The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)

Book Description

This latest installment in the P.I.G. series provides a provocative, entertaining, and well-documented expose of some of the most shamelessly politicized pseudo-science we are likely to see in our relatively cool lifetimes.

Customer Reviews:

Good Book.......2007-10-01

It's about time someone brought to light the other side of the story. A must read for liberals.

Exceedingly one-sided attempt to suggest warming is beneficial and/or not man-made.......2007-09-23

The issue of global warming has long been in the news. From the perspective of Australia the issue is critical, as rainfall in my home city of Melbourne has declined by forty percent in the past eleven years. Such a decline is totally unparalleled in the 150 years of instrumental record.

At the same time, the northwest of Australia has seen dramatic increases in rainfall ever since the late 1960s, so much so that seven of its eight wettest years (since 1885) have occurred since 1995.

In this context, even though able usually to listen to anybody (actually, I generally dislike moderate views because they tend to be wishy-washy) it is not possible for me to take most of the claims made by Horner seriously.

Horner's contention, basically, is that global warming is either not man-made or will in the long-term benefit human society. As to the first point, he greatly exaggerates the proportion of greenhouse gases that is naturally occurring. For instance, my prior knowledge of science tell me that it impossible that more than minute quantities (like, say, a few grams per year) of sulfur hexafluoride or other exceedingly potent fluorine-containing greenhouse gases could be naturally produced each year. Because there is no natural sink for them, natural production of fluorine-containing greenhouse gases in the quantities asserted by Horner would inevitably turn the Earth into an inferno with temperatures hot enough, say, to melt copper. He also understates the proportion of other greenhouse gases that are man-made, notably carbon dioxide where emissions from combustion are far greater than those from biological decay, fires, volcanoes and oceanic release.

Horner's viewpoints about the extent and effects of global warming are also very poorly done. For instance, he suggests that increases in global temperatures have been due to closures of stations in the Russian Arctic. As a person with knowledge of how mean temperatures for an area are calculated, I know well that is unlikely unless every single station in Arctic Russia was closed (which is not what he says): the few that remain would be always given greater weight owing to the large areas they represent and the closures would not affect the average. Although he rightly asserts that the Southern Hemisphere is warming much less than the Northern, my knowledge of Australian climatology suggests this is almost certainly due to the large increases in rainfall that have occurred not only over pastoral areas of Western Australia but also in similar latitudes of South America. Large increases in rainfall naturally lead to reduced temperatures because it has become much cloudier. For example, 2000, whilst the fifth warmest year on record globally, was one of the coolest on record in pastoral areas of Western Australia owing to general record-breaking annual rainfall. In areas of Australia that have dried out, there has been as much warming as in the Northern Hemisphere.

Horners' idea about the question of "global cooling" is similarly weak. The issue rose form the fact that it was thought upon studying previous glacial-interglacial cycles where 10,000 years of interglacial were followed by 90,000 years of glacial that we were near the end of the Holocene and that the next ice age was due to begin soon. Recent data show that we are moving towards an era of longer - but cooler - interglacials (and relatively shorter, less cold glacial periods).

Horner's other chief thesis is that warming always benefits civilisations. He cites the effects of the Medieval Warm Period upon European civilisation as an example - for instance the settlement of Greenland by the Norse and its ending with cooling and the Little Ice Age. However, there is little evidence that this rule holds in hotter and more fragile environments. For instance, the Hohokam of Arizona declined after reaching a peak in the eighth century just before the Medieval Warm Period, and some Mesoamerican societies also declined from the ninth century, apparently due to climate change. In any case, because many areas that are major agricultural regions today were not farmed in the Middle Ages, comparisons are not possible.

Horner's viewpoint that reducing greenhouse emissions would be immensely costly is also impossible to accept. Government welfare to polluting corporations is extremely large, as are budgets for building utterly unnecessary freeways. These could easily be completely redirected to supporting renewable energy and public transit at great benefit to everybody except some exceedingly powerful vested interests in car and fossil fuel corporations. Although Horner is actually right in saying the US' per capita emissions show greater decline than Europe's, the difference is not significant and if it reflects anything at all, it is probably the greater willingness of Americans to accept less comfortable lifestyles.

The way in which Horner accepts only the evidence that suits his viewpoints is really the worst kind of science you will ever see. It recurs time and time against throughout this book and for this reason alone I would not recommend "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming".

What the media won't tell you about this farce called globla warming.......2007-09-22

This book covers all the stuff you need to know to become informed about so called global warming. Yes the climate does change but it is cyclic not due to man made causes!!!! The powers that be that worship this religion are only in it to pick your pockets and gain power!!!

It is a fallacy that man is causing this to the degree that the greens and the great Goreacle want you to believe.

Read this and become informed to put to rest the misinformation that they want you to believe.

Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming is Well Written.......2007-09-22

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming answers the unscientific and alarmist notions by Al Gore and the environmentalists. The book proposes reasoned thought instead of arm-waving and rhetoric. It proposes that no science is "settled" and everything is still open to question and should be studied in order to improve the human condition. The human condition can be improved by studying the previous history of the planet,finding out how the environment changed and adapted through time and various challenges. Tne human condition cannot be improved by adopting some apocalyptic measures thought out at 2 A.M. and not reexamined in the light of day.

The ongoing climate change debate.......2007-09-18

This book had some very good data to support the case that the current global warming issue is greatly overstated. The book is easy to read and the science clearly explained. The problem with the book is that it is too long because of the repetition of the main arguments. It is worth a read and would be a good book for the alarmists to read.

Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years

Average customer rating:

Unstoppable Global Warming - Singer and Avery
A Must Read
Global Warming Evaluation with Documentation
Book Review
Real science in a field full of Junk science

Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years
Dennis T. Avery , and S. Fred Singer
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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Book Description

Singer and Avery present in popular language supported by in-depth scientific evidence the compelling concept that global temperatures have been rising mostly or entirely because of a natural cycle. Unstoppable Global Warming explains why we're warming, why it's not very dangerous, and why we can't stop it anyway.

Customer Reviews:

Unstoppable Global Warming - Singer and Avery .......2007-10-03

This is an excellent book that answers real questions and concerns about global warming. It counters the "sky is falling" syndrome propagated by those who do not know the real facts or insights related to the warming trends. The book focuses on adapting to a common cyclical environmental event versus approaches that are a waste of time trying to stop the warming. Overall the book is well written but is somewhat academic. There is a detailed effort to outline the warming trend with factual information and details. Is well worth the read.

