EcologyEcology. What is the
difference between ecological and environmental you may ask....
The environment
of the child above....
Taken at skin level, the temperature is a comfortable 90 degrees F., the air
is at a 5:1 nitrogen to oxygen ratio with trace gases, humidity is 45%.
Taken 12 inches away from the subject, the environmental picture changes somewhat....Temperature
of less than -200 F, hard vacuum, no water content.
The Ecology of the child is one of maintaining a set of livable conditions
in such a harsh environment.....for a few hours in a suit, for a few weeks
in a dome....or perhaps for a few lifetimes in a ship.
The snapshot that is the environment when frozen in time has limited value
(a la Heisenberg...;-) but when taken in series and extrapolated....then it
becomes a valuable tool in understanding the ecology of the subject.