Human Ecology: The Subversive, Conservative Science

Paul Sears identified ecology as a subversive science; WilliamOphuls, referring primarily to its human applications, calledit a conservative science. Both characterizations are correct.Human ecologists aim to conserve natural resources, therebymaking it possible for our posterity to enjoy a quality of lifeat least equal to ours. Frequently this kind of conservatismis at odds with the conservation of traditional religious beliefs,political practices, and social privileges: hence the aptnessof the adjective "subversive." The essence of human ecologyis found in a few propositions of the sort that mathematicianE. T. Whittaker called "postulates of impotence." These leadto simplebut profound generalizations, of which a dozen areoffered here.