Originally published in 1975, yet prophetic in its wisdom this book deals with major aspects of man’s ecological destruction in an industrial framework. As well as discussing the destruction of forests by early civilizations the book examines the rate and extension of environmental deterioration in more recent times and the importance of the integrated ‘feed-back’ controls which maintain stability in the ecosphere of which humankind forms a part. Examining the role of entropy, energy quanta and indeterminacy in overthrowing both science and economic theory, the book provides examples from the 20^th Century of the uncontrolled demands for energy and material resources, as well as of increasing toxic hazard in the biosphere.