A Must Read.......2007-10-02

Singer and Avery offered a well documented, heavily researched, and easily read analysis of the global warming issue.

Their conclusion: Yes, the earth is currently warming, however so slightly. No, man is not the cause of this warming. Rather, it is dependent upon 1,500 year climate cycles embedded within larger ice-age and non-ice-age shifts (which take millions of years, according to the authors). All of which is dependent upon the amount of the sun's radiance hitting the earth, which in turn varies upon the amount of solar winds intercepting said radiation. (Note: this is the summary of a layman, and is dramatically over simplistic.) This is supported by the analysis of literally hundreds of studies.

Accompanying the scientific support of the 1,500 year cycle and refutation of the greenhouse gas theory, Singer and Avery include a poignant and absolutely necessary look at the implications of acting upon the greenhouse gas theory. Truth in this issue is not a matter of simply proving one's point, of social/political standing, or of a voting platform, but one of life and death importance.

This being a heavily scientific book, perhaps "easily read" was an exaggeration. Rather, "well written" would suitably describe this readable, yet challenging book.

The authors, while being experts in the field of global climate studies, are not devoid of a sense of humor, one at which greenhouse gas theorists would certainly take issue.

The Amazon reviewer Crosslands sums up my personal opinion of this work well:

Pseudoscientists and others with a vested interest in controlling the global economy by use of the global warming hoax will not like this work. However informed readers concerned with human welfare and human progress will find this book invaluable. This book should be read by all Amercians and really by everone else in the world.

Global Warming Evaluation with Documentation.......2007-09-22

I have read this book thoroughly and enjoyed it very much. I was very impressed with the breadth, depth and documentation included with the book and range of topics presented by the authors. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in assessing the true status of the "Global Warming" Hypothesis.

Dr. James F. Howard, Ph.D.
Geo and Environmental Sciences

Book Review.......2007-09-22

I am interested in global warming and found in this book the technical basis for global warming. I don't believe Al Gores book is accurate.

Real science in a field full of Junk science.......2007-09-15

I've read numberous articles and several books on the global warming controversy, and I must say, this is far and away the best. Although Avery and Singer do explain the political basis and motivation of the global warming movement, their primary focus is on the actual science of a scientifically validated phenomenon that thoroughly and convincingly explains the global warming that has recently occurred. Most surprisingly, they offer a tremendous amount of data that illustrates that global warming has historically been of tremendous benefit to humans throughout history. The book presents so much scientific detail that at times at times I found myself thinking, "Alright already, I'm convinced!", which is just what this all-too-often fuzzy topic needs.

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

Average customer rating:

Oh, see Al.
whoops
As a public awareness campaign AIT gets an A+, but the science is just a work in progress, so it gets a C-
Gore's take on global warming
A Message to the Planet [again]

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
Al Gore
Manufacturer: Rodale Books
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Product Description

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

Customer Reviews:

Oh, see Al........2007-09-27

Oh, see Al. See Al run. Run, Al, run!

See Al smiling. See Al smiling in the Artic. See Al smiling in the boat in the water.

See Al run from the critics. See Al run from the facts. See Al run from the debates. Run, Al, run!!!

After hearing all of the furor over the book, I expected a book of science. What I found was a picture book with big print. If you're looking for a serious book on the science of climate change, there are many good ones out there. If you want a book of propaganda written at a 3rd grade level, with lots of pretty pictures and little reading required, then you're in the right place.

whoops.......2007-09-24

I was devastated when I receievd the book - I thoguht I was buying the DVD!!!

As a public awareness campaign AIT gets an A+, but the science is just a work in progress, so it gets a C-.......2007-09-14

First, I have to clarify that I strongly believe we have a moral obligation to take good care of our Pale Blue Dot, not only for us but to preserve our planet environment and natural resources for future generations.

In general terms, the scope of the book is around 80% the same of the film/documentary, and most of the new material is presented in the final section. The information is presented is a very friendly matter, full of pictures, info boxes and graphs, following Carl Sagan's style for explaining science to the general public, even with resemblance to Sagan's first successful book, Cosmos. After watching the film I bought the book expecting more detailed information. Because of the logical time constraints of a film, I thought much information was left out of the documentary. I wanted to look at all the graphs presented by Gore in detail, and above all, I wanted to follow up and read the scientific sources. But to my disappointment, Gore did not use the conventional reference system, so follow up is made difficult. Real references are presented only in the last section of the book, web addresses are presented to follow up after each tip on what we can do about it. This brings me precisely for the second reason I bought the book. The film presented too little about what can be done, so when I saw the title of the companion book, I was expecting a detail discussion, and particularly, specific recommendations. But again, disappointment, only around 15 pages are devoted to the can do's, and around a third of that section is actually spent on ten boxes debunking equal number of supposed misconceptions, myths or common mistakes or disinformation regarding Global Warming (GW).

The lack of rigorous scientific debunking presented in these boxes is really frightening for a book supposedly based on scientific studies. As an example, on box number 6, the thickening of Antarctica's ice cap is confusedly presented as not truth, when NASA's satellite measurements show that actually Antarctica is warming only on the perimeter of the Antarctica Peninsula, but the rest of the continent shows a cooling trend and the ice cap is indeed getting thicker. This trend has been going on for 20 years now. Antarctica has 13 billion km2, the glaciers falling to the sea shown by Gore represent just a fraction of 1% of Antarctica's ice. In one of NASA's sites there is a very nice composed picture showing this trend, go to the web and check the facts by yourself. Actually the only completely bogus assertion is presented in box number 9, regarding GW being caused by Tunguska event, the meteor or comet that hit Siberia in 1908. Interestingly, several explicit references are made to the fiction novel "State of Fear" by Michael Crichton (he has been one of the most skeptical and outspoken critics of GW theory). Also, throughout the book, Gore asserts so many times that what is presented is the truth and nothing but the truth, no doubts prevail, so no skepticism is allowed. And the subtle association is made than those still skeptical are like the tobacco lobbyists trying to defend smoking as a harmless habit. Since GW is a scientific issue, this attitude is regrettable and completely unscientific. Gore's style is good only as public awareness campaign about the importance of taking care about the environment, which he does very well, but unfortunately, a serious topic is being dealt with the tone and tactics of a political cause, and even worst, with the typical inflexibility of religious fundamentalist defending their dogmas.

