The first quarter- century was mainly exploratory the second was mainly descriptive (although biological exploration was still dominant in the tropics). At first the running was made by botanists but this was soon followed by zoologists, who dealt with more mobile communities. From its beginnings in evolutionary thinking during the nineteenth century, ecology emerged from natural history at the beginning of the twentieth.

This essay attempts to reconstruct the evolution of Ecology as the scientific basis for environmental conservation and human progress, as seen through the eyes of a biologist who has exercised that science during a number of tasks in various parts of the world over most of the twentieth century. All this finally allows, to day, a definition of the XX century as the ' century of noise'.Įnergy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB) As the century proceeded towards economic boom, a 'new noisy Man' complied with this change, becoming the anthropologic prototype who was able to adapt to the new style of life and even contribute to its expansion. They became part of our daily life so much as almost to become a new lay religion of modernity. The incessant rumble of industrial machinery, of weapons and cannons from the wars, the roar of cars in the streets and aeroplanes from the sky, the deafening sound of XX century music, as well as the shouting out of new political ideas suddenly invaded the new century. Later on, it became the distinctive characteristic of the XX century. When did, actually, 'noise pollution' begin to coexist along with our daily life and activities and change our environmental natural sounds, which hadn't changed for centuries? Industrial revolution, first, and the introduction of new technologies later, introduced 'noise' as one of the most relevant features that marked the development of progress. Consequently the 21st century as Â‘ChinaÂ’s CenturyÂ’ and as Â‘IndiaÂ’s CenturyÂ’ has been combined into talk of an Â‘Asian CenturyÂ’, mark-2. However, in turn that has already been modified during the first decade of the century by IndiaÂ’s arrival as a rapidly growing economy. Instead, it was ChinaÂ’s economic growth that seemed most evident, and with it the concept of the 21st century as Â‘ChinaÂ’s CenturyÂ’. However, the Asian financial crash of 1997-8, and the economic downturn in Japan, meant that such an Â‘Asian CenturyÂ’ seemed premature as the 21st century arrived. By the late 1980s this was already shifting to talk of the 21st century likely to be an Â‘Asian CenturyÂ’ model, mark-1, based on the Pacific Asia dynamism shown by the Â‘Asian TigersÂ’ and Japan. The Â‘Pacific CenturyÂ’, and its associated Rimspeak, was the paradigm emerging in the late 1970s, knitting together AmericaÂ’s West Coast and the Japanese economy. Overlaps are shown between these three paradigms, as also developments in time, and gradually shift in geographical location. Three paradigms are considered, namely the 21st century as the Â‘Pacific CenturyÂ’, as Â‘ChinaÂ’s CenturyÂ’ and as the Â‘Asian CenturyÂ’. Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)įull Text Available Macro-analysis and East-West encounter are shown through consideration of objective yet subjective constructed concepts for the international system and international economy in the 21st century.

Hyperspaces in the garden of eden