Alexander von Humboldt and others sparked a centuries-long debate about natural history and geological destiny by discussing what today we call the environment. Some now believe the earth cannot safely accommodate its growing burdens; other say longer life spans and more people are signs of progress. Are humans destroying the earth or building a better world? Will the future bring despair and destruction, or hope and improvement?

The Science and Discovery Series recreates history's four-thousand-year journey of scientific progress. Science has often challenged and upset conventional wisdom. This is a story of vested interests and independent thinkers, experiments and theories, change and progress.