ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses and relates four classic books representing different disciplines which describe the animal and human ecosystem. Anthropologist Marvin Harris analyzes two small scale farming families: the Hindu family with cow and human members and the Maring family with pig and human members. Two themes which interplay consistently in the history of the animal human social ecosystem are adaptation and dominance. The human generally chooses optimal levels of stimulation, thus requiring adaptation. Adaptation is the process of creating and sustaining a comparatively constant mutual interchange between the system and the environment. The theme of dominance is prevalent in the history of the animal and human social ecosystem. Paul Taylor reports recent laboratory research which indicates that the British Thermal Unit (BTU) value of both East Texas dung and lignite is equal, 4,200 BTU a pound. The theoretical roots in Levinson's thesis lie in developmental psychology.