Silent Spring

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Silent Spring, released in 1962, offered the first shattering look at widespread ecological degradation and touched off an environmental awareness that still exists. Rachel Carson's book focused on the poisons from insecticides, weed killers, and other common products as well as the use of sprays in agriculture, a practice that led to dangerous chemicals to the food source. Carson argued that those chemicals were more dangerous than radiation and that for the first time in history, humans were exposed to chemicals that stayed in their systems from birth to death. Presented with thorough documentation, the book opened more than a few eyes about the dangers of the modern world and stands today as a landmark work.

Book Description

First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water."Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, forTime's 100 Most Influential People of the Century). This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson's watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson's courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964.

Customer Reviews:

The Facts!!.......2007-08-07

Perhaps her cause was just in writing this book, but her short-sighted ignorance of the repercussions was inexcusable. Because of the ban on DDT which largely resulted from Silent Spring, the WHO has estimated that around 20 MILLION children have died of malaria.

DDT was, & still is, one of the very best insecticides to control mosquitoes, the sole transporter of this deadly disease. Best of all, DDT is very NON-toxic to humans.

The need for DDT is so urgent that even the Sierra Club is justifying it's use inside houses in malaria stricken locations of Africa, South America, & Asia.

Way to go Rachel. Save the Birds, Kill the Children...Wake Up People!!

Important but boring.......2007-06-13

I thought that "Silent Spring" would be an interesting book to read. After all, is supposedly launched the modern environmental movement. However, after reading about 80 pages into the book I started to feel like I was reading the same thing over and over again: pesticides and herbicides are bad and should not be applied to the side of the road. OK, I get the point. I then flipped to page 250 or so, and do you know what I saw? More discussion of how pesticides and herbicides are bad!

Maybe back at that time it was not a self-evident truth that it is a bad thing to go around spraying shit all over the side of the road. But even then, you would think that a disucssion of this matter could be confined to 100 pages or less. A final issue is that the book does not seem to possess a modern understanding of certain subjects (since when do hydrologists refer to groundwater as "underground rivers"?). Although this is not the fault of the book, I do not know why anyone other than a science historian would want to spend much time on it.

Oh Yeah, this book also killed millions of people. The banning of DDT probably led to millions of deaths from malaria. Even today, about 2 million people die from it every year.

A Classic Read.......2007-05-11

Joni Mitchell perhaps most aptly summarizes the driving idea of Silent Spring in her song "Big Yellow Taxi": "Hey farmer farmer / Put away that DDT now / Give me spots on my apples / But leave me the birds and the bees. Please!" While both the book and the song are a bit outdated in the United States as DDT was banned in 1972, it's still an interesting analysis of insecticides/herbicides, societies relationship with science, and the effects a capitalistic driven culture has on the environment. Likewise, the interaction of the natural web and human's impact on it is greatly emphasized. Something I've always found interesting about Carson and her book was the publics (often misogynistic) reaction to her as being "hysterical" and my favorite quote from a board member of the Federal Pest Control Review Board: "I thought she was a spinster. What's she so worried about genetics for?"

last minute purchase.......2007-04-04

My daughter had to have this for English and of course she waited till the last minute. To her surprise, she enjoyed the book and the author's writing very much. As usual Amazon saved the day with a huge selection and fast shipping.

Al Gore surely loves this.......2007-03-26

Hurrah for "sustainability" and "biodiversity"! Down with the human race!

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet

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Transform Your Home into a Peaceful Sanctuary
Detox Your Life
Declutter, paint and detoxify
Life-changing ideas
Fantastic book with tons of information

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet
Norma Lehmeier-Hartie
Manufacturer: Lingham Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Healthy Living Space: 70 Practical Ways to Detoxify the Body and Home
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ASIN: 0977963306
Release Date: 2007-01-01