Please, don't be so gullible, go to the site of the IPCC and look for the now famous UN 2007 Report on Climate Change. Chapter 8 for example lists all the limitations of the models used, including their inability to reproduce the climate process taking place in the Southern Ocean (this is Antarctica). Also check on the problems with cloud feedbacks, a key variable in any weather forecast. There are plenty of uncertainties. The book "The Future of Everything: The Science of Prediction" (Apollo's Arrow in the Canadian version) by David Orrell is an objective critical analysis of climate modeling for future predictions in the fields of climate, health and economics. If your are genuinely interested in the limitations of the science behind the consensus theory explaining the causes of Global Warming, this book is a must-read. The Northern Hemisphere is certainly getting warmer, the info for the tropics has larger margins of error than for the Norther Hemisphere, and we are trying to explain the process with an oversimplified version of science (bad or incomplete science), and putting on the blame only on CO2. There might be other processes at work. This is irresponsible, we have to complete the homework first, with good objective science, and then we will have the necessary information to manage this crisis. But since the environmental movement decided to go ahead as if this is a religious cause, even if it had to politicize the science, then you get a state of confusion, and insults, and no critical analysis is allowed. Check history, Copernicus and Darwin hold publication of their works because they were afraid of the consequences, since their theories were against the scientific and religious consensus of their times. Are we back to times of the Holy Inquisition?

In order to discover the real reasons for most of the world being warmer and Antarctica colder (yes that's a fact) we need to follow the good old procedures of the scientific method, and leave political agendas out, no matter how noble or politically correct the cause is. All theories regarding climate change must be considered (1000 yr cycles, solar activity, cosmic rays, CO2, etc.), they must be objectively scrutinized and the most promising hypothesis should be prioritized and funded for more serious research. What if all factors are playing a significant role? Meanwhile, no catastrophic end-of-the world scare theory is necessary for us to take care of the pale blue dot we all share. The Global Warming media frenzy was good for public awareness, but it is about time we let scientist do they work. Hard science is the only answer and lots of rational criticism.

And since Gore introduced in the book plenty of quotations, let me reinforce my point with several famous quotations from well known and influential scientists, philosophers of science, and why not, from Michael Crichton, since he is the only critic mentioned by name in the book.

Anecdotal evidence is not proof---"No matter how many instances of white swans we may have observed, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white". Karl Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934).

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980).

"If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want: we shall look for, and find, confirmations, and we shall look away from, and not see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories. In this way it is only too easy to obtain what appears to be overwhelming evidence in favor of a theory which, if approached critically, would have been refuted". Karl Popper, The Poverty of Historicism (1957) Ch. 29 The Unity of Method.

"Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus. There is no such thing as consensus science. If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus. Period". Michael Crichton in "Aliens Cause Global Warming" - A lecture at the California Institute of Technology (17 January 2003).

"We need to get environmentalism out of the sphere of religion. We need to stop the mythic fantasies, and we need to stop the doomsday predictions. We need to start doing hard science instead".
..."Environmentalism needs to be absolutely based in objective and verifiable science, it needs to be rational, and it needs to be flexible. And it needs to be apolitical". Michael Crichton, in "Environmentalism as a Religion", Speech in San Francisco, California, Commonwealth Club (15 September 2003).

"There is an almost universal tendency, perhaps an inborn tendency, to suspect the good faith of a man who holds opinions that differ from our own opinions. ... It obviously endangers the freedom and the objectivity of our discussion if we attack a person instead of attacking an opinion or, more precisely, a theory". Karl Popper, "The Importance of Critical Discussion" in On the Barricades: Religion and Free Inquiry in Conflict (1989) by Robert Basil

"...There is no need to know the truth of the actual matters, but the rhetorician merely needs to have discovered some device of persuasion which will make him appear to the ignorant that he has more knowledge than those who know" Socrates (in Plato's Gorgias)

And now, some fine examples of rhetoric and attacks on the persons rather than on the opions, from some defending the consensus on manmade Global Warming as a dogma instead of as a scientific question:

"Going to `State of Fear' for any facts on Global Warming is like going to `The Da Vinci Code' for facts on the life of Jesus". Unknown author, picked in a discussion blog.

"I have learned that, beyond death and taxes, there is at least one absolutely indisputable fact. Not only does human-caused global warming exist, but it is also growing more and more dangerous, and at a pace that has now made it a planetary emergency". Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, 2006.

"The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, `Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action". Al Gore, Testimony before Congress, 21 March 2007 (Senate Environment Committee hearing on global climate change)

And finally, I rest my case with a very honest confession from a climate scientist:

"On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, in effect promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but -- which means that we must include all the doubts, the caveats, the ifs, ands, and buts. On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people we'd like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climatic change. To do that we need to get some broadbased support, to capture the public's imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. This 'double ethical bind' we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both". (Dr. Stephen H. Schneider as quoted in Discover, pp. 45-48, Oct. 1989, see also American Physical Society, APS News August/September 1996.

You are free to do your homework and make your own judgment. Rational criticism please, that's how science makes progress.

Gore's take on global warming.......2007-07-15

Global warming isn't anything new, but it's an issue that becomes more pressing each and every day. Al Gore's book, "An Inconvenient Truth," along with the documentary with the same time, attempt to bring the global warming issue to the forefront of discussion.

A large portion of this book is taken from the environmental slideshows that Gore has presented around the world for many years. "An Inconvenient Truth" isn't super text heavy: instead, Gore relies on numerous photographs and charts to illustrate the climate crisis for him. The end result is both effective and terrifying. The book explains the basic process of global warming; examines different causes of this phenomenon; shows how many different things are affected by global warming (including weather, wildlife, food production, the economy, etc.); shoots down skeptics' claims that global warming doesn't even exist; and offers suggestions of how individuals can help make a difference in the environment.

There wasn't a great deal of information in this book that I didn't already know, but I'm sure a lot of people aren't very familiar with the realities of global warming. Also, even though I'd heard a lot of this information before, seeing everything presented in this way was simply mind-boggling. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets after seeing the photos of the melting ice masses and the photos depicting what would happen to major cities across the globe if sea levels worldwide increased by 20 feet (an all-too-real possibility that's almost too scary to think about, but is something that we MUST think about if we want our planet to survive).

Gore made a brief comment in the book comparing terrorism to global warming, and it really struck home with me. He basically asked how we can be so obsessed with preventing terrorism (and rightfully so), but yet the majority of people do little or nothing to try and combat global warming, which threatens the existence of our entire civilization. That's a very good question.

