AP Environmental Science

A CDS Library Reading List

Choose a book from the list below (or another approved by Ms. Nelson).  

Descriptions, contents, and reviews are included to help you make your decision.  

Look up your selection in the library's catalogue, get the call number, retrieve the book from the shelf, and check it out.

After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000-5000 BC - Mithen, Stephen J.

20,000 BC, the peak of the last ice age -- the atmosphere is heavy with dust; deserts and glaciers span vast regions; and people, if they survive at all, exist in small, mobile groups, facing the threat of extinction. But these people live on the brink of seismic change -- 10,000 years of climate shifts culminating in abrupt global warming that will usher in a fundamentally changed human world. After the Ice is the story of this momentous period -- one in which a seemingly minor alteration in temperature could presage anything from the spread of lush woodland to the coming of apocalyptic floods -- and one in which we find the origins of civilization itself. - from the publisher

The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America 's Politics and Culture - Lindsey, Brink

Booklist Starred Review: Freed of the struggle to meet basic needs, Americans have been privileged to focus on their wants. With breathtaking analysis, Lindsey offers a dizzying look back over American economics, politics, and culture to examine the complexities of abundance. Improvements to everyday life, from electricity to clothing, have led to preoccupations with self-realization, equal rights, and relentless struggles between the political Left and Right. Drawing on observations from Karl Marx, Abraham Maslow, and Herbert Marcuse, among others, Lindsey traces the transformation of American culture as prosperity has shaken tried-and-true social conventions and the organizing principles that centered on the allocation of scarce resources. Prosperity has brought with it a sense that anything is possible. Lindsey pinpoints the current tensions between the political Left and Right to a 1967 San Francisco love-in and the opening of Oral Roberts University , both "eruptions of millenarian enthusiasm." Despite the tumult, Lindsey sees common ground as more Americans adopt a libertarian view, affirming core values while making allowances for different lifestyles. Readers from a broad spectrum of beliefs will appreciate the breadth and ardor of Lindsey's analysis, if not his conclusions. – Booklist

Alas, Babylon : a novel - Frank, Pat

The classic apocalyptic novel that stunned the nation with its vivid portrayal of a small town's survival after nuclear holocaust devastates the country. - from the publisher

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life - Kingsolver, Barbara

Booklist 2008 Notable Book: Living the American consumerist's good life in Arizona 's desert makes abundantly obvious how everyday existence depends on nearly limitless consumption of fossil fuel. It's not just the ubiquitous automobile guzzling gas. Even more gas is consumed by trucks that must deliver most foodstuffs, since so very little of what Arizonans eat grows locally. Those plants that manage to thrive in the desert fields require irrigation through massive diversion of rivers. Despite their genuine love of life in the Southwest, the Kingsolver family moved back to reconnect with ancestral roots in Appalachia , to a farm that has been in the author's family for years. There they have at least some chance of re-creating a profounder and more intimate relationship with the foods they put on the table. Kingsolver's passionate new tome records in detail a year lived in sync with the season's ebb and flow. Starting with spring's first asparagus, summer's chickens, and the fall's surfeit of vegetables, Kingsolver's family consumes what they and their farming neighbors produce. Writing with her usual sharp eye for irony, she urges readers to follow her example and reconnect with their food's source. Her biologist husband Steven offers pithy sidebars about the politics of sustainable agriculture, as well as advice on how to make a change at home. Eldest daughter Camille supplies simple, nutritious recipes. Their combined efforts resulted in nearly universal praise from the critics. – Booklist and Bookmarks

Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America, and How We Can Take It Back - Kay, Jane Holtz

Commuters, here's some food for thought: collectively, Americans spend more than 8 billion hours each year stuck in traffic. This is just one of the horrifying statistics mentioned in Jane Holtz Kay's Asphalt Nation , an eye-opening look at the relationship between Americans and their cars. Kay asserts that the automobile is destroying our communities, our environment, and our economic competitiveness, and her supporting arguments are pretty persuasive. In addition to the billions of hours wasted in gridlock, Kay notes that our daily drives are becoming longer and more frequent, and that increased mileage has nullified any advances in emission controls. Asphalt Nation is comprised of three parts: the first, "Car Glut: A Nation in Lifelock," examines the impact of the automobile culture on life in the United States today. "Car Tracks: The Machine That Made the Land" traces the history of cars from Henry Ford to the present, while "Car Free: From Dead End to Exit" imagines a happier future without automobile dependency. What makes Asphalt Nation far more interesting than the typical anti-auto diatribe is Kay's discussion of the cultural mores that helped create America 's current car glut--namely, our attitudes toward land use and growth management; her comparisons between American and European practices in these areas are particularly interesting. Others have written about the American love affair with the automobile, but Holtz revisits the discussion with lively writing and a dramatic narrative. - Amazon.com

Big Cotton: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map - Yafa, Stephen

Yafa lyrically tells a tale of slimy merchants, corrupt politicians and downtrodden farmers and workers upon whose backs huge fortunes were made. Coming from a Europe starved for cotton fabrics, Christopher Columbus exploited the American natives' mastery of the plant. The Puritans of New England entered into the slave trade to finance their insatiable need for cotton cloth. And in the American South an entire civilization was based on "King Cotton": a flourishing slaveholding civilization featuring ostentatious plantation houses stuffed with the goods of conspicuous consumption. The cruelty and reward, Yafa shows, continue to this day. Cotton farmers in Mali are impoverished due in large part to U.S. government subsidies to corporate agribusiness. But despite much fascinating information, the book disappoints. Yafa has jammed his narrative with too many wild characters, outrageous stories and goofy personal asides. Some may tire quickly of the details of warp and weft and the workings of the spinning jenny. Yet for all the flaws of the single-lensed view of history, Yafa tells a tale that covers a wide, dramatic swath. - Publisher's Weekly

The Big One: The Earthquake that Rocked Early America and Helped Create a Science - Page, Jake

In the Early 1800s a series of gargantuan earth tremors seized the American frontier. Tremendous roars and flashes of eerie light accompanied huge spouts of water and gas. Six-foot-high waterfalls appeared in the Mississippi River , thousands of trees exploded, and some 1,500 people -- in what was then a sparsely populated wilderness -- were killed. A region the size of Texas , centered in Missouri and Arkansas , was rent apart, and the tremors reached as far as Montreal . Forget the 1906 earthquake -- this set of quakes constituted the Big One. The United States would face certain catastrophe if such quakes occurred again. Could they? The answer lies in seismology, a science that is still coming to grips with the Big One. Jake Page and Charles Officer rely on compelling historical accounts and the latest scientific findings to tell a fascinating, long-forgotten story in which the naturalist John James Audubon, the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, scientists, and charlatans all play roles. Whether describing devastating earthquakes or a dire year in a young nation, The Big One offers astounding breadth and drama. - from the publisher.

Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet - Off, Carol

A shocking exposé of the little-known corruption and exploitation found at the heart of the multibillion-dollar cocoa industry—blood diamond for chocolate. Bitter Chocolate traces the fascinating origins and evolution of chocolate from the banquet table of Montezuma's Aztec court in the early sixteenth century to the bustling factories of Hershey, Cadbury, and Mars today, revealing that slavery and injustice have always been key ingredients. The heart of the book takes place in West Africa inside the Ivory Coast—the world's leading producer of cocoa beans—where, as Off discovers, profits from the multibillion-dollar chocolate industry fuel bloody civil war and widespread corruption. Faced with pressure from a crushing "cocoa cartel" demanding more beans for less money, poor farmers have turned to the cheapest labor pool possible: thousands of indentured children who pick the beans but have never themselves known the taste of chocolate. Bitter Chocolate is an absorbing social history, a passionate investigative account, and a shocking exposé of an industry that has institutionalized misery as it indulges our whims. – from the publisher

 

Contents: Death by chocolate -- Liquid gold -- Cocoa on trial -- The geopolitics of a hershey's kiss -- No sweetness here -- The disposables -- Dirty chocolate -- Chocolate soldiers -- Class action cocoa -- The man who knew too much -- Stolen fruit -- Bittersweet victory – Epilogue: In All Fairness – Source notes – Index.

Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World - Hawken , Paul

Booklist Starred Review. The profusion of good causes and the nonprofit groups that advance them can seem laughably overwhelming, but without altruistic grass-roots efforts, the world would be a far less merciful place. Environmentalist Hawken believes that we are in the midst of a world-changing rise of activist groups, all "working toward ecological sustainability and social justice." Rather than an ideological or centralized movement, this coalescence is a spontaneous and organic response to the recognition that environmental problems are social-justice problems. Writing with zest, clarity, and a touch of wonder, Hawken compares this gathering of forces to the human immune system. Just as antibodies rally when the body is under threat, people are joining together to defend life on Earth. Hawken offers a fascinating history of our perception of nature and human rights and assesses the role indigenous cultures are playing in the quest for ecological responsibility and economic fairness. Hawken also presents an unprecedented map to this new "social landscape" that includes a classification system defining astonishingly diverse concerns, ranging from farming to child welfare, ocean preservation, and beyond. Fresh and informative, Hawken's inspired overview charts much that is right in the world. – Booklist

 

Contents: The beginning -- Blessed unrest -- The long green -- The rights of business -- Emerson's savants -- Indigene -- We interrupt this empire -- Immunity -- Restoration.

Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water - Barlow, Maude

Canadian antiglobalization activist Barlow ( Blue Gold ) calls for a blue covenant among nations to define the world's fresh water as a human right and a public trust rather than a commercial product. Barlow marshals facts and figures with admirable (if often dry) comprehensiveness, noting that as many as 36 U.S. states could reach a water crisis in five years; that once vast freshwater resources like Lake Chad and the Aral Sea are becoming briny puddles; and a handful of multinational water companies, abetted by World Bank monetary policies and United Nations political timidity, are bidding for the complete commodification of formerly public water resources. Her passionate plea for access-to-water activism is buttressed with some breakthroughs; Uruguay has enshrined public water rights in its constitution (the only nation to do so), and water warriors are fighting back in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, where activists have forced private water companies to cede control of municipal water systems. There's a noble tilting-at-windmills quality to the author's call for private citizens and nongovernmental organizations to challenge corporate control of water delivery, agitate for equitable access to clean water and confront the reality that freshwater supplies are dwindling. – Publishers Weekly

 

Contents: Where has all the water gone? -- Setting the stage for corporate control of water -- The water hunters move in -- The water warriors fight back -- The future of water.

The Blue Planet: A Natural History Of The Oceans - Byatt, Andrew

Beautiful photographs and a text that attempts to be the "first complete and comprehensive portrait of the whole ocean system." Table of Contents : 1. The water planet -- 2. Life on the edge -- 3. Tropical seas -- 4. Temperate seas -- 5. Frozen seas -- 6. The open ocean -- 7. The deep.

Cape Wind : Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future - Williams, Wendy

Booklist Starred Review: Cape Cod is a place of celebrated beauty and blueblood history. For such powerful and wealthy families as the Kennedys and Mellons, the cape's beaches are a treasured sanctuary. But because Massachusetts ' population has grown, the state's aging power grid is under enormous pressure. Enter Jim Gordon, an energy entrepreneur who believed he had the perfect solution: an offshore wind farm. His 2001 Cape Wind proposal shocked and enraged Cape Cod 's elite, and so began an epic battle that pits privilege against the common good in a stunning exposure of NIMBY (not in my backyard) hypocrisy. Journalists Williams, who lives on Cape Cod , and Whitcomb, who has family ties to the area, do a bang-up job of chronicling Gordon's tenacity in the face of the brazen machinations of various politicians, especially Senator Edward Kennedy and then governor and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. This true-life tale of a blinding love of place, outrageously irresponsible propaganda, shameful congressional maneuvering, and egregious social injustice is half farce, half political thriller, and altogether compelling. As the fight rages on, Cape Wind serves as a harbinger of future conflicts as we reluctantly consider alternatives to oil. – Booklist

 

Contents: Jim Gordon's big idea -- The power elite and their entourage -- The electrical priesthood -- Birds, fish, and whales -- A pride of pastels -- The passion of Matt Patrick -- Wianno Seniors, and those who sail them -- The fourth estate -- The Buzzards Bay oil spill -- The senator from Virginia -- A cold snap -- The pleasure of the governor -- More "public" meetings -- Capitol enemies, capital friends -- The tide turns.

Catching the Light: The Entwined History of Light and Mind - Zajonc, Arthur

Zajonc is an academic physicist who specializes in quantum physics, but his approach to the subject of light is somewhat unconventional from the perspective of many of his colleagues. He provides a capsule history of humans' changing understanding of the nature of light; scientific developments are interspersed with the comments of numerous philosophers, literary figures, and miscellaneous other non-scientists. In summary, he appears to argue that modern science has failed to supply us with a complete understanding of light and that we would be better off with an amalgam that incorporates spiritual and philosophical aspects as well as scientific models. His views are in part unorthodox but deserve a hearing. – Library Journal

Chasing the Molecule: Discovering the Building Blocks of Life - Buckingham, John

This is an absolute gem. It traces the development of organic chemistry up to the time of establishing the correct number of atoms in a molecule, which atoms are connected to which and their geometrical arrangement in space; i.e. what we might now call the ball and stick model of molecules. The book is written for the lay-person, with simple expla­nations of the modern basic ideas of chemical structure in­troduced in appropriate places. This means the reader can appreciate the thoughts and problems facing chemists of the 1700's and mainly 1800's as they struggled to make sense of theirs and others experimental observations and results. As well as following the developments of the ideas, the author gives us wonderful insights to personalities, prob­lems, circumstances and rivalries of the main players in the saga, and attempts to proportion the proper recognition of the contribution various individuals deserve. The obstacles and difficulties that held up more rapid de­velopment are discussed in an entertaining way; the confu­sion of the atomic weights of the elements, the rise and fall of the vitalism, the conservatism of senior players and their reluctance to accept new theories, nationalistic pride, the vendetta of Kolbe against Kekule. In the last chapter the author describes the organic chem­istry of today, with its emphasis on natural products and synthesis, and its relationship with the pharmaceutical in­dustry. – Review from Chemistry in New Zealand

Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Dark - Rosenblum, Mort

No one particular food substance seems to evoke as much passion as chocolate, that ingredient discovered about the same time as America . Yet, as Rosenblum reveals, every country or continent has a claim to theobroma cacao . He unveils chocolate's history and its various incarnations, including in his fresh and insightful discussions the origins of mole; the differences between, say, Hershey's kisses and Valrhona's products; the invention of Nutella; and the small boutique chocolate artisans found nearly everywhere. Such intriguing characters as the CEO of Godiva, the entrepreneurs behind Scharffenberger, and Chloe, the one-and-only chocolate taster at Fortnum & Mason, are introduced. Some less-happy tales are also brought to light, including the reputed forced child slavery in Ivory Coast cacao plantations. Sprinkled throughout are amazing statistics: chocolate is a $60 billion industry; 12 percent of Nestle's annual sales are attributed to chocolate; a dozen beneficial biogenic amines are found in it. In the end, Rosenblum admits (though he voices distinct preferences) that it is up to each individual to answer the two chocolate questions: What do you like? What else have you tried? A compelling and tasty read. – Booklist

Choice and Coercion: Birth Control, Sterilization, and Abortion in Public Health and Welfare - Schoen, Johanna

In August 2003, North Carolina became the first U.S. state to offer restitution to victims of state-ordered sterilizations carried out by its eugenics program between 1929 and 1975. The decision was prompted by newspaper stories based on the research of Johanna Schoen, who was granted unique access to summaries of 7,500 case histories and the papers of the North Carolina Eugenics Board. In this book, Schoen situates the state's reproductive politics in a national and global context. Widening her focus to include birth control, sterilization, and abortion policies across the nation, she demonstrates how each method for limiting unwanted pregnancies had the potential both to expand and to limit women's reproductive choices. Such programs overwhelmingly targeted poor and nonwhite populations, yet they also extended a measure of reproductive control to poor women that was previously out of reach. Drawing on the voices of health and science professionals, civic benefactors, and the women themselves, Schoen's study allows deeper understandings of the modern welfare state and the lives of American women. - from the publisher

Contents: A Great Thing for Poor Folks -- Teaching Birth Control on Tobacco Road and in Mill Village Alley: The History of Public Birth Control Services --Nothing Is Removed Except the Possibility of Parenthood: Women and the Politics of Sterilization -- I Knew That It Was a Serious Crime: Negotiating Abortion before Roe v. Wade -- Taking Foam Powder and Jellies to the Natives: Family Planning Goes Abroad -- Epilogue. From the Footnotes to the Headlines: Sterilization Apologies and Their Lessons -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Clay: The History and Evolution of Humankind's Relationship with Earth's Most Primal Element - Staubach, Suzanne

Staubach, a potter and freelance writer, successfully communicates the passion she feels for her material (both literal and literary) in this extensively researched overview of clay. What is this ubiquitous stuff? It began as granite, which over millions of years was ground down by rain, sleet, snow and chemical forces into what we now know as clay. The first known clay objects were small religious figures, followed by pottery vessels, in Neolithic times. The oldest such pottery known was produced by the Joman peoples of Japan . In addition to an informed discussion of clay ovens used by various cultures over time, the author compares these cultures' designs as pottery grew to be an art form. Ancient Greeks, for example, created a unique appearance by controlling the atmosphere of their kilns. Clay, Staubach says, has served many purposes: clay tablets were used for the earliest writing; it also became the key ingredient for building houses and, in modern times, sewer pipes and flush toilets. Some sections of this account will be of most interest to potters, pottery aficionados or those with an interest in earth science, but Staubach leavens her facts with captivating anecdotes throughout. – Publishers Weekly

