Students of nature around the world revere Eugene Pleasants Odum as a founder and pioneer of ecosystem ecology. In this biography of Odum, Betty Jean Craige depicts the intellectual growth, creativity, and vision of the scientist who made the ecosystem concept central to his discipline and translated the principles of ecosystem ecology into lessons in preserving the natural environment. Placing Odum's achievements in historical context, Craige portrays his life and career with meticulous attention to detail and with the intimacy of knowledge acquired through conversations with Odum himself. This book traces Odum's life from his childhood through his years of education, his collaboration with his younger brother Howard Thomas Odum in developing methods to study ecosystems, his contributions to the field of radiation ecology, his emergence as an internationally distinguished educator of ecosystem ecology, and his environmental activism.
Craige also describes Odum's role in the creation of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, the Marine Institute on Sapelo Island, and the Institute of Ecology at the University of Georgia, where, in the minds of his students, he became identified with the statement "The ecosystem is greater than the sum of its parts." Odum's classic textbook Fundamentals of Ecology has been published in numerous editions and translations worldwide. Odum has achieved membership in the National Academy of Sciences, shared with his brother the prestigious Crafoord Prize for Ecology, accepted six honorary doctorates, and received numerous awards for environmental activities. Eugene Odum: Ecosystem Ecologist and Environmentalist illuminates one of the twentieth century's giants in the natural sciences.
