Las Ciencias Ambientales en México. Aproximaciones a su historia

This collective book conceptualizes environmental sciences as a young, interdisciplinary area, with recent professional training projects that work at the interface of society and nature with contributions and approaches from social and natural sciences. The book consists of three sections. “Environmental Disciplines” contains four chapters. One is about environmental education and environmental sciences; another on environmental health, its contributions and challenges; another compares environmental geography and environmental sciences and the last focuses on environmental biotechnology. Mainly, this section irremediably links the history of environmental sciences addressed with the global history of them, so it is not only relevant for Mexico. “Institutional Histories” consists of three chapters. One addresses the National Academy of Environmental Sciences, which has grouped environmental scientists for more than two decades; another addresses the first postgraduate degree in environmental sciences in the country and the last one the first degree in engineering in agroecology in Mexico. “Society and Environmental Sciences” consists of four chapters, each of which highlights the place of society in the face of the environment and its challenges, which is why environmental sciences in Mexico have also tended to outsource and integrate the social dimension. The first is concentrated in Yucatán; another emphasizes emotions in territorial defense; the third focuses on the environmental management of territorial planning and the last chapter makes a history of environmental thought. The book does not pretend to be a finished history of environmental sciences for the country, since there are multiple topics that remain to be investigated. What is sought, in addition to adding light on the specific issues addressed, is to show those pending issues that historical research has with the environmental sciences.