Coal: A Human History - Freese, Barbara

Deleterious to health and beneficial to wealth, coal contains a tension that makes its story a compelling one. Freese is a former attorney general of Minnesota , who became interested in the flammable rock's history during her tenure. After a routine description of coal's geological formation, Freese invigorates her narrative with its combustion in England . Even in the 1500s, its noxiousness provoked denunciation, but with Britannia's forests all but consumed, it became everybody's heat source. Freese is quite succinct in describing coal's critical role in sparking the Industrial Revolution, whose side effects included a troglodytic existence for miners and suffocating fogs for Manchester and London . The author then covers America 's seduction by coal, and presently China 's, culminating with her advocating reduction of coal's primary pollutants, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide, and its ultimate banishment as an energy source. Freese's combination of labor and technological history is fluid and evenhanded. - Booklist

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World - Kurlansky, Mark

A New York Times bestseller: In this engaging history of a "1000-year fishing spree," Kurlansky traces the relationship of cod fishery to such historical eras and events as medieval Christianity and Christian observances; international conflicts between England and Germany over Icelandic cod; slavery, the molasses trade, and the dismantling of the British Empire; and, the evolution of a sophisticated fishing industry in New England. Kurlansky relates this information in an entertaining style while providing accurate scientific information. The story does not have a happy ending, however. The cod fishery is in trouble, deep trouble, as the Atlantic fish has been fished almost to extinction. - Library Journal

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed - Diamond, Jared

In his Pulitzer Prize-winning, million-copy bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel (Call number: 303.4 DIA), Jared Diamond examined how and why Western civilizations developed the technologies and immunities that allowed them to dominate much of the world. Now in this brilliant companion volume, Diamond probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Diamond weaves an all-encompassing global thesis through a series of fascinating historical-cultural narratives. Moving from the Polynesian cultures on Easter Island to the flourishing American civilizations of the Anasazi and the Maya and finally to the doomed Viking colony on Greenland , Diamond traces the fundamental pattern of catastrophe. Environmental damage, climate change, rapid population growth, and unwise political choices were all factors in the demise of these societies, but other societies found solutions and persisted. Similar problems face us today and have already brought disaster to Rwanda and Haiti , even as China and Australia are trying to cope in innovative ways. Despite our own society's apparently inexhaustible wealth and unrivaled political power, ominous warning signs have begun to emerge even in ecologically robust areas like Montana . Brilliant, illuminating, and immensely absorbing, Collapse is destined to take its place as one of the essential books of our time, raising the urgent question: How can our world best avoid committing ecological suicide? - from the publisher

Columbia Guide to American Environmental History - Merchant, Carolyn

Has 10 chapters on historical topics and themes; a 60-page dictionary of environmental agencies, concepts, laws, and people important in American environmental history; an environmental history time line; and a lengthy "Resource Guide." The 10 overview essays are good introductions to general topics. For example, chapter 7, "Conservation and Preservation, 1785-1950," discusses changing land policies and laws, social and scientific movements, and park creation--wide-ranging topics succinctly described and interrelated. "Urban Environments, 1850-1960" (chapter 6) is a reminder that the human environment is often far removed from the natural environment, though its impact is considerable. The chapters have bibliographies of the main sources consulted, useful to those whose interest has been piqued. The table of contents lists both chapter titles and the subheadings for the topics mentioned in each. The "Resource Guide" offers lists of visual (films and videos) and electronic resources arranged by topic as well as a bibliographic essay and a bibliography of articles and books in 21 categories. – Booklist

 

Introduction -- PART I. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW: TOPICS AND THEMES -- The American Environment and Native-European Encounters, 1000-1875 -- The Physical Environment and Natural Resources -- Native Americans and the Land -- Pueblo Indians and the Southwest -- The Pueblo Indians and Spanish Settlement of the Southwest -- Micmac Indians and French Settlement in the Northeast -- Plains Indians and the Westward Movement -- The European Transformation of the Plains -- The Ecological Indian -- Conclusion -- The New England Wilderness Transformed, 1600-1850 -- The New England Forest and Indian Land Use -- The Settlement of New England -- Colonial Land Use -- Marketing the Forest -- The Forest Economy -- Mind, Labor, and Nature -- The Idea of Wilderness -- Conclusion -- The Tobacco and Cotton South, 1600-1900 -- The Chesapeake Environment and Indian-European Relations -- Tobacco Cultivation -- Slavery and Southern Agriculture -- Soil Exhaustion in the Tobacco South -- The Cotton South -- 49 Environment and Society in the Cotton South -- Cotton Production -- Post-Civil War Sharecropping -- The Impact of the Boll Weevil -- Conclusion -- Nature and the Market Economy, 1750-1850 -- The Inland Economy and the Environment -- Land Use in the Inland Economy -- The Inland Economy and the Worldview of Its People -- Market Farming -- The Transportation and Market Revolutions -- Nature and Ambivalence about the Market Economy -- The Hudson River School of Painters -- Artists and the Vanishing Indian -- Conclusion --77 Western Frontiers: The Settlement of California and the Great Plains, 1820-1930 -- Westward Expansion and the Settlement of California -- California Native Peoples and the Advent of Europeans -- The Multicultural Character of the Gold Rush -- Types of Gold Mining -- Environmental Effects of Hydraulic Mining -- Environmental Change in the Sierras -- European Settlement of the Great Plains -- The Rancher's Frontier -- The Farmer's Frontier -- Narratives of Blacks and Women -- The Dust Bowl of the 1930s -- Conclusion -- Urban Environments, 1850-1960 -- Urbanization, Industry, and Energy -- Industrial Cities and Labor -- The City as Wilderness -- Air Pollution -- Garbage -- Noise Pollution -- Water Pollution -- The Sanitary City -- From City to Suburb -- Minorities and Pollution -- Conclusion -- Conservation and Preservation, 1785-1950 -- Colonial Land Policy -- Federal Land Policy -- Land Law in the Arid West -- Lands for Railroads and Education -- The Conservation Movement -- Reclamation and Water Law -- The Preservation Movement -- Creation of the National Parks -- Conclusion -- Indian Land Policy, 1800-1990 -- Indian Land Treaties -- Indian Removal -- The Dawes Act -- Indians and the Creation of the National Parks -- The Winters Decision -- 151 The Indian New Deal and Civil Rights -- Indian Lands and Environmental Regulation -- Conclusion -- The Rise of Ecology, 1890-1990-- Ernst Haeckel and the Origins of Ecology -- Human Ecology -- The Organismic Approach to Ecology -- The Economic Approach to Ecology -- The Influence of Chaos Theory -- Conclusion -- The Era of Environmentalism, 1940-2000 -- From Conservation to Environmentalism -- New Deal Conservation -- Population and the Environment -- Environmental Regulation -- Reactions to Environmental Regulation -- Environmental Organizations -- The Antitoxics Movement -- The Transformation of Consciousness -- Conclusion -- PART II. AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY A TO Z: AGENCIES, CONCEPTS, LAWS, AND PEOPLE -- PART III. CHRONOLOGY: AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY --Timeline -- PART IV. RESOURCE GUIDE -- Visual Resources -- ELECTRONIC RESOURCES -- General Environmental History Resources -- Environmental History Societies and Related Associations -- Archival Materials -- Bibliographies -- Biographical Resources -- Environmental Organizations and Information Centers -- Environmental Philosophy and Ethics -- Government Agencies -- Natural History -- Natural Resources -- Regional Resources -- Environmental justice Resources -- Teaching Resources -- Course Syllabi in American Environmental History -- General Environmental Education -- Historical Overview Web Sites -- BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- What Is Environmental History? -- Anthologies and Bibliographies -- Biographies and Autobiographical Writings -- African Americans and the Environment -- American Indian Land Use -- American Indian Religion -- Asian Americans and the Environment -- Environmental Philosophy and Landscape Perception -- The Environmental Movement -- The History of Ecology -- The History of Environmental Science -- Conservation History and Legislation -- Agricultural History -- Forest History -- Mining History -- Pollution -- Range History -- Water and Irrigation History -- Wilderness Preservation -- Wildlife -- The Urban Environment -- Index.

