In recent years, an effort has been undertaken to make every citizen numerate, that is, able to use mathematics at a level that is minimally functional in modern society. David Orr, and writers and thinkers of kindred mind, believe that for citizens to be minimally functional in the complex, interdependent world of the twenty-first century, they must go beyond literacy in language and beyond numeracy and attain also a certain level of ecological literacy.

Orr is best known for his 1992 book titled Ecological Literacy and for his brief editorial essays in the journal Conservation Biology, written from his position as education editor for that journal. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, and raised in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, he holds degrees from Westminster College (BA), Michigan State University (MA), and the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. in International...