I think Gore did an excellent job of explaining global warming in a way that's easy for everyone to understand. Hopefully the people who read this book will be inspired to "go green" and will encourage their family and friends to do the same.

A Message to the Planet [again].......2007-07-12

Do photographs lie? If these had been doctored, we'd all know about it. And is a photograph worth 1,000 words? That is a truth pretty universally acknowledged. This book is a graphic depiction of the fate that is overtaking us, and not as slowly as we'd like to think.
To the reviewer who objected to the pages focusing on the Gore family, I respond that I think that those pages put a human face on all of this -- and show the changes that have occurred in just a part of a lifetime.

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

Average customer rating:

A pleasant read
A must for anyone developing products
2107: "You People Lived in Filth!" - A sort of book review of Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart's Cradle to Cradle
This book is amazing - 6 stars
A very insightful book

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
William McDonough , and Michael Braungart
Manufacturer: North Point Press
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Amazon.com

Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process. Cradle to Cradle is a refreshing change from the intractable environmental conflicts that dominate headlines. It's a handbook for 21st-century innovation and should be required reading for business hotshots and environmental activists. --Therese Littleton

Book Description

A manifesto for a radically different philosophy and practice of manufacture and environmentalism

"Reduce, reuse, recycle" urge environmentalists; in other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. As William McDonough and Michael Braungart argue in their provocative, visionary book, however, this approach perpetuates a one-way, "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that dates to the Industrial Revolution and casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. Why not challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably damage the natural world, they ask.

In fact, why not take nature itself as our model? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we do not consider its abundance wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly effective; hence, "waste equals food" is the first principle the book sets forth. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new-either as "biological nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles, without being "downcycled" into low-grade uses (as most "recyclables" now are).

Elaborating their principles from experience (re)designing everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, the authors make an exciting and viable case for change.

Customer Reviews:

A pleasant read.......2007-09-24

Definitely would recommend this to anyone who would like to learn about how societies will/should change to conform to the processes of nature. Significant change need to occur to shape a planet where humans can survive for a longer duration (than the current forecast). This means alleviating environmental threats that were initially caused by our own doing.

A must for anyone developing products.......2007-09-19

This book put a new light on the manufacturing process. I am currently studying to be an engineer, and upon reading this book, I feel I have gained important insight into how to ethically create products. The focus of the book is to show that being "less bad", as the current way of thinking promotes, is not the right mentality to have. Instead the book proposes that products need to be looked at in a renewable sense, that is, how can it be completely reused to make something new when its useful life has been spent (hence Cradle to Cradle and not Cradle to Grave). I found the book to be very inspirational and look forward to applying its ideas in my career.

2107: "You People Lived in Filth!" - A sort of book review of Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart's Cradle to Cradle.......2007-08-18

One hundred years isn't a long time. Yet, in the last one hundred years we can account for radical changes in the expectations that we - in the West at least - have concerning the standards of the food we eat and the conditions that we live in. We readily expect that our waste will neatly leave our homes, our malls, our schools, workplaces, and public spots en route to some place where it disappears from sight and smell forever. In fact, we rarely think about whether our waste ends up burnt, buried, or recycled, nor whether the food we dine on is thoroughly inspected and safe. We can think back to 1907 as a period in which there was nothing in the way of food safety standards (though a movement in that direction was initiated as a result of Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle, which was published that same year). Nor was there any notion of labor rights, environmental protection, and many of the sanitation procedures that we often take for granted nowadays.

Looking back through history ever further, to the crowded city streets of Paris, London, or Rome in the 17th and 18th century, reveals a more distasteful reality of how people lived. The blood of slaughtered animals, along with human excrement and other waste flowed through the sewers of these magnificent cities. "How did people live like this?" we might wonder. We shutter to think about living in such conditions, which allowed for the rapid spread of pestilence and sickness, not to mention unthinkable stench. While this may still be the experience of too many in the developing world, a signal of the progress and greatness of the modernized West has been our ability to escape the condition of living in our own waste.

Yet I've wondered recently how those living in 2107 will look upon the collective condition of the world as it stands today? Will they think that we live in filth? Despite the fact that we can split atoms, fly space crafts around the solar system, cure many illnesses, make electricity from the sun's rays, and communicate with each other in a myriad of digital ways, I wonder if they will ask why we still chose to live in our waste? I think that they will find it extremely perplexing that a society as developed as ours, who has the self awareness and knowledge about the harm that we inflict on ourselves and for posterity - not to mention the multitude of living systems that we are embedded in - refused to develop a different course for humanity.

When I say that we live in filth I mean that we continue to choke on unsafe air from the cars we drive and the outdated and dangerous ways that we engage in mass industrialization. I mean that we continue to produce millions and millions of consumable products made from an array of unsafe chemicals that we know little about and which we simply burn or bury after we use them one or two times. I find it so perplexing that industry continues to spends so much time and energy developing products that will only be used for a small fraction of time by consumers, yet will spend hundreds of years in landfills (I'm thinking especially of the enormous amount of plastic packaging that most products come in, only to be discarded immediately).

We dump many of the items that we have no more use for into ever expanding landfills that are getting closer and closer to the places we live and the sources of water we eventually come to drink. We are, in effect, living in our own waste. We put zero amount of effort into thinking of ways to design the same products that we rely on daily so that they are not harmful for humans or the environments in which we live. Scratch that, we have the technology and the know how for making safer and better products, however we lack leaders (both political & business) with the will, courage, and vision to bring humanity into the next industrial revolution. The first industrial revolution centered on extracting resources from the Earth (with little thought of replacing them) and putting these resources through production processes that have amounted to harming both human and non-human life for many years to come. The next industrial revolution will be about reengineering the production of consumer goods so that the stuff we make is in accordance with our natural environment. It will be about plastics that are biodegradable and the eradication of materials that are not. It will be about more intelligent approaches to designing buildings, which will utilize natural light, wind patterns, and the surrounding ecosphere to produce happier places to work and live, and which no longer rely on burning fossil fuels for cooling, heating, and sanitation. It will be about re-conceptualizing how we design, plan, and imagine the cities that most of humanity has come to chose to live in.