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming - Lomborg, Bjorn

A groundbreaking book that transforms the debate about global warming by offering a fresh perspective based on human needs as well as environmental concerns. Bjorn Lomborg argues that many of the elaborate and expensive actions now being considered to stop global warming will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, are often based on emotional rather than strictly scientific assumptions, and may very well have little impact on the world's temperature for hundreds of years. Rather than starting with the most radical procedures, Lomborg argues that we should first focus our resources on more immediate concerns, such as fighting malaria and HIV/AIDS and assuring and maintaining a safe, fresh water supply—which can be addressed at a fraction of the cost and save millions of lives within our lifetime. He asks why the debate over climate change has stifled rational dialogue and killed meaningful dissent. Lomborg presents us with a second generation of thinking on global warming that believes panic is neither warranted nor a constructive place from which to deal with any of humanity's problems, not just global warming. Cool It promises to be one of the most talked about and influential books of our time. – from the publisher

Contents: Polar bears : today's canaries in the coal mine? -- It's getting hotter : the short story -- Global warming: our many worries -- The politics of global warming -- Conclusion: making our top priorities cool.

The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance - Garrett, Laurie

Medical journalist Garrett presents a history of epidemiology in a format that is educational, moving, and terrifying. She skillfully illustrates the role of ecology, politics, and economics in worldwide healthcare and uses numerous examples to emphasize the need for a global perspective in the management of disease. Yellow fever, malaria, ebola, lassa fever, AIDS, legionnaires' disease, toxic shock syndrome-she discusses in depth the search for the causes of these and many other diseases. The tranquil days following the discovery of antibiotics are gone as drug-resistant strains of disease-causing organisms continue to reappear. The message is clear: we must drop our complacency and learn from past epidemics or face the consequences. An extremely readable style and exhaustive notes make this fascinating reading for general readers and scholars alike. Highly recommended. - Library Journal

The Coming Storm: Extreme Weather and our Terrifying Future - Reiss, Bob

If you think the world's weather catastrophes are becoming more frequent and more powerful, you're right. Ten of the last eleven years have been the hottest on record, filled with dozens of record-breaking hurricanes, floods, and droughts. Is this a coincidence, or is our civilization wreaking havoc on global weather? Journalist Bob Reiss shares America 's growing fascination -- and concern -- with the phenomenon of extreme weather, a series of interlocking human stories that together create an ominous forecast for the twenty-first century. The Coming Storm presents a frightening, enlightening, and fascinating portrait of an ecosystem off track.--from the book jacket

Coyote: Seeking the Hunter in Our Midst - Reid, Catherine

An appreciative piece of literary natural history chronicling the emergence of an eastern coyote population. Poet/naturalist Reid returned to her childhood homelands in the Berkshires and was captivated by another new arrival: the coyote, which had slipped into southern New England from Canada in the 1950s. "The habitat is ideal-because of the way we use it-for an animal to exploit a patchwork shaped by our dependence on electricity and cars," Reid writes. Without ever appearing to lecture, she conveys much of the information naturalists have gathered on the eastern coyote, a larger version of the western variety that shares some DNA with the wolves of Ontario , which gives rise to discussions of hybridization and mutualism. She outlines the coyote's place in our cultural landscape. The fear it engenders has roots in coyote attacks on young children, but deer hunters also loathe the coyote because it kills fawns; on the other hand, Reid tells of orchard owners who would be grateful for a thinned deer population. It's all about achieving balance, which is something a parallel story line shows the author seeking in her own Berkshire experience, the pleasure and trials of returning to a place she previously fled. Casts a fresh eye on the new canid in the neighborhood. - Kirkus

The Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 - Winchester , Simon

Starred review: In this brawny page-turner, bestselling writer Winchester ( Krakatoa , The Professor and the Madman ) has crafted a magnificent testament to the power of planet Earth and the efforts of humankind to understand her. A master storyteller and Oxford trained geologist, Winchester effortlessly weaves together countless threads of interest, making a powerfully compelling narrative out of what he calls "the most lyrical and romantic of the sciences. "Using the theory of plate tectonics introduced in 1968 by an obscure geologist, J. Tuzo Wilson, Winchester describes a planet in flux. Across the surface of the earth, huge land masses known as plates push and pull at each other. At 5:12 a.m. in 1906, the North American and Pacific plates did precisely that. Along a 300-mile fault east of the Gold Rush city of San Francisco , the earth, in Winchester 's word, "shrugged." While the initial shock devastated large parts of the city, it was the firestorm that raged in the days following that nearly wiped San Francisco off the map. The repercussions of the disaster radiated out from the epicenter for years to come. Locally, Winchester finds in the records at City Hall that the destruction led to a huge rise in Chinese immigration. Winchester also cites the tragedy in the rise of the nascent Pentecostal movement, whose ranks swelled in the months and years after in the belief that the catastrophe had been a sign from God. With fabulous style, wit and grace, Winchester casts doubt on the very notion of solid ground and invites the reader to ponder the planet they live on, from both inside and out. Publisher's Weekly

Deadly Feasts: Tracking the Secrets of a Terrifying New Plague - Rhodes, Richard

"Cannibals dying in New Guinea , sheep dying in Europe , and a woman with a strange disease contracted after a cornea transplant. Medical detectives pulled the facts together to discover a frightening new type of disease." (VOYA/October 1998)

The Demon in the Freezer - Preston , Richard

Never mind Ebola, the hemorrhagic disease that was the main subject of Preston 's 1994 #1 bestseller, The Hot Zone . What we really should be worrying about, explains Preston in this terrifying, cautionary new title, is smallpox, or variola. But wasn't that eradicated? many might ask. Officially, yes, nods Preston, who devotes the first half of the book to the valorous attempt by an army of volunteers to wipe out the virus via strategic vaccination; in 1977 the last case of naturally occurring smallpox was documented in Somalia, and today the variola virus exists officially in only two storage depots, in Russia and at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta (in the freezer of the title). To believe that variola is not held elsewhere, however, is nonsense, argues Preston, who delves into the possibility that several nations, including Iraq and Russia , have recently worked or are currently working with smallpox as a biological weapon. The author devotes much space to the anthrax attacks of last fall, mostly to demonstrate how easily a devastating assault with smallpox could occur here. Preston humanizes his science reportage by focusing on individuals--scientists, patients, physicians, government figures. That, and a flair for teasing out without overstatement the drama in his inherently compelling topics, plus a prose style that's simple and forceful, make this book as exciting as the best thrillers, yet scarier by far, for Preston 's pages deal with clear, present and very real dangers. - Pubisher's Weekly

Dinner at the New Gene Café: How Genetic Engineering is Changing What We Eat, How We Live, and the Global Politics of Food - Lambrecht, Bill

Amazon.com's Best of 2001: It may be true that we are what we eat. Now, with a flood of genetically modified foods overtaking the market, it is possible to eat what we are. But the prospect of genetic cannibalism is the least of the worries of food activists, and journalist Bill Lambrecht's Dinner at the New Gene Café follows both sides of the genetically modified organism (GMO) debate with vigor. He's been covering the story since the mid-1980s, interviewing agricultural officials, biotech industry executives, family farmers, and protesters to build a comprehensive understanding of the issues. Lambrecht's writing, clear and direct, explains the science and politics plainly enough that even those who flunked Biology or Poli Sci 101 can understand his arguments. He is equally skeptical of the claims of industry shills and activists, and often shakes his head in wonder at the incompetence of government agencies. From academic conferences to the Battle for Seattle, he's seen every aspect of the GMO wars, as they ignited in Europe and slowly spread across the world and eventually penetrated the U.S. Peppered with short essays on his own illegal home experiments with GMO seeds, Dinner at the New Gene Café offers readers insight into a growing question that will most likely define our menu choices for many years to come. - Amazon.com

Distilling Knowledge : Alchemy, Chemistry, and the Scientific Revolution - Moran, Bruce T.

Reacting to the perception that the break, early on in the scientific revolution, between alchemy and chemistry was clean and abrupt, Moran literately and engagingly recaps what was actually a slow process. Far from being the superstitious amalgam it is now considered, alchemy was genuine science before and during the scientific revolution. The distinctive alchemical procedure--distillation--became the fundamental method of analytical chemistry, and the alchemical goal of transmuting "base metals" into gold and silver led to the understanding of compounds and elements. What alchemy very gradually but finally lost in giving way to chemistry was its spiritual or religious aspect, the linkages it discerned between purely physical and psychological properties. - Booklist

Down To Earth : Nature's Role In American History - Steinburg, Theodore

"How the environment has played a key role in virtually every social, economic, and political development in American history. Ranging from the colonists' attempts to impose order on the land to the modern efforts to sell the wilderness as a consumer good, packaged in national parks and Alaskan cruises, Steinberg reminds readers that many critical episodes in our history were, in fact environmental events: plantation slavery, the California gold rush, and even the Cold War were all shaped by natural conditions and in turn reshaped the natural world." - from the book jacket

The Dying of the Trees: The Pandemic in America 's Forests - Little, Charles, E.

