Alfred W. Crosby is a historian, professor and author of such books as The Columbian Exchange (1972) and Ecological Imperialism

Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900

Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 is a 1986 book written by Alfred Crosby.-Contents:Crosby begins by pointing out that the populations of what he calls the "Neo-Europes" are primarily composed of European descendants. He asks why there are such large...

 (1986). In these works, he provides biological and geographical explanations for why Europeans were able to succeed with relative ease in what he refers to as the Neo-Europes of Australasia

Australasia

Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...

, North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, and southern South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

.

Recognizing the majority of modern day wealth is located in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and the Neo-Europes, Crosby set out to investigate what historical causes are behind the disparity. According to Hal Rothman, a Professor of History at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Crosby “added biology to the process of human exploration, coming up with explanations for events as diverse as Cortez’s conquest of Mexico and the fall of the Inca empire

Inca Empire

The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire , was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century...

 that made vital use of the physical essence of humanity.”.

Jared Diamond

Jared Diamond

Jared Mason Diamond is an American scientist and author whose work draws from a variety of fields. He is currently Professor of Geography and Physiology at UCLA...

, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is a 1997 book by Jared Diamond, professor of geography and physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles . In 1998 it won the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction and the Aventis Prize for Best Science Book...

, has reached similar conclusions about the role of biology and ecology in human history.

Crosby is Professor Emeritus of History, Geography, and American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

. He has taught at Washington State University

Washington State University

Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...

, Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, the Alexander Turnbull Library in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, and the University of Helsinki

University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...

. He was appointed an academician by Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari

Martti Ahtisaari

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....

.

Publications

His books include:

• Children of the Sun: A History of Humanity's Unappeasable Appetite for Energy. W.W. Norton 2006.

• Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology Through History. Cambridge University Press 2002. Available in Turkish and Japanese translations.

• The Measure of Reality: Quantification and Western Society, 1250-1600. Cambridge University Press 1997. Available in Spanish, Portuguese,French, Italian, Swedish, Japanese, Slovennian and Korean translations.

• Germs, Seeds, and Animals: Studies in Ecological History. M. E. Sharpe 1994.

• America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. Cambridge University Press 1989, 2003. Originally published as Epidemic and Peace, 1918. Available in Japanese translation.

• Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. Cambridge University Press 1986, 1993, 2004. Available in German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Greek, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean translations.

• Epidemic and Peace, 1918. Greenwood Press 1976. Republished as America's Forgotten Pandemic.

• The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. Greenwood Press 1972, Praeger Publishers 2003. Available in Spanish, Italian, and Korean translations.

• America, Russia, Hemp, and Napoleon: American Trade with Russia and the Baltic, 1793-1812. Ohio State University Press 1965.

External links

• Alfred Crosby website.
• Review of Ecological Imperialism.
• Review of The Measure of Reality. Denis Dutton
  Denis Dutton
  Denis Dutton was an academic, web entrepreneur and libertarian media commentator/activist. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand...
  
   (1999) "Culture, Reality, and Success," Philosophy and Literature
  Philosophy and literature
  Philosophy and literature is the literary treatment of philosophers and philosophical themes, and the philosophical treatment of issues raised by literature.-The philosophy of literature:...
  
  23: 243-55.