Challenging the prevailing notions that hunter-gatherers were nothing but benign influences on the environment, American anthropologist Stewart completed The Effects of Burning of Grasslands and Forests by Aborigines the World Over in 1954. It was not published. Lewis (anthropology, U. of Alberta-Edmonton) and Anderson (ethno-ecologists, Natural Resources Conservation Service of the US Department of Agriculture) present only his material on North America, because his research into the rest of the world was considerably more limited and has been superseded by subsequent studies. Their purpose in presenting the work now is to illuminate how Stewart anticipated later perspectives, but also to document the state of the profession at the time, with all its gender and racial biases. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)