Caught as we are in a spell of denial and backlash, we're told that environmental concerns have been greatly exaggerated and we no longer need all those pesky laws and regulations. Not so fast says environmental journalist Little, everything is not okay--trees are dying all over the U.S. Little presents the terrible facts about such calamities as the extinction of the eastern dogwood, the toll acid rain has taken on trees from Vermont to North Carolina, and the human-caused plague killing California's ponderosa pine. He also explains how logging and fire prevention alter the composition of forests and lead to such fatal imbalances as the massive increases in regional populations of the tree-killing gypsy moth. Little traces the origins of all these forms of tree death to 150 years of full-throttle industrialization and then firmly reminds us that trees are essential to life on earth as we hope to live it. Sobering, responsible, and eloquent, this is an important book. - Booklist

Early Man and the Ocean: A Search for the Beginnings of Navigation and Seaborne Civilizations - Heyerdahl, Thor

This rich collection of essays, filled with facts and speculations on subjects ranging from primitive navigation techniques, ocean winds, and currents to Columbus , the Vikings, and the striking similarities between cultures separated by legions of ocean, is the result of Heyerdahl's ( Kon-Tiki ) explorations. Here is the compelling eidence for his long-time theory that men were crossing the oceans--spreading both their cultures and their genes--thousands of years before Columbus . - from the book jacket

Earth: An Intimate History - Fortey, Richard

As a popular geology writer, British paleontologist Fortey (Trilobite!) is in the same league as John McPhee, with an ability to make Earth history both poetic and wonderfully interesting. In order to explore the titanic forces of plate tectonics on a human scale, Fortey visited global locations that have been historically important in unscrambling the puzzle of our dynamic planet (e.g., Vesuvius, Hawaii, the Alps, the Deccan Traps in India, the Grand Canyon) so that "the reader will have this particular guide's reactions to the sights, sounds, smells and ambiance of the critical localities." A brilliant tour guide, Fortey offers a lively mix of science, human history, and personal experience that makes imperceptibly slow geologic change equally as compelling as volcanic catastrophe. Highly recommended for most science collections. - Library Journal

The Earth's Biosphere : Evolution, Dynamics, And Change - Smil, Vaclav

Smil, in a presentation marked by balance and clarity, synthesizes the field of science dealing with the biosphere. It is an interdisciplinary one, combining organic chemistry, geology, solar physics, microbiology, zoology, and more. A superior, comprehensive survey. - Booklist.

El Niño: Unlocking the Secrets of the Master Weather-maker - Nash, J. Madelaine

Researchers and their research are Time reporter Nash's quarry in this overview of how El Nino's global ramifications came to be recognized. The seeming increase in the phenomenon's frequency and intensity, some maintain, is feedback from global warming. Proving that proposition means discovering evidence of past El Ninos, and that journey in time occupies much of Nash's general-interest introduction to El Nino. Booklist

Emerging Infections: Microbial Threats to Health in the United States - Lederberg, Joshua

Presents a historical perspective on infectious disease and discusses how "new" diseases such as HIV and AIDS arise and how "old" diseases such as tuberculosis resurge. Considers the roles of human development and land use, international travel and commerce, microbial adaptation and change, and the breakdown of public health measures in changing patterns of infectious disease. - from the publisher

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time - Sachs, Jeffrey

Sachs came to fame advising "shock therapy" for moribund economies in the 1980s (with arguably positive results); more recently, as director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, he has made news with a plan to end global "extreme poverty"--which, he says, kills 20,000 people a day--within 20 years. While much of the plan has been known to economists and government leaders for a number of years (including Kofi Annan, to whom Sachs is special advisor), this is Sachs's first systematic exposition of it for a general audience, and it is a landmark book. For on-the-ground research in reducing disease, poverty, armed conflict and environmental damage, Sachs has been to more than 100 countries, representing 90% of the world's population. The book combines his practical experience with sharp professional analysis and clear exposition. Over 18 chapters, Sachs builds his case carefully, offering a variety of case studies, detailing small-scale projects that have worked and crunching large amounts of data. His basic argument is that "[W]hen the preconditions of basic infrastructure (roads, power, and ports) and human capital (health and education) are in place, markets are powerful engines of development." In order to tread "the path to peace and prosperity," Sachs believes it is incumbent upon successful market economies to bring the few areas of the world that still need help onto "the ladder of development." Writing in a straightforward but engaging first person, Sachs keeps his tone even whether discussing failed states or thriving ones. For the many who will buy this book but, perhaps, not make it all the way through, chapters 12 through 14 contain the blueprint for Sachs's solution to poverty, with the final four making a rigorous case for why rich countries (and individuals) should collectively undertake it--and why it is affordable for them to do so. If there is any one work to put extreme poverty back onto the global agenda, this is it. – Publishers Weekly

Endangered Oceans: Opposing Viewpoints

  Essays from both sides of the issue.

Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter - Johnson, Steven

Johnson puts the much-maligned pastime of playing video games under the microscope and comes up with some startling conclusions concerning the intellectual value and cognitive demands of this pop-culture activity. He argues that it isn't the content of today's games that engages the mind and makes one smarter; rather, it is their ever-increasing level of complexity and sophistication that challenges the mind to grow neurologically. One only comes to understand how to play a game by probing the complex interfaces within its levels to see what works as one goes along. Johnson observes that this is much like real life. He urges parents to sit down with their children and play in order to understand just how mentally challenging the games can be. He extends his argument to TV series such as The Sopranos , 24 , Six Feet Under , and Law and Order , all of which, he argues, are multi-threaded and require viewers to think in order to follow the increasingly complex character and plot developments. While the book and its arguments endorsing the cognitive challenges of video games and other mass media are thought-provoking and somewhat convincing, Johnson is less successful in convincing readers that video games–especially the more violent ones–are good for a player's mental health. While the book should be of value for reports, don't be surprised if many students can't resist citing it the next time their parents ask why they haven't finished their homework. – School Library Journal

Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas: A Field Guide to Favorite Places from Chimney Rock to Charleston - Stewart, Kevin G.

How were the Appalachian Mountains formed? Are the barrier islands moving? Where is there gold in the Carolinas ? Find answers to these questions and many more in this reader-friendly guide to the geology of North Carolina and South Carolina . This book pairs a brief geological history of the N.C./S.C. region with 31 field trips to easily accessible, often familiar sites in both states where readers can observe firsthand the evidence of geologic change found in rocks, river basins, mountains, waterfalls, and coastal land formations. Geologist Stewart and science writer Roberson begin by explaining techniques geologists use to "read" rocks, the science of plate tectonics, and the formation of the Carolinas . The field trips that follow are arranged geographically by region, from the Blue Ridge to the Piedmont to the Coastal Plain. – from the publisher

Preface -- Acknowledgments -- How to Use This Book -- 1. The Changing Face of the Carolinas over Geologic Time -- 2. How to Read Rocks -- 3. Adding to the Body of Geologic Knowledge -- 4. Geologic Time -- 5. The Geologic History of the Carolinas -- Field Trips -- THE BLUE RIDGE: 6. Chimney Rock Park : Stretched, Folded, Cracked, and Faulted -- 7. DuPont State Forest : Waterfalls Galore -- 8. Whiteside Mountain : A Geologic Puzzle -- 9. Grandfather Mountain : From Valley to Peak in 750 Million Years -- 10. Linville Falls : Falls, Faults, and Geologic Windows -- 11. Mount Mitchell State Park : Which Peak Is Tallest and Why -- 12. Stone Mountain State Park : A Beautiful Bare Mountain -- 13. Woodall Shoals: Beautiful Rocks That Have Been Through a Lot -- 14. Caesars Head and Table Rock State Parks : The View from the Blue Ridge Escarpment -- THE PIEDMONT : 15. South Mountains State Park : Stuck between a Rock and a Hard Place -- 16. Crowders Mountain State Park : A Mountain of Quartz and Blue Daggers -- 17. Reed Gold Mine: The Glory Days of Gold -- 18. Pilot Mountain State Park : Beach Sands in a Mountain -- 19. Morrow Mountain State Park : A Beautiful Quarry -- 20. Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area: A Mine with a View -- 21. The Museum of Life and Science and Penny's Bend : Diabase Sills in the Durham -- TRIASSIC BASIN -- 22. Landsford Canal State Park : Transportation and Geology -- 23. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences: Gems and Meteorites -- 24. Raven Rock State Park : Everything's Happening at the Fall Zone -- 25. Medoc Mountain State Park : Granite and Grapes -- 26. Forty Acre Rock: The Battle between Rocks and the Forces of Erosion -- THE COASTAL PLAIN: 27. The Roanoke River : From the Mountains to the Sea -- 28. Sugarloaf Mountain in Sand Hills State Forest : Sand and Longleaf -- 29. Cliffs of the Neuse State Park : Under the Sea -- 30. Santee State Park : Mule-Eating Sinkholes -- 31. Jones Lake State Park : The Mystery of the Carolina Bays -- 32. Flanner Beach : The Rise and Fall of Sea Level -- 33. Jockey's Ridge State Park : A Mountain of Sand -- 34. Oregon Inlet: The Fickle Nature of Barrier Islands and Inlets -- 35. Carolina Beach State Park : Sugarloaf, Shells, and Sinkholes -- 36. Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site: The Charleston Earthquake of 1886 -- Glossary -- Additional Resources – Index.

