What are the motifs in The Machine in the Garden; Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America by Leo Marx?

Man and nature is a recurring idea in the book. According to Marx, man's traditional relationship with nature was cooperative in a rather purified and primitive manner. Man was able to use the resources of nature to satisfy his basic needs of food, clothing and shelter, without altering nature in any way. Life was simple, and man freely moved about nature, which in turn continued to replenish itself. Even as man learned to farm, the cooperative aspect was not altered significantly. Certainly, tracts of land were cleared and crops planted, but surrounding the farms, "nature" continued to flourish.