Product Description

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet, by Norma Lehmeier Hartie, is an indispensable reference book for anyone who cares about their health and well being and for the future of the planet. Hartie concisely covers a wide range of subjects and includes a comprehensive listing of advisory organizations, product and service resources. Part I of the book, Banish the Ugly from Your Life, is a blueprint for green, sustainable living. Discover how to replace toxic and unsustainable products from household cleaners to food (including recipes) to furniture to personal care products with safe, eco-friendly ones. Hartie is the tough but motivational Life Coach in her approach to cleaning, removing clutter and on organizing the home or office. Part II, Bring in the Beautiful to Create a Harmonious Environment and Self, includes a chapter on Earth-based spirituality and a fascinating look at the Four Elements (Earth, Fire, Air and Water) and the Medicine Wheel. The core of Hartie s philosophy blossoms in Chapter Seven, Applying Harmonious AdjustmentsTM: Using Feng Shui and Other Techniques for Powerful Results. Unlike other Feng Shui authors, Hartie has experience as a designer and her skills are apparent in this chapter and the following two. She has combined principles of Feng Shui, the Four Elements, color, energy, Vastu, and good design principles that create a unique and eclectic approach to home decorating. Finally, Hartie provides guidance on how to manifest personal or professional desires. In Part III, Putting the Pieces Together, Hartie skillfully integrates the many subjects of the book into a unified and cohesive whole. At its cover price of $19.95, Harmonious Environment is a value alone for the comprehensive green living product suppliers in the Resources section. What makes this book so truly ambitious, however, is what lies beneath the surface. In a sense, this book is only marginal

Customer Reviews:

Transform Your Home into a Peaceful Sanctuary.......2007-04-10

"The energy from flowers is so bright and strong that they can be put anywhere in the home and they will enhance your life." ~ pg. 217

Norma Lehmeier Hartie is a design consultant and Harmonious Adjustment practitioner who enjoys gardening and cooking. She created the practice of Harmonious Adjustments to give her clients the chance to reconnect with nature and to manifest their personal and professional dreams. Through her book she introduces ideas for detoxing and decluttering your home environment.

If you want a happier, healthier lifestyle that is more in harmony with nature, then Norma Lehmeier Hartie's book has a world of information to make this possible. She can help you:

Remove toxic products from your home and garage
Clean and organize your home
Buy environmentally friendly cleaning products
Organize your home for more peace and harmony
Find healthy personal care products
Grow plants that help to control pollution - A list of the Fifty Best Houseplants
Find the best choices in flooring
Figure out how to recycle larger items like a refrigerator
Cook more safely and use kitchen scraps for your garden
Formulate a plan to keep your house clean
Organize every room in the house
Decorate with Confidence

Reading through the list of harmful products gives you an idea of the ingredients to avoid in cleaners and how they can affect your health. For an antibacterial spray, the author suggests water and essential oils and for cleaning silver she also suggests more natural solutions like baking soda and vinegar. Using Borax and water is less dangerous than chlorine bleach fumes and you may want to try this in your shower. You may enjoy products by Seventh Generation.

Chapter three felt a little out of my personal range of expertise, although we know that thoughts can affect our environment and life and can move our life in a positive or negative direction. This chapter deals more with spiritual practices. Chapter 6 also delves into a deeper connection with nature, personality types and elemental powers. The list of Yin and Yang is helpful to create a balance of the two in your home. An entire chapter is also dedicated to plants, gemstones and crystals.

"If you are the average American woman, you expose yourself to over two hundred synthetic chemicals that are found in the products you use as you prepare yourself for the day. These products do not simply sit on your skin; approximately sixty percent of these ingredients get absorbed into your bloodstream." ~ pg. 91

Chapter four is especially informative and essential if you are trying to be healthier and want to find organic alternatives to products filled with synthetic chemicals. Why should you avoid petroleum and talc? Why is there lead in hair dye?

The section on an Eco-Friendly Kitchen is interesting and the chapter on natural and organic foods also gives ideas on how to save time in the kitchen. A few recipes are included:

Vegetarian Pasta Primavera
Fajitas
Risotto with Scallops or Shrimp
Lemon Rice
Grilled Vegetables

An extensive list of resources and a very handy index complete this well-researched and extremely helpful book. If you enjoy Feng Shui or decorating and organizing your home, there is a lot to enjoy and you may find the information in this book can also help with fatigue, anxiety and sleeping problems.