The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture

Over 30 essays take an unprecedented look at our current ecologically destructive agricultural system and offer a compelling vision for an organic and environmentally safer way of producing the food we eat. - from the publisher

The Floods of July 1916: How the Southern Railway Met an Emergency - Bumgarner, Matthew C.

On July 15 and 15, 1916, U.S. rainfall records were shattered when more than 22 inches of rain fell on the already saturated North Carolina mountains during a 24-hour period. An estimated eighty to ninety percent of this deluge rushed down the mountainsides into the region's already swollen streams and rivers, which crested high above their normal flood stages. Numerous bridges and spans were damaged or destroyed, and 686 miles of Southern Railway track in Tennessee , South Carolina , and North Carolina were taken out of service due to damage. Of the four lines running into Asheville , North Carolina , only one-the Murphy Branch-remained operational. Within days crews were repairing the damage. Within a few weeks tracks were relaid, bridges re-built, and the trains were running again. Over 100 stirring photographs accompany this tale of a devastating natural disaster and the incredible human accomplishment that followed. – from the publisher. Reprint of the 1917 edition.

Food, Inc.: Mendel to Monsanto-- The Promises and Perils of the Biotech Harvest - Pringle, Peter

Imagine a world where yellow beans are patented, aromatic basmati rice has lost its fragrance because of genetic tinkering and Canadian farmers are sued by multinational behemoths because pollen from GM (genetically modified) crops somehow got into their fields and fertilized their plants. You don't have to imagine it: this, says Pringle, is the world we live in today. A widely published journalist, Pringle paints a troubling picture of the world's food supply. Multinational corporations are able to patent genes from crops that have been cultivated by farmers for centuries; governments of starving African nations refuse GM food they fear is poisonous; scientists hastily publish research that is blown out of proportion by the news media; and "green" activists vandalize greenhouses and fields where scientists are conducting GM research. Pringle roundly castigates all sides. Scientists, he says, have been remarkably inventive in their endeavors to improve the food we eat, using a gene from daffodils, for example, in growing golden rice with high levels of vitamin A that can help prevent blindness in the undernourished. But large corporations, he asserts, have squandered the public's good will toward GM products as they rushed so-called "Frankenfoods" into stores without adequate testing or disclosure of what makes it different. Pringle gives some glimmer of hope for the future through time-honored methods of cross-pollination, but his main story is of an industry with great potential for feeding starving millions and reducing our reliance on chemical pesticides, but that has instead created a global mess. - Publisher's Weekly

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus - Mann, Charles C.

A groundbreaking study that radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans in 1492. Traditionally, Americans learned in school that the ancestors of the people who inhabited the Western Hemisphere at the time of Columbus's landing had crossed the Bering Strait twelve thousand years ago; existed mainly in small, nomadic bands; and lived so lightly on the land that the Americas was, for all practical purposes, still a vast wilderness. But Mann shows how a new generation of researchers equipped with novel scientific techniques have come to previously unheard-of conclusions about the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans: In 1491 there were probably more people living in the Americas than in Europe . Certain cities--such as Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital--were greater in population than any European city. Tenochtitlán , unlike any capital in Europe at that time, had running water, beautiful botanical gardens, and immaculately clean streets. The earliest cities in the Western Hemisphere were thriving before the Egyptians built the great pyramids. Native Americans transformed their land so completely that Europeans arrived in a hemisphere already massively "landscaped" by human beings. Pre-Columbian Indians in Mexico developed corn by a breeding process that the journal Science recently described as "man's first, and perhaps the greatest, feat of genetic engineering."--From the publisher

Frozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice Ages - Macdougall, J. D.

With all the concern about global warming, it may be surprising to read that "today's climate is just a geologically short warm spell in a continuing ice age." In this lucid and informative book, Macdougall ( A Short History of Planet Earth ), an earth science professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, introduces some of the scientists who have studied the Earth's ice ages, including the celebrated 19th-century naturalist Louis Agassiz, who put forth the theory, revolutionary at the time, of a global ice age; the amateur scientist James Croll, who propounded the idea that cycles of glacial and interglacial climates are related to changes in Earth's orbit around the Sun; and J. Harlan Bretz, who studied the catastrophic glacial flood that produced the "Channeled Scablands" of Washington state. That glaciers once extended from the North Pole to the Mediterranean was a fact accepted only gradually, and Macdougall examines in detail the clues—rock formations, glacial deposits, fossils and sediment cores—that scientists have used to prove the existence of continental ice sheets, as well as to study them. He closes with a discussion of our current ice age, suggesting that global warming may bring it to a premature end. - Publisher's Weekly

Contents: Ice, ice ages, and our planet's climate history -- Fire, water, and God -- Glaciers and fossil fish -- The evidence -- Searching for the cause of ice ages -- Defrosting earth -- The ice age cycles -- Our planet's icy past -- Coring for the details -- Ice ages, climate, and evolution -- The last millennium -- Ice ages and the future.

The Future of Ice: A Journey Into Cold - Ehrlich, Gretel

In this lyrical meditation on deep cold and its potential demise through global warming, Ehrlich backpacks among the glaciers of the southern Andes, winters in a Wyoming cabin and sails with the research ship Noorderlicht to the Greenland ice pack. Her prose is as sharply observed as poetry and nearly as compressed, and her narrative favors short scenes as fragmented as the breaking ice sheets she encounters. Though it occasionally dips into underpowered assertion ("We're spoiled because we've been living in an interglacial paradise for twenty thousand years"), it often soars to the sublime ("We are made of weather and our thoughts stream from the braid work of stillness and storms"). Ehrlich includes plenty of facts (the area covered by glaciers has diminished by 75% since 1850; increased meltwater from Greenland may actually make Europe colder), but her book is less about science than about sensation: loneliness and the relentless circling of the snowed-in mind; the rumbling of a glacier as its azure ice crumbles away; the whistling, ululating calls of the bearded seal. It does not lay out the workings of global warming nor attempt to provide blueprints for how to rescue what we are losing. It stands, instead, as a passionate elegy to what is melting away. - Publisher's Weekly

The Future of the Past - Stille, Alexander

The Great Sphinx of Giza, "part lion, part pharaoh, part god," is slowly dying. Large chunks of limestone crack off each day, the soft middle portion of its body is vulnerable and, eventually, the head will become unstable. Though Egyptologists try to restore and preserve the great monument, much of their work does more harm than good. In the disturbing words of one archeologist: "You study it, you kill it." That comment best captures the paradox at the heart of Stille's splendid book: scholars work feverishly to study and preserve precious monuments, rare species and ancient manuscripts, relying on ever more advanced forms of technology in their efforts, while the accelerating rate of technological change industrialization, population growth and pollution threatens to destroy these treasures. Hence, a cycle of preservation and destruction perpetuates itself. Stille, a lovely storyteller, brings to life the passionate and forceful personalities of preservationists, dedicated scholars, bald opportunists, looters and other key players in the world of conservation and preservation. He examines the dying traditions of canoe making and oral poetry on an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea; the tombaroli (tomb robbers) of Sicily who have helped to make illicit antiquities the third most valued item in the world's black markets; devastating levels of pollution in the beloved and holy Ganges river; and one man's ultimately scandalous attempt to modernize the 550-year-old Vatican library. A frequent contributor to the New Yorker (where parts of this book were previously published), Stille consistently offers a powerful narrative, rich with anecdote, detailed description and lively dialogue. This is a must read for anyone interested in the preservation of our world's decaying treasures. - Publisher's Weekly

Garbage Land : On the Secret Trail of Trash - Royte, Elizabeth

Booklist Starred Review: A visit to the filthy Gowanus Canal near her Brooklyn home got Royte thinking about garbage. What exactly does her family throw out each day? Who carries it away, where is it taken, how is it processed? To find out, she catalogs her daily household garbage and tracks her trash to garbage transit stations, landfills, and recycling plants. Royte's nervy and unprecedented journey through the land of garbage is fascinating, appalling, and--thanks to her keen first-person journalism, commonsense skepticism, and amusing personal asides--downright entertaining. Some of her more troubling disclosures include the hazards of sewage sludge and "e-waste," that is, discarded computers, televisions, and cell phones. Smart and persistent, Royte annoys the heck out of closemouthed government officials and waste-management businesspeople and trespasses when denied access to key sites, enduring foul smells and bad vibes to glean the truth about how waste is handled, who profits from waste, what opportunities are wasted, and how waste can be reduced. What her staggering expose tells us is that as the quantity, variety, and toxicity of our garbage increases, we must, like nature, evolve ways to reclaim and reuse everything we make.

