Sacred Cows, Destructive Myths and the Environment
Spanning fifty thousand years and an entire continent, 'The Pure State of Nature' presents a passionate account of the Australian environment. The myths that abound in popular scientific writing, the "theories" and fancies about the place of humans in the ecology of this vast landmass, are subjected to scrutiny. In particular, the author demolishes the widely accepted orthodoxy about the use of fire by Aborigines and their supposed part in the extinction of the Australian megafauna.
From the ruins of those myths, 'The Pure State of Nature' offers lessons for the new millennium. In turns provocative, humorous, impassioned and gentle, this is a bold book of ideas about the past and present, a book about how we can shape the future.