~The Rebecca Review

Detox Your Life.......2007-04-04

No matter what your goals are, this book has the starting point for you. Learn how to make your life less toxic and get a better relationship with Mother Earth.

Declutter, paint and detoxify.......2007-04-02

Using the principles of Feng Shui, you can create a harmonious home environment with this book as a guide.

Author Lehmeier-Hartie has you choose colors, elements and design based on your birthday. If you suffer from problems feeling disorganized or headachey at home, it could be your home is not organized properly or the flow of energy is impeded.

The author extends this tranquility to finding the right job and the right mate. Whether or not it is the alignment of elements in the home, focusing on clearing clutter in your life can only have positive effects. A very pretty book.

Life-changing ideas.......2007-02-02

Worried about what your family is being exposed to? Are you hoping to increase your wealth or find love this year? Trying to decide on the best color to paint your walls? If you answered "yes!" to any of these questions, then Harmonious Environment is a must read.

The goal of this book is to create positive energy both in your home and your life and to be kinder to the earth. Hertie is a design consultant, chef, gardener, and healer. She shares her professional and personal experiences with the readers, i.e., homemade earth-friendly cleaning products, tasty recipes for carnivores and vegetarians, etc. She recommends that after reading this book, you apply the process in the following order:

1. Remove toxic products from your home and garage
2. Clean, declutter, clear and organize your home
3. Buy/use environmentally friendly products
4. Learn how to use place objects (furniture, mirrors, etc.) to manifest change in your life

The relationship between people and the Earth is an important part of Harmonious Environments. To remind ourselves of this interconnection, Hertie recommends bringing the natural world into your home. Some ways to do this include displaying rocks and minerals and using houseplants as pollution busters.

Hertie uses Harmonious Adjustments (TM) that combines "the best principles of Feng Shui, the application of the Four Elements based on your birth date, color, Vastu, energy work and good design." I've read a few Feng Shui books in the past, but the author's clear instructions and enthusiasm has given me the confidence to actually try this at home.

I liked how the author reminded me to use this book as a guideline but to also trust my intuition. Do what looks and feels right for you. I also liked how the Resource section listed all the suppliers, organizations and further readings mentioned throughout the book.

Even if you aren't interested in Feng Shui, this book has valuable information about becoming an informed consumer and living a more eco-friendly life.

Armchair Interviews says read Harmonious Environment and get ready to change your life!

Fantastic book with tons of information.......2007-01-18

I got this wonderful book as we are moving our place of business, and wanted to make smart choices. From the first page, Ms. Lehmeier-Hartie shares her expertise in an organized, thoughtful way. The day after I got the book, I negotiated a much more logical and healthier ventilation system, and the section on colors was far and away the most organized and logical explanation I have ever seen.

Some aspects of our project are beyond our control, but I became a much more active participant. We anxiously await our new space, and know that the suggestions made here will add to the beauty and functionality of our space. I wish I could have rated this 10 stars!

Cold, Clear, and Deadly: Unraveling a Toxic Legacy

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Where Thinking Globally and Acting Locally Won't Work
Navigating Truth and Objectivity in a Sea Storming with Bias
Well written journey
solving an ecological mystery in the Great Lakes and northern waters

Cold, Clear, and Deadly: Unraveling a Toxic Legacy
Melvin J. Visser
Manufacturer: Michigan State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0870138022

Book Description

Cold, Clear, and Deadly is both a mystery and the story of the evolution of its author: from a chemical and bioprocess scientist to the vice president in charge of a major company's corporate environmental division; to engaging in international research and travel to discover the source of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in cold northern waters ranging from the Great Lakes to the Arctic.

POPs --PCBs and chlorinated pesticides such as DDT, toxaphene, and chlordane that came into use following World War II-- were used in a wide range of seemingly benign scientific enhancements of modern life, from increasing crop yields to preventing fires. Initially, they were used in the West with abandon. However, pesticide POPs and industrial PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) were banned when they were found to cause cancer in humans ano to devastate wildlife near their areas of application. Yet, to this day they remain in the environment at dangerous levels. The question of why that is has occupied Melvin J. Visser for more than a decade.