Contents: Introduction. Quantifying in the kitchen -- pt. 1. To the dump -- 1. Dark angels of detritus -- 2. Amphibious assault -- 3. Stalking the active face -- 4. The spectacle of waste -- pt. 2. Avoiding the dump -- 5. Behold this compost -- 6. Forward into the flexo nip -- 7. Hammer of the Gods -- 8. Mercury rising -- 9. Satan's resin -- pt. 3. Flushing it away -- 10. Downstream -- 11. In the realm of taboo -- pt. 4. Piling on -- 12. It's coming on Christmas -- 13. The dream of zero waste -- 14. The ecological citizen.

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic-- And How it Changed the Way We Think about Disease, Cities, Science, and the Modern World - Johnson, Steven

Booklist Starred Review: More than two million people were squeezed into 30 square miles in Victorian London, producing massive quantities of waste that, before modern public waste disposal systems, fouled both land and the Thames River . Indeed, Johnson says, "No extended description of London from that period failed to mention the stench of the city." Some, called miasmatists, believed foul odors caused disease. Many believed the lifestyles of the poor and ignorant masses made them more susceptible to illness. Thus, in late summer of 1854, when cholera began claiming poor -working-class residents of the Golden Square neighborhood, popular opinion blamed the city's excavation of a nearby burial ground. But Dr. John Snow, an anesthesia expert and consultant to the queen, and the Reverend Henry Whitehead thought the pathogen might have a different source. Their dogged efforts soon ended the deadly epidemic. They demonstrated that Vibrio cholerae had been contracted by drinking contaminated water from the neighborhood pump. In the short run, Snow and Whitehead saved hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives. In the long run, their work, part of which consisted of mapping the disease's spread, resulted in efficient public waste disposal systems and disease control measures that saved millions worldwide. And that work is hardly done. – Booklist

The Ghosts of Evolution: Nonsensical Fruit, Missing Partners, and Other Ecological Anachronisms - Barlow, Connie

We can tell a lot about the kinds of animals that existed thousands of years ago by looking closely at the kinds of fruit that grow today. A quarter century ago, this idea was so radical that its originators had trouble even getting someone to publish their paper on the subject. This fascinating book chronicles the development of the theory and extends it by looking at new discoveries that help the experts learn how the world's ecosystems have evolved. Everywhere we look, Barlow says, we can find the ghosts of animals that evolved to eat certain fruits; the animals died off, but the fruits still grow, the only remaining part of a once-thriving ecosystem. -- from Booklist

Globalization: A Very Short Introduction - Steger, Manfred B.

'Globalization' has become the buzz-word of our time. A growing number of scholars and political activists have invoked the term to describe a variety of changing economic, political, cultural, ideological, and environmental processes that are alleged to have accelerated in the last few decades. Rather than forcing such a complex social phenomenon into a single conceptual framework, Manfred Steger presents globalization in plain, readable English as a multifaceted process encompassing global, regional, and local aspects of social life. In addition to explaining the various dimensions of globalization, the author explores whether globalization should be considered a 'good' or 'bad' thing - a question that has been hotly debated in classrooms, boardrooms, and on the streets. – from the publisher

The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed - Vaillant, John

The felling of a celebrated giant golden spruce tree in British Columbia 's Queen Charlotte Islands takes on a potent symbolism in this probing study of an unprecedented act of eco-vandalism. First-time author Vaillant, who originally wrote about the death of the spruce for the New Yorker , profiles the culprit, an ex-logger turned messianic environmentalist who toppled the famous tree—the only one of its kind—to protest the destruction of British Columbia 's old-growth forest, then soon vanished mysteriously. Vaillant also explores the culture and history of the Haida Indians who revered the tree, and of the logging industry that often expresses an elegiac awe for the ancient trees it is busily clear-cutting. Writing in a vigorous, evocative style, Vaillant portrays the Pacific Northwest as a region of conflict and violence, from the battles between Europeans and Indians over the 18th-century sea otter trade to the hard-bitten, macho milieu of the logging camps, where grisly death is an occupational hazard. It is also, in his telling, a land of virtually infinite natural resources overmatched by an even greater human rapaciousness. Through this archetypal story of "people fail[ing] to see the forest for the tree," Vaillant paints a haunting portrait of man's vexed relationship with nature. – Publisher's Weekly

Contents: A threshold between worlds -- The people -- Wildest of the wild -- The tooth of the human race -- The beginning of the end -- A boardwalk to Mars -- The fatal flaw -- The fall -- Myth -- Hecate Strait -- The search -- The secret -- Coyote -- Over the horizon.

Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage - Rogers, Heather

In this readable and well-researched study, writer, journalist, and filmmaker Rogers tackles garbage and the social, economic, political, and technological waste disposal choices and dilemmas that our communities face. Americans dispose of more than 700 billion pounds of paper, glass, plastic, wood, food, metal, clothing, electronics, and other refuse annually. The author examines the available options in dealing with this issue-e.g., feeding organic garbage to pigs, dumping in landfills, burning and incineration, exporting to other states or countries, and recycling and reusing disposables-and discusses their benefits and drawbacks. Her account of the criminal elements that once controlled New York City 's garbage industry and how the city cleaned it up in the 1990s by establishing a garbage corporation reads like a thriller. Of particular note is Rogers 's hard look at consumer habits, industrial imperatives, and the attitudes and lifestyles that generate extraordinary amounts of waste and pose a threat to the health of the planet. – Library Journal

Contents: The "waste stream" -- Rubbish past -- Rationalized waste -- Technological fix: the sanitary landfill -- The golden age of waste -- Spaceship earth: waste and environmentalism -- Recycling: the politics of containment -- The corporatization of garbage -- Green by any means.

The Great Betrayal: Fraud in Science - Judson, Horace F.

Judson e loquently examines the nature and causes of scientific fraud. Although the process of science has built-in checks and balances such as peer review and paper refereeing, the author calls these "moribund" and asks "whether in fact and to what extent science really is self-correcting." Judson begins with some of the giants of science: Mendel, Darwin, Pasteur, Freud. It turns out that each of these men fudged their data in one way or another, whether by omitting numbers that didn't fit desired results, or manipulating photographs, or not using experimental controls. Judson recognizes that there are difficulties in examining historical scientists' behavior through a modern lens, and he deals with the associated complexities by asking tough questions: What if their cheating led to a correct answer? Where is the line between intuition and lying? The Great Betrayal goes on to describe enough modern cases of scientific fraud to leave readers reeling. The most damning revelations in the book are those showing how whistle-blowers are treated by the scientific establishment, and Judson's showcase for this is Margot O'Toole, who called for correction or retraction of a paper co-authored by noted biologist David Baltimore and was subsequently vilified for her actions. The so-called " Baltimore case" became one of the ugliest and most revealing controversies in late-20th-century science. In the end, Judson offers hope that science may become truly open through electronic publishing. Whether the free exchange of criticism offered by the Internet will refresh science remains to be seen, but without learning from its defects, Judson writes, this great endeavor will ultimately fail. - Amazon.com

Contents: Prologue -- A Culture of Fraud -- What's It Like? A Typology of Scientific Fraud -- Patterns of Complicity: Recent Cases -- Hard to Measure, Hard to Define: The Incidence of Scientific Fraud and the Struggle Over Its Definition -- The Baltimore Affair -- The Problems of Peer Review -- Authorship, Ownership: The Problems of Credit, Plagiarism, and Intellectual Property -- The Rise of Open Publication on the Internet -- Laboratory to Law: The Problems of Institutions When Misconduct Is Charged -- Epilogue --   Notes -- Index.

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History - Barry, John M.

In 1918, a plague swept across the world virtually without warning, killing healthy young adults as well as vulnerable infants and the elderly. Hospitals and morgues were quickly overwhelmed; in Philadelphia , 4,597 people died in one week alone and bodies piled up on the streets to be carted off to mass graves. But this was not the dreaded Black Death-it was "only influenza." In this sweeping history, Barry (Rising Tide) explores how the deadly confluence of biology (a swiftly mutating flu virus that can pass between animals and humans) and politics (President Wilson's all-out war effort in WWI) created conditions in which the virus thrived, killing more than 50 million worldwide and perhaps as many as 100 million in just a year. Barry captures the sense of panic and despair that overwhelmed stricken communities and hits hard at those who failed to use their power to protect the public good. He also describes the work of the dedicated researchers who rushed to find the cause of the disease and create vaccines. Flu shots are widely available today because of their heroic efforts, yet we remain vulnerable to a virus that can mutate to a deadly strain without warning. Society's ability to survive another devastating flu pandemic, Barry argues, is as much a political question as a medical one. - Publisher's Weekly

Guns, Germs, and Steel : The Fates of Human Societies - Diamond, Jared

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth club of California 's Gold Medal. In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill , New York Review of Books ) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed religion --as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war --and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history. - from the publisher

Hands-On Environmentalism - Haglund, Brent

When the first Earth Day catapulted environmental awareness onto the global mindset in 1970, average citizens felt that they finally could have a stake in protecting their surroundings from the ravages of pollution, overpopulation, and resource depletion that were bringing the planet to the brink of ecological catastrophe. What developed instead was a quagmire of government bureaucracy, political expediency, and legal strategy that espoused a reactive rather than proactive approach that Haglund and Still dub "command-and--control." Promoting an alternative concept called "civic environmentalism," the authors outline a fundamental paradigm shift in the way concerned citizens, elected officials, and industrial leaders can wrest responsibility away from the regulatory professionals. By focusing on results rather than retribution, and looking toward the future rather than the past, this dynamic method of addressing local, national, and global environmental challenges boasts impressive success stories. Offering practical advice for individuals and grassroots organizations, this guidebook furnishes proven strategies and positive messages designed to invigorate the environmental movement. - Booklist

High Tech Harvest: Understanding Genetically Modified Food Plants - Lurquin, Paul F.

