Nested Ecology

[Wimberley's] wise, readable, and convincing book awakens us to spheres of concern that even the most sensitive ecological treatises have often ignored or underemphasized. He has in mind a much more integral and nuanced ecological vision than is customary. Readers of many backgrounds and interests will find herein a carefully coordinated range of reflections on the multiple nesting and nested levels that make up the universe. Wimberley's sophisticated study of the plurality of ecological strata challenges us to develop a wider ecological awareness than even some of the most celebrated ecological visionaries have provided. -- John F. Haught, Georgetown University, from the Foreword

" In doing so, Wimberley defines a new environmental philosophy and a new ecological ethic.Nested Ecology provides a pragmatic and functional approach to realizing a sustainable environmental ethic. Edward T. Wimberley asserts that a practical ecological ethic must focus on human decision making within the context of larger social and environmental systems. Think of a set of mixing bowls, in which smaller bowls sit within larger ones. Wimberley sees the world in much the same way, with personal ecologies embedded in social ecologies that in turn are nested within natural ecologies. Wimberley urges a complete reconceptualization of the human place in the ecological hierarchy. Going beyond the physical realms in which people live and interact, he extends the concept of ecology to spirituality and the "ecology of the unknown." In doing so, Wimberley defines a new environmental philosophy and a new ecological ethic.