The attempts of Visser and other international environmental scientists to understand POP contamination in the far north, where the POP content of whale blubber would classify it as hazardous waste, leads to unraveling the mystery of continuing contamination of the Great Lakes. Scientists discovered that the POPs ban was not global and that POPs evaporating from agricultural and industrial uses in developing countries were circling the globe and traveling north. Air sweeping North America and Europe is contaminated with more than 100 million POPs molecules per adult human breath, a toxic blanket that keeps our waters dangerous to man and wildlife. This devastating toxicity and the fact that our current efforts to clean up POPs residues in developed countries--"Thinking Globally and Acting Locally" will not solve the problem--makes Cold, Clear and Deadly a must-read for anyone concerned about the silent but deadly persistence of toxic chemicals in our food and water.

Notes, references, index.

Customer Reviews:

Where Thinking Globally and Acting Locally Won't Work.......2007-09-26

As a long time resident of northern Alaska and more recently a resident and guide in the Lake Superior Basin, I read with alarm "Cold, Clear and Deadly." As author and scientist Mel Visser narrates his life's quest to find out why northern waters aquatic life are still filled with deadly Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Visser found that in spite of the banning of POPs throughout North America these hazardous banned pesticides are still used in developing nations. The toxins, in molecular form become transported by winds in the troposphere world-wide.

Mel Visser writes in a non-technical way that is understandable to most people. His "Global Transport" section of the book, in which the reader views a POP molecule's journey globally from India to the Arctic illustrates clearly to the layperson how toxins are transported around the world. North American air is contaminated with more than 100 million POPs molecules in every human breath! The northern waters absorb the airborne pollutants and they get concentrated as they move up the food chain from simple organisms to more complex ones. The health and reproductive problems to wildlife at the top of the food chain as well as humans who consume the wildlife is alarming.

Visser was a chemical industry insider who worked for a Michigan pharmaceutical company as a chemical engineer for 20 years, then 16 years as head of the company's environmental compliance division.
An affinity for wild Lake Superior seemed to make Visser an industry scientist with a conscience.

"Cold, Clear and Deadly" does an excellent job of showing the growing danger to the planet of man-produced toxins. Visser writes to not just inform but to rouse the reader to action in telling others, including politicians about the growing danger to all life on earth.

Navigating Truth and Objectivity in a Sea Storming with Bias.......2007-08-07

Cold, Clear, and Deadly is a thrilling mystery adventure exploring for truth amongst strong human challenges to objectivity within science, culture, activism, and industry. This book is a must read for any change agent who seeks to navigate the for-mentioned communities toward sustainability or any person interested in protecting their own family.

Also highly recommended as an opening required reading for courses in Environmental Engineering, Aquatic Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Sociology or Political Science.

Well written journey .......2007-07-07

A technical man with a clear view from within the industry from an ethical perspective. Worth reading - a must!

solving an ecological mystery in the Great Lakes and northern waters.......2007-05-02

Upon early retirement from the UpJohn Company, Visser undertook an investigation which was like solving a mystery to find out how persistent organic pollutants--POPs--were getting into the colder waters of the earth from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean. The POPs, at first though to be harmless, were becoming so prevalent and toxic that blubber from some Arctic Ocean whales would classify as hazardous waste. Visser had the necessary scientific background for this investigation. The long stretch of his career at Upjohn where he had responsibility for environmental compliance and remediation gave him knowledge of "process research" and "training in the behavior of chemicals" he would need. "The refusal of banned chemicals to leave Lake Superior" became a perplexing question to him during his last years with Upjohn. Noting that the answer to the question of POPs in Lake Superior and other bodies of water "unfolded like a mystery novel, with chemicals as characters," Visser writes a first-person tale with the novelistic techniques of dialogue, action, scenes, and short paragraphs. The compelling environmental story in a popular style makes the book a model for others on environmental issues which are matters of growing public concern.