I'm currently drinking a soda out of a plastic bottle made from polymers derived from petroleum. This bottle, which not only is derived from the most contested resource of our time (though clean water is quickly taking its place) will be intact for those living in 2107 to view and touch as an artifact of an era which may be known in the future as one of reckless disregard, ignorance, and waste. Even the popular notion of recycling many of the products that we use only serves to slow down the rate in which we are harming ourselves. Recycling for many products is really a process of downcycling - a term coined by Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart in their book Cradle to Cradle. The process of recycling a product essentially causes it to loose its quality each time it is put through the recycling process (assuming that individuals keep recycling each new plastic reincarnate). Even though I will recycle this bottle, and it will become another plastic product again, it will eventually have to be disregarded after going through a few recycles. Alas, we are really just slowing down the rate by which synthetics eventually reach our waste graveyards or incinerators. In addition, while it is thought to be a socially responsible activity, the process of recycling releases into the atmosphere dangerous toxins emitted by the burning of plastics during the recycling process.

What is radically different about the world from 1907, or 17th century European cities, is that we fully understand the consequences of continuing down the path we are on. Furthermore, we have the knowledge and creative ideas of how to alter that path. What we lack, sadly, is the will to cause massive social change in how we consume and live. McDonough and Braungart's text urges product designers, city planners, and architects to approach their designs with the future of humanity in mind. Interestingly, they are not saying that we need to save the planet, for the planet will still be here long after homo sapiens has expired. Their message is that we need to save ourselves from the harm we are inflicting on ourselves. Their cradle-to-cradle philosophy urges designers to make products that can easily be disassembled after their use and put back into the production cycle as something else. In this sense, products should have an immense shelf life, being able to become that same product again or easily transformed into some other consumer product. The idea is to rid ourselves of the current approach to production which is based on a cradle-to-grave approach: extract resources from the Earth to make consumer products which are then discarded (thrown away) into landfills or burnt up in incinerators, expelling unknown synthetic chemicals into the ecosphere which we rely on for life.

It's time for us to recognize that the approach to mass production and living brought on by the industrial revolution is antiquated. If anything, it's insulting that humanity has yet to update itself from what seems to be such an archaic paradigm of not only how we make things, but what are relationship ought to be with the multitude of living systems that we are embedded in. All other living species exist in an interdependent cyclical system in which their "wastes equals food" for some other set of beings. It's high time that we apply this age old and ubiquitous principle to how we manufacture and produce all the things that we need to live as well.

This book is amazing - 6 stars.......2007-08-12

If you care about ecology and if you ever wondered how humanity can live in a harmony with the nature - you must read this book.

Imagine plastic container that you are encouraged to throw away - it contains no toxins, biodegrades and serves as nutrition for soil... Imagine the car you give back to the manufacturer who gives you instead a newer model, then manufacturer takes apart the old car piece by piece and infinitely reuses the parts... And so on... This book is made out of plastic that can be printed on over and over again...

A very insightful book.......2007-08-04

With all the talk these days about Global warming this is a great book to read.
For many, in my opinion including myself, educated in similar thought processes dating back to beginnings of the industrial revolution has created many of the problems, as a world, we now face. The two authors try to break down these barriers and describe ways in which we can all treat the planet with a little more respect and develop new ways of thinking. The idea as they write,"throwing that away." Where are you throwing it away to? It basically ends up in someone else's back yard polluting their environment while delaying the inevitable pollution of your local environment. I hope this book motivates at least a few individuals enough where they do become active or lead them down a path where they develop ways to decrease individuals carbon foot print.
Ideas written about in this book reflects the Sundance Channels: The Green, Bid Ideas for a Small Planet, shows about individuals trying to make an a more sustainable environment. Some of the documentaries related to this series shows areas that have been so heavily polluted and groups trying to remedy them. It was quite alarming to see areas such as this.
Again, a great book with many new ideas and ways to look at things

Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future (9th Edition)

Average customer rating:

Workbook - Environmental Science
Highly disappointing
Interestign articles with a thick political spin
One of the Best
Making environmental science relevant

Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future (9th Edition)
Richard T. Wright
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0131442007

Book Description

This classic book explores the interactions of humans within the natural environment and probes issues thoroughly, examining their scientific basis, history, and society's response. Strong science, sustainability, and stewardship of Earth remain the underlying themes. Accompanies each copy of the book with the new Global City CD, built around the concepts of a large city that shows many of the environmental problems presented in the book. Includes an extensively revised layout and design. Keeps readers abreast of the latest developments or most pressing issues in the field, such as Global Climate Change. Offers "Environment on the Web" exercises that help readers access additional information on the Internet; important Web references are keyed to each chapter. An interesting reference for anyone interested in learning more about today's crucial environmental issues.

Customer Reviews:

Workbook - Environmental Science.......2007-08-21

It is a workbook and not what I was attempting to order. I expected a reading/learning media. This is only for use in classroom setting.

Highly disappointing.......2006-08-05

While the class I took that used this textbook was informative, this book was full of what seemed to be the authors' personal opinons. Like another person said here in the reviews about blame on the Bush administration, and lack of references aside from photo credits, this book seemed to be geared more towards giving you the biased outlook of the author than an unbiased view of environmental science.

I agree that this book is not fit for a college textbook, or any other type of education.

Interestign articles with a thick political spin.......2006-04-27

This revision must have been specially produced just to include all the anti-Bush rhetoric. In nearly every chapter, responsibility for the current state of the environment is laid squarly on President Bush's administration.

In addition, there are no references given for any of the information presented in the book. As a student, we are expected to take this author's word for it that everything he has presented is true and accurate, and that he is simply a repository for all of this accurate information. In fact, the lack of references is absolutely striking when you consider this is a textbook that is supposedly presenting facts. The only references given are those for photo credits.

Unfit as a college textbook.

One of the Best.......2005-08-16

This is one of the most readable environmental texts I've seen.
It is very comprehnsive and the coverage of the newest scientific results in the science of resource conservation is simply excellent. The content is oriented around a group of themes and applied to the concept of ecosystems and their management. Is almost as if the author has takrn the first halting steps toward a unified environmental theory.

Two negative points though. Coverage of forest resources is a little thin, and like most textbooks, the price is way too high.

Making environmental science relevant.......2004-11-28

Professor Richard Wright has succeeded where so many others have failed, by creating a textbook that makes the subject of environmental science relevant. After all, most students taking a course that uses this book are doing so because it's required, rather than as an elective.
As an adjunct professor of environmental science at Endicott College, I have reviewed many textbooks for possible use in introductory courses. This one is a standout, and based on feedback from students over the past four years, they, too, agree.
The text is easy to read, and enhanced by many graphs, charts and photographs.

