Sharks vs. Jets Rats in 20th Century Environmental History:
J.R. McNeill’s Something New Under the Sun
Though I am primarily a local- and institutional historian, I am also fascinated by ecological history. The study of world history is also important, both intrinsically and as a means to provide context to local events. This essay provides analysis of J. R. McNeill’s work of environmental and world history, Something New Under the Sun. Something New pits two human evolutionary strategies, those of sharks and those of rats, against each other, amid the broad sweep of ecologic change during the twentieth century. This essay, completed for HIST510: Seminar in World History, is equal parts academic book review and critical analysis.