International Pesticide Product Registration Requirements: The Road to Harmonization (Acs Symposium Series)

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International Pesticide Product Registration Requirements: The Road to Harmonization (Acs Symposium Series)

Manufacturer: An American Chemical Society Publication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0841235996

Book Description

This volume presents an up-to-date perspective on international registration and testing requirements for pesticides. It emphasizes efforts to develop a consensus on technical, laboratory, and regulatory requirements that will promote international trade. It includes a valuable comparison of accreditation programs and regulatory monitoring for laboratory compliance. The essays are divided into six areas: the impact of international trade agreements on health and environmental testing and registration; comparisons of ISO laboratory accreditation programs with OECD, GLP, and national GLP programs; the U.S. EPA FIFRA GLP program and proposed impact of the U.S. National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program; the Food Quality Protection Act; National testing and registration standards for the U.S., Canada, Mexico, India, Australia, Japan, Central and South America, and Europev; and computer validation methods.

Pesticides: A Toxic Time Bomb in Our Midst

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An invaluable guide

Pesticides: A Toxic Time Bomb in Our Midst
Marvin J. Levine
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 027599127X

Book Description

Pesticide exposure has long been a cause for concern, and with good reason. Studies have shown that all persons, but especially children, pregnant women, farmers, farmworkers, and the elderly, may experience negative health effects from pesticide exposure. These effects may include acute poisoning, cancer, neurological damage, birth defects, reduced sperm count, suppressed immune systems, and reproductive and developmental harm. This book is a comprehensive examination of pesticide use, pesticide harm, and alternatives to harmful pesticides. Levine highlights the role of farming, because a substantial majority--70 percent or more annually--of pesticides are applied in agricultural uses, thereby making their way into the food chain and into the water supply. More than 20 types of pesticides have been detected in U.S. groundwater, and it is believed that nearly 100 have the potential to invade our municipal water systems. Some level of pesticide contamination has been detected in every state, in both urban and agricultural areas. Outside of agriculture, people are exposed to pesticides primarily in the home. Approximately 90 percent of all households in the nation use pesticides, and the number and concentration of these agents indoors has been shown to be greater than outdoors. Given that Americans now spend nearly 90 percent of each day indoors, this is an issue of real concern. In addition to homes, suburban and rural corporate parks are also affected. Schools are another worrisome venue. In too many of our 110,000 school districts, untrained persons are making critical decisions about the use of pesticides in school buildings and on school grounds. No other book currently examines this issue in such breadth and depth.

Customer Reviews:

An invaluable guide.......2007-09-04

Pesticide exposure has long been a danger and studies have documented dangers to all levels of society, but what makes Pesticides: A Toxic Time Bomb in Our Midst so important for any college-level collection strong in health, safety, and agriculture as well as social issues is its comprehensive examination of pesticide use, its effects, and alternatives to pesticides. Insights on applied agricultural uses of pesticides and how people are exposed - primarily in the home - accompany charts of statistics and heavily footnoted references in an invaluable guide highly recommended for any collection strong in environmental awareness, safety, and social issues.

Illustrated Handbook of Physical-Chemical Properties of Environmental Fate for Organic Chemicals, Volume V

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Illustrated Handbook of Physical-Chemical Properties of Environmental Fate for Organic Chemicals, Volume V
Donald Mackay , Wan Ying Shiu , and Kuo-Ching Ma
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The fifth volume, Pesticides, completes this unique series of information-packed handbooks on environmental fate. The handbook contains fate calculations for a variety of pesticides of environmental interest today. No other volume offers current data in this convenient format.

Fate of Pesticides and Chemicals in the Environment (Environmental Science and Technology: A Wiley-Interscience Series of Texts and Monographs)

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Fate of Pesticides and Chemicals in the Environment (Environmental Science and Technology: A Wiley-Interscience Series of Texts and Monographs)

Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0471502324

Book Description

A result of important bilateral scientific agreements between the U.S. and the Soviet Union on the fate of chemicals and pesticides in the environment. Written by experts in both countries, it familiarizes the reader with recent state-of-the-art research being conducted in the areas of agricultural management and water pollution control. A number of models are provided to give the reader a concise grasp of exposure and ecological risk assessments involving these pollutants. Focuses on the necessity to improve our deteriorating standards of public health, environmental science and technology with a total systems approach through the pooled talents of scientists and engineers.

