From the early exploits of Teddy Roosevelt in Africa to blockbuster films such as March of the Penguins, Gregg Mitman reveals how changing values, scientific developments, and new technologies have come to shape American encounters with wildlife on and off the big screen.

Gregg Mitman examines the relationship between issues in early twentieth-century American society and the sciences of evolution and ecology to reveal how explicit social and political concerns influenced the scientific agenda of biologists at the University of Chicago and throughout the United States during the first half of the twentieth century.

A few decades ago, breeding efforts were limited to combining the genetic materials of existing agricultural plants and farm animals. Today, biotechnicians are creating new types of plants and animal species in their labs.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an exceptional example of marine pollution, was discovered by Charles J. Moore in 1997 after returning from a sailing race.