David Liscio, adjunct professor, Endicott College, Beverly, MA

Average customer rating:

Great Environmental Chem Text
Good presentation of a broad topic.
Informative, easy to understand

Environmental Chemistry
Colin Baird , and Michael Cann
Manufacturer: W. H. Freeman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Environmental Chemistry Student Solutions Manual
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Inorganic Chemistry

ASIN: 0716748770

Customer Reviews:

Great Environmental Chem Text.......2000-06-20

I took a web-based environmental chem course, and this book was used in lieu of lectures. The author does an outstanding job of presentation and the text is very well-organized. Includes a lot of current information. The problems within the text are very challenging and reflect real world issues (i.e., PCB concentrations in the Great Lakes) My only criticism is that the chapters are sometimes overly long. Other than that, this is one of the best E-chem texts I've come up against, and I certainly learned more from it than I would have from listening to a prof lecturing for a term. Recommended highly!

Good presentation of a broad topic........1999-01-07

I am also a chemistry student and I found the book to be rather easy, but that is because the text is very clearly written with good presentation and concise wording. It is certainly a good place to start in trying to understand an environmental problem, especially if the readers background in chemistry is only on a general and limited organic level.

Informative, easy to understand.......1998-08-24

Environmetal chemistry is a very helpful book for studensts in environmental chemistry studies. But as a pure chemistry student i find some parts of the book too easy, even boring at times, specially the chapters on organic environmental chemistry.On the other hand the chapters on physical environmental chemistry are very good and contain challenging problems.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century

Average customer rating:

Interesting but not what I expected
This book could change your world
Good reference
brilliant!
A smart and inclusive book, really recommendable!

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century
Alex Steffen
Manufacturer: "Harry N. Abrams, Inc."
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
Designing Interactions

ASIN: 0810930951

Book Description

Worldchanging is poised to be the Whole Earth Catalog for this millennium. Written by leading new thinkers who believe that the means for building a better future lie all around us, Worldchanging is packed with the information, resources, reviews, and ideas that give readers the tools they need to make a difference. Brought together by Alex Steffen, co-founder of the popular and award-winning web site Worldchanging.com, this team of top-notch writers includes Cameron Sinclair, founder of Architecture for Humanity, Geekcorps founder Ethan Zuckerman, sustainable food expert Anna Lappé, and many others. Renowned designer Stefan Sagmeister brings his extraordinary talents to Worldchanging, resulting in a book that will challenge readers to personally redefine the conversation about the future.

Each chapter offers readers new answers to key questions, such as:
Why does buying locally produced food make sense?
What steps can I take to influence my workplace toward sustainability?
How do I volunteer, advocate, and give more effectively?

From eco-building to responsible shopping, political action to humanitarian relief, Worldchanging
puts the power to solve problems into the reader's hands.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but not what I expected.......2007-09-14

This is more like an encyclopedia than "a users guide for the 21st century". The hefty volume includes hundreds of short topical articles on lots of different things but doesn't go into a lot of detail on any. I was hoping for more practical examples of things I could do to survive in a changing world but was disappointed. For example, there is a section on Green Rooftops. You would think that a "users guide" might give you practical advice on creating one. Instead it talks about how they are great for saving energy and creating gardens. Okay... I get that and I agree but maybe a little more info please?

All and all the writing is good and it does cover a lot of topics I just think that the description when buying it leads one to believe there is a bit more depth than there actually is.

This book could change your world.......2007-08-29

This publication is worth it's weight in something quite valuable. It provides a mass of information on all sorts of subjects relating to changing your outlook and how to live within the planets available resources. It has some surprisingly useful tips on things like how to make a small apartment look and feel big by using great space saving ideas; how to use less of the planets scarce resources in many ways.

My only beef is that it looks like a self published volume and so lacks gravitas somehow. For example it does not have any information on the inner fly page about the book, such as year of publication, publisher, ISBN Number, and other essential info. Another problem I found was actually finding some of the reference works in the text. Not enough info to enable the reader to trace sources adequately.

I found it very difficult for example to find the publisher of one work I was interested in. Google hadn't even heard of the publisher. I did find them and the book eventually but had to try very hard and boy, was it obscure.

Even though the jacket and outer are quite attractive, they reek of self-publishing. This is not good for the image of a book on such an important subject.

Sorry chaps, only 6 out of 10 from me.

Good reference.......2007-07-15

Some info is out of date and biased, ie article on Vancouver (my home town). Lots is covered, not in much depth but there are lots of references for further reading. Would be a great addition to everyone's reference section.

brilliant!.......2007-07-12

For a "users guide" I actually expected something more "portable"... its brilliant in its content and design!!

A smart and inclusive book, really recommendable! .......2007-07-03

The book contains small articles about everything between heaven and earth all within the envionmental scope of interest. You find your self reading it, flipping through the pages wanting more info...A fun concept between an excellent encyclopedia, interesting facts book and a nice coffee table book. Only con might be the size, making it a bit bulky to read for more than a short while...

Biology: Concepts & Connections with Student CD-ROM (5th Edition)

Average customer rating:

Good introductory biology text
Biology: concepts and connections with student cm-rom 5th
Above and Beyond Other Textbooks
What a Savings!!!
I feel educated every time I use this book...

Biology: Concepts & Connections with Student CD-ROM (5th Edition)
Neil A. Campbell , Jane B. Reece , Martha R. Taylor , and Eric J. Simon
Manufacturer: Benjamin Cummings
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805371605

Book Description

Biology: Concepts and Connections invites readers into the world of biology with a new revision of this best-selling text. It is known for scientific accuracy and currency; a modular presentation that helps readers to focus on the main concepts; and art that teaches better than any other book. Biology: Exploring Life, THE LIFE OF THE CELL, The Chemical Basis of Life, The Molecules of Cells, A Tour of the Cell, The Working Cell, How Cells Harvest Chemical Energy, Photosynthesis: Using Light to Make Food, CELLULAR REPRODUCTION AND GENETICS, The Cellular Basis of Reproduction and Inheritance, Patterns of Inheritance, Molecular Biology of the Gene, The Control of Gene Expression, DNA Technology and Genomics, CONCEPTS OF EVOLUTION, How Populations Evolve, The Origin of Species, Tracing Evolutionary History, THE EVOLUTION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, The Origin and Evolution of Microbial Life: Prokaryotes and Protists, Plants, Fungi, and the Colonization of Land, The Evolution of Animal Diversity, Human Evolution, ANIMALS: FORM AND FUNCTION, Unifying Concepts of Animal Structure and Function, Nutrition and Digestion, Gas Exchange, Circulation, The Immune System, Control of the Internal Environment, Chemical Regulation, Reproduction and Embryonic Development, Nervous Systems, The Senses, How Animals Move, PLANTS: FORM AND FUNCTION, Plant Structure, Reproduction, and Development, Plant Nutrition and Transport, Control Systems in Plants, ECOLOGY, The Biosphere: An Introduction to Earth's Diverse Environments, Behavioral Adaptations to the Environment, Population Dynamics, Communities and Ecosystems, Conservation Biology For all readers interested in the world of biology.