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Silent Spring Revisited

Manufacturer: An American Chemical Society Publication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0841209804

Book Description

A landmark in environmental concerns--this extraordinary book continues the ecological revolution that Rachel Carson started 20 years ago. The risks of pesticide use remain, but the issues today have become conflicts of values. How do we trade off the dangers of toxic chemicals and their cost to the environment with the benefits of higher agricultural productivity? This book presents a daring new look at these very important concerns.

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology / Volume 186 (Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology)

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Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology / Volume 186 (Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0387290249

Book Description

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of timely advances, philosophy, and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of xenobiotics, in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications.

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Advocates Pest Management via Biological Control
Good introduction to basics of attempts to control pests

Nature Wars: People vs. Pests
Mark L. Winston
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0674605411

Book Description

On our side, a vast arsenal of chemical pesticides. On their side? They don't have a side, the pests who must do nature's bidding. This is our war, and should we win it, ours would be a sorry planet. With disturbing news from the front, Nature Wars sounds the alarm against our dangerous tactics for controlling the pests that are an annoying but integral part of our world.

Thirty years after Silent Spring woke us to the devastation wrought by DDT, chemical pesticides are as pervasive as ever, deployed at a rate of 4 pounds a year for every man, woman, and child in this country. This ongoing commitment to pesticides, Mark Winston argues, reflects our sense of place in nature: embattled, beleaguered, driven to aggression. His book, as sensible as it is wise, seeks to change this mindset, to show how a more measured and discriminating approach to pests, one based on management rather than eradication, might serve us and the natural world far better than our ill-fated all-out war.

Winston backs up this approach with a full battery of case studies that take us from lawns and kitchens to farms and orchards, from insects and weeds to rats and coyotes. Here we see the complex political, biological, economic, social, and personal interactions that lie behind each pest management decision. Against this background Winston considers diverse instances of past pest management that reveal a consistent pattern of mistakes and problems--and lead to realistic, workable proposals for reducing pesticide use.

A compelling book about ethics and choices, Nature Wars shows us the difference between protecting ourselves from real pests and poisoning ourselves and the planet. It turns us from our war on nature to our task as stewards of the environment.

Customer Reviews:

Advocates Pest Management via Biological Control.......2000-09-24

Since 1962, when Rachel Carson published her seminal work, Silent Spring, nothing much has changed in our practice of pest control. Carson had advocated that the methods we employ for pest control must be such that they do not destroy us along with the insects. Yet today, despite the lip service we pay to Silent Spring, and in spite of considerable environmental protest, public outcry and the availability of viable alternatives, we still choose to spray chemical pesticides at an alarming rate. In fact, chemical pesticides still remain our pest control method of choice.

Our attitude is to approach pests as organisms to control rather than manage; we exterminate instead of reduce; we dominate rather than learn to accommodate. Why this sad state of affairs remains so is a central theme of this book, which introduces the concept of pest management (as opposed to pest control). Pest management forces us to look beyond the immediate benefits and disadvantages, costs and side effects, of pest control methods towards choosing alternatives that are more environmentally compatible and less harmful to our own health. The author explores scientifically exciting alternative technologies such as biological control, yet admits, as the 1990 gypsy moth invasion of Vancouver has shown, that the public needs more education and assurance on its safety and environmental correctness.

This book provides such an education and forms the basis for novel biologically based strategies involving pheromones, parasitic insects, bio-engineered crops and pest diseases to become standard practice.

Mark L. Winston is professor of biological sciences at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. He is the author of two previous books, The Biology of the Honey Bee and Killer Bees.

Good introduction to basics of attempts to control pests.......1998-12-31

I found this book to be a very good introduction to the issues surrounding control of pests. It uses cases histories such as attempts to control the gypsy and codling moths to introduce not only the biological and environmental issues but also the political influences on decisions to control pests. It's quite readable. Anyone familiar with Silent Spring will enjoy this book.

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