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
 General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Animal Ecology
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Student Lecture Notebook Environmental Science
-
Environmental Science
-
In Quest of the Universe
-
Environmental Management: Readings and Cases
-
Environmental Issues: An Introduction to Sustainability (3rd Edition)
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
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Working in his garden one day, Michael Pollan hit pay dirt in the form of an idea: do plants, he wondered, use humans as much as we use them? While the question is not entirely original, the way Pollan examines this complex coevolution by looking at the natural world from the perspective of plants is unique. The result is a fascinating and engaging look at the true nature of domestication.
In making his point, Pollan focuses on the relationship between humans and four specific plants: apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes. He uses the history of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) to illustrate how both the apple's sweetness and its role in the production of alcoholic cider made it appealing to settlers moving west, thus greatly expanding the plant's range. He also explains how human manipulation of the plant has weakened it, so that "modern apples require more pesticide than any other food crop." The tulipomania of 17th-century Holland is a backdrop for his examination of the role the tulip's beauty played in wildly influencing human behavior to both the benefit and detriment of the plant (the markings that made the tulip so attractive to the Dutch were actually caused by a virus). His excellent discussion of the potato combines a history of the plant with a prime example of how biotechnology is changing our relationship to nature. As part of his research, Pollan visited the Monsanto company headquarters and planted some of their NewLeaf brand potatoes in his garden--seeds that had been genetically engineered to produce their own insecticide. Though they worked as advertised, he made some startling discoveries, primarily that the NewLeaf plants themselves are registered as a pesticide by the EPA and that federal law prohibits anyone from reaping more than one crop per seed packet. And in a interesting aside, he explains how a global desire for consistently perfect French fries contributes to both damaging monoculture and the genetic engineering necessary to support it.
Pollan has read widely on the subject and elegantly combines literary, historical, philosophical, and scientific references with engaging anecdotes, giving readers much to ponder while weeding their gardens. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In
The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom?
Customer Reviews:
A Fascinating Read.......2007-10-07
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan challenges the notion that mankind can control the natural world, subjugating plants to the will of the gardener. Through a discussion of four plants closely associated with human cultivation: apple, tulip, marijuana, and potato, Pollan demonstrates that organisms which possess traits desirable to the gardener have been able manipulate humans to cultivate them. Each plant has a different strategy for assuring that humans will continue to include it in their gardens. The apple, for example, is an extremely diverse species whose seeds contain millions of possible variations of both the fruit produced and the tree itself. Whether one is looking to make hard cider or munch on a crisp green fruit, the apple tree has the genetic code to produce the fruit humans look for.
In The Botany of Desire, Pollan focuses on the four plants mentioned above, placing each plant in a category, and explains how plants within that category possess characteristics which make them desirable to humans. The apple and other fruits appeal to our sense of taste, and, if fermented, our desire for inebriation. The tulip appeals to mankind's sense of beauty; marijuana, our desire to achieve an altered state of mind; the potato our need for nourishment and desire to genetically engineer crops. In short, each of these plants is successful in an evolutionary sense because it causes us to cultivate it.
Although Pollan's book is an intriguing read, I found it unsettling that he often rattles off facts and figures without citing a direct source, such as the assertion on page 219: "a potato farmer in Idaho spends roughly $1,950 an acre (mainly on chemicals, electricity and water)." Pollan does include a few pages of sources in the back of his book, but he could make a stronger argument that would stand up to academic scrutiny with the addition of endnotes.
In addition to a vast amount of research and traveling prior to writing this book, Pollan makes The Botany of Desire a quality literary work by using recurring themes to tie the four parts of the book together. Through returning to his garden at many points over the course of the book, Pollan is able to tie all four of his subjects into a common space. Approaching the reader as a fellow gardener gives him or her a sense of connection to Pollan and his garden. By the end of the book, I felt as though I knew Michael Pollan and his garden intimately. Another example of this continuity is Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry. Dionysus appears in both chapters one and three, were Pollan relates him to cider, Johnny Appleseed, and mind-altering substances.
Overall, Pollan's clear style and journalistic narrative flows easily and keeps the reader entertained throughout the book. He makes effective use of descriptive details and personal experiences to relate to the reader as he argues his theme of plants manipulating humans to include them in their gardens. The Botany of Desire is a must read for anyone interested in how plants we encounter on a daily basis cause us to cultivate them around the globe.