Customer Reviews:

Good introductory biology text.......2007-08-24

This is a great text for anyone taking an introductory college-level biology course. The writing style is simple and easy to understand, unlike many other science textbooks. Despite being very easy to read, it contains a good amount of information.

Biology: concepts and connections with student cm-rom 5th.......2007-02-11

Excellent service and perfect condition, bought brand new. Will buy again and again...

Above and Beyond Other Textbooks.......2007-01-17

This is a fabulous textbook. The descriptions are clear and there is always a picture following in case you are a visual learner. The greatest thing about this book is that it provides so many ways to study. The book has a website and a CD rom, where you can read the book, do very helpful activities, hear MP3 tutor sessions with the author and more. If you don't understand something, there are so many ways to study it, that it won't take long before you will.

What a Savings!!!.......2006-11-23

When I first purchased this book from my school bookstore, I gulped after looking at their price tag over $130. After returning it and purchansing a used copy from Amazon, I couldn't believe the condition that it was in. It was "like new" just the way my seller claimed it to be.

I feel educated every time I use this book..........2006-03-11

This is a great book!! I'm an English Lit. major and wanted to focus a bit on science and got myself this book. It's so wonderfully written! It explains very clearly and it has a CD-rom with excercises. Even if you're not taking an intro-biology course this book is useful and easy to use for self study. The book is devided into theme chapters and covers about everything you can think of in the natural world. It's no doubt a very good introduction to further study in biology. I feel educated every time I use this book!
I'd give more than 5 stars if that was possible.

Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings, 10th Edition

Average customer rating:

Informative
Very very very thick - but truly worth owning !
Mechanical and Electrical Systems/ Buildings
Weighty tome shows how engineering intersects architecture
Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings

Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings, 10th Edition
Benjamin Stein , John S. Reynolds , Walter T. Grondzik , and Alison G. Kwok
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471465917

Book Description

Continuing its proud heritage, this Tenth Edition provides thorough coverage of the latest in the theory and practice of environmental control system design. This bestselling book encompasses mechanical and electrical systems for buildings of all sizes, featuring design guidelines and detailed design procedures for every topic covered and supported by more than 2,200 illustrations—over 225 new to this edition!

Customer Reviews:

Informative.......2007-04-08

This book was used as a text for two of my classes in my third year of architecture schooling. It is extremely useful, with lots of descriptions and helps you to understand more than just the structure of the building. Lighting, plumbing, all the different systems, etc. It has been very useful and I recommend it as a great reference.

Very very very thick - but truly worth owning !.......2007-01-31

I came across this book preparing Architectural Registration Exam (ARE).
I have to say that this book is an essential for architects
who are preparing MEP (Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing)section of the ARE.

The book is divided into basically nine sections.

1. design context
2. thermal comfort
3. illumination
4. acoustics
5. water/waste
6. fire protection
7. electricity
8. signal equipment
9. transportation

It describes various systems of each section with pretty
accessible narrative.
Abundance in graphics and diagrams is very helpful.
The book is extremely helpful in understanding where each
kit of parts fit into the overall building systems.

For instance, I heard about AHUs/ cooling towers/ refrigeration
cycle/ boilers/ duct systems/ etc. , but I never knew how
they fit and interconnect to one and another. The book, being
encyclopedic in its contents, really helps to overcome that.

The book also pays particular attention to the "sustainable"
agendas and strategies.

Mechanical and Electrical Systems/ Buildings.......2007-01-04

I was searching for a good general description of central plants. The impending installation of 1000 ton chillers, cooling towers, electrical conversion to primary service, multiple emergency generators, paralleling gear, etc. This book didn't fit the bill. The 9 pages on central plants for HVAC were a disappointment. From the title , I expected more on MEP and didn't expect the book to be more about illumination, color,acoustics etc. My fault, not the book.

Weighty tome shows how engineering intersects architecture.......2006-07-16

This almost 1800 page treatise on mechanical and electrical design as it relates to architecture is one of a kind. It is not an artistic book on the subject, although some artistic ability is always needed in any aspect of building design. Instead it is a very technical book that shows how the architect must be part electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, electrician, physicist, plumber, safety specialist, and transportation engineer in order to design the modern building. And to top it all off, you need to be knowledgable of current mechanical and electrical equipment - their specifications and their costs.

The book has plenty of examples with step by step instructions on how to perform various subtasks. Many of these examples contain numerical calculations, so it will help if you have had freshman engineering physics, especially in the sections on illumination, acoustics, and electricity where calculations, tables, and equations abound.

The book is broken into nine parts encompassing nearly every technical decision involved in designing a modern building. The first section is an introductory one on the context of design. That is followed by sections on thermal control, illumination, acoustics, water and waste, fire protection, electricity, signal systems, and finally in-building transportation. A lengthy appendix contains a great deal of supplemental information, including climate data for various parts of the United States, solar geometry, sound transmission data, and a listing of software that can be helpful in performing the tasks discussed in this book, and how that software can be obtained.

I highly recommend this book to aspiring architects and also to civil engineers that are interested in the construction of modern buildings. It's been the flagship book on the subject for seventy years in its various editions, and probably will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings.......2006-07-04

Excellent. The best book I have seen on the subject.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Average customer rating:

Brilliant. Engaging. Informative..
Mostly on the mark
Collapse review
Collapse by Jared Diamond
Life on Our (Planetary) Island: Easter Island or Japan?

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Jared Diamond
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

ASIN: 0143036556

Amazon.com

Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is the glass-half-empty follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. While Guns, Germs, and Steel explained the geographic and environmental reasons why some human populations have flourished, Collapse uses the same factors to examine why ancient societies, including the Anasazi of the American Southwest and the Viking colonies of Greenland, as well as modern ones such as Rwanda, have fallen apart. Not every collapse has an environmental origin, but an eco-meltdown is often the main catalyst, he argues, particularly when combined with society's response to (or disregard for) the coming disaster. Still, right from the outset of Collapse, the author makes clear that this is not a mere environmentalist's diatribe. He begins by setting the book's main question in the small communities of present-day Montana as they face a decline in living standards and a depletion of natural resources. Once-vital mines now leak toxins into the soil, while prion diseases infect some deer and elk and older hydroelectric dams have become decrepit. On all these issues, and particularly with the hot-button topic of logging and wildfires, Diamond writes with equanimity.

