1.1 Dr Servettaz and his colleagues in Annecy made a significant contribution to the science of limnology through the successful management of a lake threatened with eutrophication.  When they began their work eutrophication was little more than one of many curiosities of limnological science which specialists explored.  By the time their work was done eutrophication was recognized as one of the major risks facing freshwater supplies throughout the world, the availability of which, in turn, is one of the greatest challenges to the health of mankind in the 21st century.  By saving the lake from pollution and returning it to its former state of purity, Lake Annecy has shown the way of successful lake management to the hundreds of lakes subsequently found to be threatened with eutrophication throughout  the world.

1.2 But what place does this achievement take in the broader history of the environmental movement?   In December 2015 the United Nations Climate Change Conference negotiated in a global agreement on the reduction of climate change, the text of which represented a consensus of the representatives of the 196 parties attending it.  On 22 April 2016 (Earth Day), 174 countries signed the agreement in New York^, and began adopting it within their own legal systems (through ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession).  This unprecedented level of international cooperation to safeguard the environment, marked the culmination of more than four centuries of deepening scientific understanding of Nature, and growing appreciation of the beauty of Nature. 

1.3 These two strands of public consciousness had developed deeply enough and spread widely enough that governments around the world felt compelled to at least be seen to be taking action.  But when did this process start?

1.4 Four hundred years before Dr Servettaz first noticed there was something wrong in Lake Annecy, the world was a very different place – or more precisely Nature was perceived very differently by people.  

1.5 A thousand years of Aristotelian and Platonic philosophy blended with Christian belief informed how people of the western world viewed Nature.  The earth was in a privileged position, the centre of the universe, standing still while the sun and all the heavens circled around it.  Nature was mysterious and moved according to ways beyond Man’s comprehension.  Mankind was above Nature, made in the image of God, separate from and above the animal world.   The Earth was no older than Mankind, their histories were more or less contemporaneous.  James Ussher (1581-1656), Archbishop of Armagh, a churchman and a scholar, managed to establish the first day of creation as Sunday 23 October 4004 BC.   Nature was created, and could only be destroyed, by God.  It was beyond the powers of Mankind to destroy the work of Almighty God, but God had demonstrated His power to destroy through flood, plagues and pestilence.   Life was mysterious.  Little was known even of how the human body functioned let alone any laws that governed growth and development in the Natural world.  The Lord God made them all. Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colours, He made their tiny wings." from a hymn first published in 1848. Earth is vast, Mankind is small.  Four hundred years ago discoveries in the Americas only reinforced the sense that the world was a vast place with much yet to be explored, particularly in relation to a world population less than 5% of today's. Nature is powerful, Mankind is weak.  Nature wielded the power of thunderstorms, earthquakes, and volcanoes, while man's most powerful weapons were canon with a range of a few hundred yards.  Mankind has dominion over the animals. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."  Genesis 1:26.  These assumptions fused together to form a coherent view of Mankind's relationship to Nature.

1.6 And overarching this view of nature, the prime concern of most people, after eking out a meagre existence from the cruel Earth and avoiding random violence and war, was in saving their eternal souls.   By comparison with this, the fate of this mutable and corrupted natural world was of pale significance.

1.7 In short, in those times, there was little reason and no desire even to consider how Mankind should modify its behaviour to protect the environment.  

1.8 Over time each of these beliefs would be challenged,  and eventually overturned,  leading to a very different view of Mankind’s relation to Nature, and with it his responsibilities to the environment. 

1.9 Many inspired and inspiring scientists and writers helped to bring about this transformation in public consciousness.  These were people whose intellectual curiosity, vision and insight helped them see what those around could not, and whose dedication, and powers of persuasion opened the eyes of generations to come. 

1.10 Dr Servettaz, shared many qualities with these historical figures.  He was a qualified surgeon and so had more of a scientific education than his fellow citizens.  He was highly observant of the world around him, not least the underwater world opened up for him by his favourite hobby of diving.   He was an auto-didact.  To help him understand what he saw when diving he taught himself the science of limnology (as best he could in the days before the internet), from what technical books and journals had survived the ravages of the war years in the local libraries.  He loved Lake Annecy, and its unique beauty.  It was this passion that drove him beyond mere study and understanding, to a compelling desire to take action to prevent the terrible threat he saw in store for the lake.  Gripped by his vision of what was happening and what needed to be done he was dogged and determined during an entire decade in his campaign to persuade people of his cause.

1.11 The famous scientists in this history are, with justification, well known.  These individuals have played a great role in developing our modern understanding of Nature.  They are the giants upon whose shoulders everyone now is able to stand to see further.

1.12 But the part played by Dr Servettaz and his colleagues at lake Annecy, and as we shall see later, an almost identical part played across the Atlantic in lake Washington by a Dr Edmonson and a Mr. James Ellis, is currently known to few outside their local geographical and scientific communities.

Continue Reading  Chapter Two