A Quest for Life: An Autobiography

by Ian L. McHarg

A Quest for Life is the autobiography of a man who stands alongside Rachel Carson, Lewis Mumford, and Aldo Leopold as one of the giants of the environmental movement. In a robust and singular voice, Ian McHarg recounts the story of a life that has foreshadowed and eventually shaped environmental consciousness in the twentieth century. Along the way we meet prominent figures in the environmental movement, the design fields, and the government, from Walter Gropius to Lady Bird Johnson, all presented in rich and telling anecdotes. Early in A Quest for Life McHarg presents us with an arresting image. Describing the view from his boyhood home on the outskirts of Glasgow, he tells us that in one direction he could see the industrial miasma of smokestacks, tenements, and treeless streets, and, in another, the glories of the Scottish countryside.

448 pages, Hardcover

First published April 13, 1996

About the author

was a Scottish landscape architect and a renowned writer on regional planning using natural systems. He was the founder of the department of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. His 1969 book Design with Nature pioneered the concept of ecological planning. It continues to be one of the most widely celebrated books on landscape architecture and land-use planning. In this book, he set forth the basic concepts that were to develop later in Geographic information systems.

Reviews

[Ry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over two decades ago while in college... and I will be reading it again soon.
it is absolutely amazing.
McHarg is a REAL character straight out of a Hemingway novel. What a full and wonderful life he had- and what gifts of vision he shared. Sad so few know who this man is/was and how he directly influenced so much when it comes to design, development and ecology.
READ IT!