Because he's addressing such significant issues within a vast span of time, Diamond can occasionally speak too briefly and assume too much, and at times his shorthand remarks may cause careful readers to raise an eyebrow. But in general, Diamond provides fine and well-reasoned historical examples, making the case that many times, economic and environmental concerns are one and the same. With Collapse, Diamond hopes to jog our collective memory to keep us from falling for false analogies or forgetting prior experiences, and thereby save us from potential devastations to come. While it might seem a stretch to use medieval Greenland and the Maya to convince a skeptic about the seriousness of global warming, it's exactly this type of cross-referencing that makes Collapse so compelling. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Book Description

In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond brilliantly examined the circumstances that allowed Western civilizations to dominate much of the world. Now he probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to fall into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from Easter Island and the Maya to Viking Greenland and modern Montana, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of environmental catastrophe—one whose warning signs can be seen in our modern world and that we ignore at our peril. Blending the most recent scientific advances into a narrative that is impossible to put down, Collapse exposes the deepest mysteries of the past even as it offers hope for the future.

“Diamond's most influential gift may be his ability to write about geopolitical and environmental systems in ways that don't just educate and provoke, but entertain.” —The Seattle Times

“Extremely persuasive . . . replete with fascinating stories, a treasure trove of historical anecdotes [and] haunting statistics.” —The Boston Globe

“Extraordinary in erudition and originality, compelling in [its] ability to relate the digitized pandemonium of the present to the hushed agrarian sunrises of the far past.” —The New York Times Book Review

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant. Engaging. Informative.........2007-10-01

Amazing book. He manages to hold my interest while providing a wealth of facts.

Mostly on the mark.......2007-09-28

Diamond hits pretty much on the mark all the way across the board. Weakness: for the most part ignores or minimizes the effect of marketing/advertising/propaganda on human consumption patterns. Strengths: one of the few books on this broad subject that actually deals with over-population; indeed, had he concentrated more on this one most important issue, I would have given "Collapse" 5 stars.

I would strongly recommend this book for anyone concerned with the future of the human race.

Collapse review.......2007-09-24

Another excellent book. I realized when I bought this book that I own and have enjoyed all of Jared Diamond's books. His topics and hypostheses are fascinating and compelling.

Collapse by Jared Diamond.......2007-09-19

Jared Diamond, renowned author of the Pulitzer-winning Gun, Germs, and Steel, returns with another piece of mind-blowing work that will simply astonish any reader. In his last book, Diamond took us on a journey into the history of humanity, with cogent and logical answers for why our ancestors did the things they did, tying it in with geological and biological processes; how location matters very much for why certain of our ancestors did much better than others. Guns, Germs, and Steel serves as an excellent introduction to Collapse, though it is not required.

In his new book, Diamond tackles the overarching reason for why certain cities and civilizations decline and collapse, while others get through the hard times enough to get by and sometimes even thrive. What are amazing are the many case studies Diamond uses, ranging from early history with the Anasazi, Vikings, and civilization of Eastern Island; to the modern day cultures of Rwanda, Australia and the area of Montana where Diamond now lives for part of the year. In his introduction, Diamond clearly lays out his plan with the book - much like a scientist about to run a number of experiments - with a specific list of factors that determine a society's success or downfall, including: geographical location, amount of natural resources, amount of possible food, amount of trees. Some societies suffer from a lacking in just one of these factors and are still unable to survive, while others suffer from a lacking in a number of them. What's fascinating with these thoroughly researched and explained case studies is how two societies in close proximity to each other will have different outcomes: one may collapse, or barely survive, while the other thrives for many hundreds of years.

Diamond's reason for writing this book, he explains in the beginning and elaborates at the end, is to help the people of the present day realize the predicament we are in. With global warming, astronomically high carbon dioxide levels, overpopulation, and dwindling supply of nonrenewable energy resources; Diamond seeks to enlighten us in first world countries (those most likely to be reading this book) of collapses and failures of past civilizations - some in the distant past, some in the not too distant, some still ongoing today - as an educational lesson so that we may learn where others failed and why, perhaps then we can ensure our continued survival. With the factors mentioned above, like overpopulation and dwindling energy supplies, we are right on course with some other past civilizations that collapsed. The question is whether the governments of the world will realize this and react soon enough to halt us on this doomed path, and start us on a new and healthier one. Like many things in our lives: only time will tell.

For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com

Life on Our (Planetary) Island: Easter Island or Japan?.......2007-09-18

"Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" examined the environmental reasons for the collapses of various societies including the Mayan civilization in Mexico, the Vikings in Greenland, and the Polynesian societies on Easter Island, Pitcairn and Henderson Island, among other various societies. Not limited to examining failure, Diamond also provided explanations of the ways that societies recognized and avoided environmental collapse. Examples of these successes include Japan at the time of Tokugawa and the New Guinea highlands.

Diamond arranged his examination of collapsing societies around the five stress points that cause societies to fail: Environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, loss of friendly trade partners, and a society's responses to its environmental problems. Any one, though usually two or more can cause a society to collapse. Obviously, the more problems a society has the more difficult it is to avoid collapse. (The presence of hostile neighbors, climate change, environmental damage and a poor response to environmental problems is usually a more dire situation than just the loss of a trading partner - though not always.)

For all the time spent citing examples from history, "Collapse" isn't just a collections of facts about the past. Diamond also provides up-to-date evidence of the problems we face now. He exposes our own society as no more permanent than that of the Maya.

Diamond finds evidence of the coming collapse of our society in Montana, which he examines extensively. Lack of water to grow food is one of the great causes of societal collapse and Diamond shows the problems the western U.S. is having supporting its population. He also points to the many other small 'first signs' of coming problems such as the rich insulating themselves in gated communities.

For all the dire examples, Diamond doesn't damn western society. He doesn't declare that we've already driven off the cliff of un-sustainability but he does show us that we're quickly racing towards it. His examinations of what worked in the past, what didn't work in the past, and what is going on right now, show that the most important 'point' out of the five is the response a society has to the new environmental pressures. If we can formulate the right response, there's no reason why our society shouldn't be among the list of civilizations that side-stepped collapse.

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