Too much information.......2007-09-16
Started out liking the chapter on Apples, less the next and so on. It seemed like I was getting the same story in each chapter only more elaborate and wordy.
Just buy this book........................2007-09-05
I am not a botanist.Yet. But the study of evolution is quite an exciting journey, made more exciting by the mind melting,eloquent ideas posed by Mr. Pollan. Bought the audio book version, and I can't stop listining to it. From the story of Johnyy Appleseed, to Holland in search of the history of Tulips, the Amazing Marijuana Plant, and the control of the Potato. Seemed random to me. Not any more. Incredible book.
We are the world.......2007-08-31
Pollan's book is a vivid reminder of how intricately human society is woven into the ecological framework of the planet and in particular that of plants. His descriptions of how our societies have affected and been affected by just four plants opens up a series of thought-provoking questions to mull over the next time you find yourself in a garden, at the dinner table, or taking a walk outdoors. It's written with sensitivity towards those he disagrees with, and this gentle touch makes the story he's relating much more effective at prompting you as reader to engage. The weakest part of the book is the chapter on Tulips, but that is hard to criticize since the chapters on apples, marijuana and potatoes are so good.
Read this Book!
human psychology in the garden.......2007-08-02
Human psychology from the plant's perspective? Yep. That's precisely the topic of this book. When our ancestors began breeding plants to serve our desires they inevitably laid those desires bare in the phenotypes in their gardens. Pollan is impressively aware of many current themes in evolutionary biology (e.g., the function of sexual reproduction), and admirably willing to tell a story with the patience and breadth it deserves (hence four 100-page chapters instead of the usual one hundred, A.D.D. 4-page chapters). This book is not for everyone, but if you have intellectual curiosity about why some plants have come to dominate our world, this book will give you many answers and even more tools. There's nothing better I can say about a book.
Book Description
In this edition of Miller's ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, a new Student CD-ROM, INTERACTIVE CONCEPTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, has been added! This groundbreaking addition integrates nearly 100 engaging animations and interactions with chapter summaries, flashcards, and Web-based quizzes. Organized by chapter, students will find links to relevant resources, narrated animations, interactive figures, and prompts to review material and test themselves. The animations show complex processes and relationships unfolding on screen, such as the effects of acid rain, smog formation, and the phosphorus cycle. Narration allows students to focus on what is changing on screen while interactions allow students to explore figures in more depth. This Tenth Edition is a significant, all-encompassing revision providing continuing focus on the basic scientific content necessary to understand environmental issues in clear, straightforward language. It provides the latest developments and reflects several major shifts in environmental science education this century. Designed as a foundational text for environmental science courses, Miller's flexible book is adaptable to almost any approach, and is the most widely embraced approach to environmental science in print. With fair and balanced coverage and Internet tools integrated throughout, the book features an extensively developed art program, writing that communicates scientific information clearly and effectively, and the most current coverage of the subject. The book's flexible organization means that it can be adapted to fit almost any syllabus. Miller's more than 30 years of research and teaching expertise make this the definitive book on the subject. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: WORKING WITH THE EARTH, Tenth Edition is a concise alternative to G. Tyler Miller?s best-selling text LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT, which redefines the environmental science course and sets the standard by which every other book for this course is judged.
Customer Reviews:
great seller!.......2007-05-14
I received the product in the condition stated and in a short time.
New.......2006-07-19
Environmental Science/Tenth Edition.Excellent condition. No highlighting, torn pages or other marks. Sealed CD (Interactive Concepts in Environmental Science) included with book.
A great text for teaching Environmental Science.......2006-05-05
I began teaching with Miller's thicker text "living in the environment" but found that the main material was covered by this thinner and less expensive version. The graphics are helpful and the students enjoy reading the material as it is presented in an accessible and applicable fashion. The guest essays and case studies are from some of the top names speaking at conferences and so students are getting some really current views and information. Although there is not much of a lab book or teacher text-- there are plenty of other sources for field work and activity inspiration. The students also liked the website for activities and practice problems.
Excellent from multiple excellent thoughts ..........2006-03-01
Thyler Miller's books (I have 5 of them) are always the source of inspiration for me. I started reading his book when I took my Environmental Health Class for my Master of Public Helath Program.
