Environment

The protection of nature and the species necessary for man was a concern of Neolithic societies; however, the phrase “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children ”, which has been attributed to Saint-Exupéry1, seems to be a Lakota2 phrase, which would show that ecological concern may have preceded the Neolithic revolution. At the end of the 19th century, environmental science had barely been born, it does not yet have a name. However, it benefits from the enormous capacities developed in other fields to progress very quickly; it is therefore nourished by the development of the exact sciences in general in order to progress, which makes its progress difficult to perceive; polar ice coring is typically a near fundamental research axis, which has provided practical results of both high and unexpected importance. Ecology has been the source of many scientific and political notions, discoveries, and vocations.