How food is manipulated at the most basic level, that of the DNA itself. A comprehensive and user-friendly description of the scientific origins, the development, and the applications of genetically modified plants throughout the world today.

High Tide : The Truth About Our Climate Crisis - Lynas, Mark

Telling the story of climate change through his personal experience and those of ordinary individuals is strategically brilliant. While Lynas includes the requisite barrage of numbers and statistics and notes to support his examples, the real-life stories -- the human and emotional content -- are what make High Tide a compelling and powerful read, albeit profoundly depressing. Clearly the unpleasantness is upon us. - The Washington Post

Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America - Friedman, Thomas L.

Thomas L. Friedman's phenomenal number-one bestseller The World Is Flat has helped millions of readers to see the world in a new way. In his brilliant, essential new book, Friedman takes a fresh and provocative look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: America 's surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crisis, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests. In this groundbreaking account of where we stand now, he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked--how we can restore the world and revive America at the same time. Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the astonishing expansion of the world's middle class through globalization have produced a planet that is “hot, flat, and crowded.” Already the earth is being affected in ways that threaten to make it dangerously unstable. In just a few years, it will be too late to fix things--unless the United States steps up now and takes the lead in a worldwide effort to replace our wasteful, inefficient energy practices with a strategy for clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation that Friedman calls Code Green. This is a great challenge, Friedman explains, but also a great opportunity, and one that America cannot afford to miss. Not only is American leadership the key to the healing of the earth; it is also our best strategy for the renewal of America . In vivid, entertaining chapters, Friedman makes it clear that the green revolution we need is like no revolution the world has seen. It will be the biggest innovation project in American history; it will be hard, not easy; and it will change everything from what you put into your car to what you see on your electric bill. But the payoff for America will be more than just cleaner air. It will inspire Americans to something we haven't seen in a long time--nation-building in America --by summoning the intelligence, creativity, boldness, and concern for the common good that are our nation's greatest natural resources. – from the publisher

 

Contents: I. WHERE WE ARE. Where birds don't fly -- Today's date: 1 E.C.E. Today's weather: hot, flat, and crowded -- II. HOW WE GOT HERE. Our carbon copies (or, too many Americans) – Fill 'er up with dictators -- Global weirding -- The age of Noah -- Energy poverty -- Green is the new red, white, and blue -- III. HOW WE MOVE FORWARD. 205 easy ways to save the earth -- The energy internet: when IT meets ET -- The Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of stones -- If it isn't boring, it isn't green -- A million Noahs, a million arks -- Outgreening al-Qaeda (or, buy one, get four free) -- IV. CHINA . Can red China become green China ? -- V. AMERICA . China for a day (but not for two) -- A democratic China , or a banana republic?

How to Read a North Carolina Beach : Bubble Holes, Barking Sands, and Rippled Runnels - Pilkey, Orrin H.

Take a walk on the beach with three coastal experts who reveal the secrets and the science of the North Carolina shoreline. What makes sea foam? What are those tiny sand volcanoes along the waterline? You'll find the answers to these questions and dozens more in this comprehensive field guide to the state's beaches, which shows visitors how to decipher the mysteries of the beach and interpret clues to an ever-changing geological story. The authors explore large-scale processes, such as the composition and interaction of wind, waves, and sand, as well as smaller features, such as bubble holes, drift lines, and black sands. In addition, coastal life forms large and small--from crabs and turtles to microscopic animals--are all discussed here. The concluding chapter contemplates the future of North Carolina beaches, considering the threats to their survival and assessing strategies for conservation. This indispensable beach book offers vacationers and naturalists a single source for learning to appreciate and preserve the natural features of a genuine state treasure. – from the publisher

Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth - Williams, Jack

A comprehensive, clearly written history of U.S. hurricane forecasting and a clear explanation of the science of hurricanes. Lay readers will grasp how hurricanes form, strengthen, and travel, and experts will take much from Sheets's personal accounts of Hurricane Andrew, the history of hurricane hunter aircraft in forecasting, and the explanation of how technological advances have greatly improved the science of hurricane forecasting

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Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance - Gosnell, Mariana

Former Newsweek reporter Gosnell is an attentive and patient observer who traveled around the globe for this compendium of the human and natural history of ice. She opens with a description of the sound and sight of a small lake freezing, expanding from there to discuss the seasonal advance and retreat of ice, as on the Great Lakes or Lake Baikal . Taking the next natural step, the persistence of ice through the summer, brings Gosnell to the 1800s origin of glaciology in Louis Agassiz's study of Mont Blanc 's Mer de Glace, and subsequently into the contemporary specialty of ice cores in ice-age research. En route through the science, which Gosnell condenses from the technical literature, the author imparts eclectic information through excerpts from poems, adventure and disaster stories, and discussions of ice sports and diversions. Gosnell conducts a bright, curious, and omnidirectional tour that will entrance nature readers. – Booklist

Contents: Lakes -- Rivers -- Great Lakes -- Loading -- Breakup -- Alps -- Surging glaciers -- West Antarctic ice sheet -- Coring -- On glaciers -- Icebergs I -- Icebergs II -- Sea ice I -- Sea Ice II -- Ground Ice I -- Ground Ice II -- Plants -- Animals I -- Animals II -- Animals III -- Animals IV -- Human I -- Humans II -- Games I -- Games II -- Uses I -- Uses II -- Uses III -- Other forms of ice -- Atmosphere I -- Atmosphere II -- Atmosphere III -- Space I -- Space II -- Ice ages -- Lake of the Woods.

The Ice Chronicles: The Quest to Understand Global Climate Change - Mayeweski, Paul J.

The Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 revealed amazing facts about the history of climate over the past 110,000 years: climate has dramatically flipped in the past, sometimes in only a decade's span, and that human influence is definitely impacting the contemporary climate.

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History - Larson, Eric

The greatest natural disaster in US history, the monster 1900 Galveston hurricane, resulted in over 6,000 deaths. The storm and the failure to predict its approach is a thrilling and suspenseful story.

In The Wake of the Plague: The Black Death & the World it Made - Cantor, Norman F.

The author claims that much of what we know about the Black Plague is wrong. He chronicles the intellectual, artistic, and economic revolutions made possible by the destruction of the old order in 14th century Europe .

Killer Germs: Rogue Diseases of the Twenty-first Century - Moore, Pete

Table of Contents: Contemporary complacency -- Lessons from history -- Bacteria and antibiotics -- Antibiotic resistance -- Dead disease -- AIDS -- And then you dissolve -- The viral good guys -- PR is for prions -- The mighty mosquito -- Engineering armageddon -- The risk of recesison.

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded - Winchester , Simon

The New York Times calls this book "one of the best books ever written about the history and significance of a natural disaster: thrilling, comprehensive, literate, meticulously researched and scientifically accurate." The publisher's notes say "The legendary annihilation in 1883 of the volcano-island of Krakatoa -- the name has since become a by-word for a cataclysmic disaster -- was followed by an immense tsunami that killed nearly 40,000 people. Beyond the purely physical horrors of an event which has only very recently become properly understood, the eruption changed the world in more ways than could possibly be imagined. Dust swirled round the world for years, causing temperatures to plummet and sunsets to turn vivid with lurid and unsettling displays of lght. The effects of the immense waves were felt as far away as France . Barometers in Bogota and Washington went haywire. Bodies were washed up in Zanzibar . The sound of island's destruction was heard in Australia and India and on islands thousands of miles away. Most significantly of all -- in view of today's new political climate -- the eruption helped to trigger in Java a wave of murderous anti-western militancy by fundamentalist Muslims, one of the first eruptions of Islamic killings anywhere. Simon Winchester's long experience in world wandering, history and geology give this fascinating and iconic event an entirely new life and perspective."

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder - Louv, Richard