examined “man’s evolutionary dominance” and the changes he wrought on the “physical-biological environment.” Among the topics they explored were deforestation, soil erosion, waste disposal, and energy use. The late Oxford geographer Michael Williams identified that the symposium “validated the interdisciplinary approach, heightened the environmental consciousness in the English-speaking world, and exerted an unprecedented influence on the development of a unified approach to environmental issues.” However, little historical attention has been devoted to “Man’s Role.”[2]
In this panel, we explore the environmental, social, and political issues that “Man’s Role” participants wrestled with, and we examine the intellectual legacy of the symposium. Simon Torracinta places the conference within broader debates about decolonization and universalist humanism. Jonathan Phillips identifies new evolutionary theories forged during the Cold War era and discussed at “Man’s Role.” Zachary Loeb examines the technological and ethical critiques Lewis Mumford issued at the symposium. James Bergman draws connections between the work of Paul Sears, R.J. Russell, C.W. Thornthwaite and that of nineteenth-century environmentalist George Perkins Marsh. And finally, Emilie Raymer suggests that “Man’s Role” precipitated interdisciplinary dialogues about anthropogenic environmental change.
