J. R. McNeill facts for kids

John Robert McNeill (born October 6, 1954) is an American historian. He is a professor at Georgetown University. He is famous for his work in environmental history. This field studies how humans and nature have affected each other over time.

In 2000, he wrote a well-known book called Something New Under the Sun. This book explains how human actions in the 20th century changed the environment a lot. He says this happened mostly because of how we used energy, especially fossil fuels.

Life and Career Highlights

John Robert McNeill was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 6, 1954. His father, William H. McNeill, was also a famous historian. They even wrote a book together in 2003 called The Human Web: A Bird's-eye View of World History.

McNeill went to Swarthmore College and earned his first degree in 1975. Later, he studied at Duke University. There, he earned his master's degree in 1977 and his PhD in 1981.

Working at Georgetown University

In 1985, McNeill started teaching at Georgetown University. He works in both the History Department and the Walsh School of Foreign Service. He became a University Professor in 2006.

He has written 7 books and helped edit 17 others. He has received many important awards and fellowships. These include two Fulbright Awards and a MacArthur Grant.

Leadership Roles

McNeill has also held important leadership positions. He was the president of the American Society for Environmental History from 2011 to 2013. He also led the Research Division of the American Historical Association. In 2019, he served as the president of the American Historical Association.

Key Research and Books

McNeill's main area of study is environmental history. He is seen as a leader in this field. He looks at how people have changed the Earth's environment throughout history.

Something New Under the Sun

His most famous book is Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World. It was published in 2000. In this book, he explains that human activities in the 20th century caused huge environmental changes. He points out that before 1900, humans did change environments. But the scale of change in the 20th century was much bigger.

McNeill suggests that several things led to these big changes. These include using fossil fuels, a growing world population, new technologies, and international politics. People have praised his book for being fair and factual.

Mosquito Empires

In 2010, he published Mosquito Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1620–1914. This book explores how changes in nature affected wars and history. He argues that growing sugar plantations led to more mosquito-borne diseases. Diseases like yellow fever and malaria became more common.

McNeill explains that these diseases affected different groups of people in different ways. This helped shape the history of the Caribbean. For example, it helped Spain protect its colonies for a long time. It also played a role in why European powers lost their empires in the Americas. This book won several awards, including the Beveridge Prize.

The Great Acceleration and Other Works

In 2016, McNeill and Peter Engelke wrote The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene Since 1945. The "Great Acceleration" refers to a time after 1945. During this period, human impact on Earth's ecology greatly increased. The "Anthropocene" is a proposed new geological era. It suggests that humans are now the main force shaping the Earth's environment.

McNeill also wrote a world history textbook called The Webs of Humankind in 2020. He is currently working on a book about the environmental history of the Industrial Revolution.

Awards and Honors

• 2001: World History Association Book Prize, Something New Under The Sun
• 2001: Forest Society Book Prize, Something New Under The Sun
• 2010: Toynbee Prize, for "academic and public contributions to humanity"
• 2010: AHA Beveridge Award, Mosquito Empires
• 2010: Association of American Publishers PROSE award for European & World History, Mosquito Empires
• 2014: World History Association, Pioneer in World History Award
• 2017: Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2018: Dr A.H. Heineken Prize, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2019: American Society for Environmental History, Distinguished Scholar Award
• 2021: Elected to the Academia Europaea