Alfred W. Crosby is professor of American studies at the University of Texas, Austin. He was educated at Harvard and Boston universities. Professor Crosby specializes in environmental and ecological history and in historical epidemiology. Among his many publications are the books America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 (1989); Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900- 1900 (1986); and The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (1972).

• Foreword by Kevin Reilly vii Introduction: Nerds versus Twits 1 The Columbian Voyages, the Columbian Exchange, and Their Historians. 2 Ecological Imperialism: The Overseas Migration of Western Europeans as a Biological Phenomenon 3 The Biological Metamorphosis of the Americas 4 The British Empire as a Product of Continental Drift 5 Infectious Disease and the Demography of the Atlantic Peoples 6 Virgin Soil Epidemics as a Factor in the Aboriginal Depopulation of America 7 "God ... Would Destroy Them, and Give Their Country to Another People ... " 8 Hawaiian Depopulation as a Model for the Amerindian Experience 9 The Demographic Effect of American Crops in Europe 10 Demography, Maize, Land, and the American Character 11 Reassessing 1418, 12 Life (with All Its Problems) in Space