ABSTRACT
Alfred W. Crosby, the author of The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 is an American environmental historian and professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin. Crosby quickly became a critic of the mainstream conventional historical scholarship of his time. His work grew out of the political and intellectual developments of the period; activism based on environmental concerns had been gathering steam since the American biologist Rachel Carson's influential book Silent Spring, which explored the ecological implications of pesticide use. Earlier historians argued that in the period following Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage from Europe to the Americas history was principally driven by social and political factors. In The Columbian Exchange, however, Crosby insists that biological factors were of particular significance to the changes that occurred. The Columbian Exchange remains unparalleled as an example of how historical inquiry can be conducted by drawing on the sciences.
