PART THREE 



ECOLOGY 



The interactions of the environment and organisms en- 

 compass far more than the superficial examination of orga- 

 nisms in water, field, and forest. Ecology is a growing field 

 of increasing complexity involving statistics, chemistry, and 

 physics. Some of the topics found in a modern ecology text 

 would startle an older ecologist; such as strontium 90 in plant 

 food, range management, paleoecology, and hiogeochemical 

 cycles. The older topics are not neglected for we still lack 

 mformation in such areas as parasitism and the relation of 

 color of flowers to insects. The present work on the tropical 

 rain forests, deserts, and arctic slopes may well be of later 

 service to man. The reason for this is that man has had to 

 spread out into regions formerly thought unsuitable. Either 

 the areas will have to be modified or man will have to learn 

 to adapt himself to them. 



Man is not merely an animal but more than an animal. 

 He is the only animal which consciously tries to understand 

 and control his environment. His own progress and develop- 

 ment is intertwined with the quality of his cerebral cortex. 



For more information on ecology, read Adaptation bv 

 B. Wallace and A. M. Srb. 



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