The contents are clear, concise, correct, courtesy and full with critical thouught that has facilitated my curiosity to know more and more ....
Santa-Fe-Red
explains issues like population growth and global warming.......2006-02-25
Miller stresses the intricate interrelationships with the Earth's environment. Vital issues like population growth and its impact on the environment are gone into. Here, there is perhaps cautious optimism. But only if we as a species moderate our growth rate (maybe even turn it negative!) and resource consumption.
There is a natural flow from this issue to a discussion about global warming. The scientific basis for concern is explained, and the evidence for warming presented. While not absolutely conclusive, it is seen as very strong. In fact, in the 5 years since the book came out, even more evidence has appeared to indicate a continuing and possibly accelerating trend. Miller also suggests several ways that global warming might be slowed.
Average customer rating:
|
Our Changing Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change (3rd Edition)
Fred T. Mackenzie
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Social Services & Welfare
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Regional
| Geography
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Geography
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Geology
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Animal Ecology
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Geology
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Financial Accounting: Information for Decisions
-
The Technical Writer's Companion
-
Flight in America: From the Wrights to the Astronauts
-
Aviation And the Law, 4th ed
-
Aviation And the Role of Government.
ASIN: 0130651729 |
Book Description
This book offers a general, interdisciplinary discussion of global environmental change oriented toward the non-specialist in science. The unifying theme of the book is consideration of aspects of both natural and human-induced global environmental change. The two part organization according to this distinction allows for easy reading on specific topics. This book is useful for anyone interested in learning more about Earth's systems.
Average customer rating:
- made me angry
- Policical retoric and not science
- Good Practical Book
- Schoolbook review
- Reviews, anyone?
|
Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)
G. Tyler Miller Jr.
Manufacturer: Brooks Cole
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Sustainable Development
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Business Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Living Religions w/CD (6th Edition)
-
Critical Thinking
-
Beginning Algebra
-
Racial and Ethnic Groups (11th Edition)
-
MP: Basic Mathematical Skills with Geometry
ASIN: 0534997295 |
Book Description
Miller's LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT, 14th Edition is the most comprehensive and up-to-date environmental science text on the market. It has the most balanced approach to environmental science instruction, with bias-free comparative diagrams throughout and a focus on prevention of and solutions to environmental problems. Tyler Miller is the most successful author in academic writing on environmental science because of his attention to currency, trend setting presentation of content, ability to predict student and instructor needs for new and different supplements, and his ability to retain the hallmarks on which instructors have come to depend. The content in the 14th edition of LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT is everything you have come to expect and more. In this edition, the author has added the "How Would You Vote?" feature, which is an application of environmental science-related topics in the news. Students apply their environmental science knowledge from the book to a Web activity, which helps them investigate environmental science issues in a structured manner. They then cast their votes on the Web. Results are then tallied. Also found at the Miller website is the much used "Updates on Line." Updated twice a year with articles from InfoTrac College Edition service, CNN® Today Video Clips, and Web links, instructors can seamlessly incorporate the most current news articles and research findings to support text presentations. This is a time saver for instructors and part-time teachers who can quickly determine what ancillary materials they want to utilize in just minutes. As with the last edition, this text is packaged with a free Student CD-ROM entitled "Interactive Concepts in Environmental Science." Organized by chapter, the CD gives students links to relevant resources, narrated animations, interactive figures, and prompts to review material and test themselves.
Customer Reviews:
made me angry.......2007-09-23
I have not read the whole book yet, and I have the 2004 edition (#13). I truly hope the newer editions are better. This is a review of Chapter 1 only.
The chapter annoyed me. It even made me angry. It is milquetoast, unable to just say we, the human population, is depleting too many resources to be sustainable. Adding the statement "other analysts do not believe we are living unsustainably" to an Environmental Science textbook is like saying "some people believe the earth is flat," in a geography textbook, or, something that unfortunately seems to happen in some biology textbooks these days, "evolution is just one theory, there are other theories as well, some experts believe god created all life on earth as it is today." A similar statement was made in part 1-6, "Is our Present Course Sustainable?." "Are things getting better or worse? Experts disagree..." Experts paid by huge resource exploiting corporations? Experts who like to bury their heads in the sand?
There were a number of interesting facts in the text that the general statements did not reflect. These inconsistencies really got to me. It seemed as if it were trying to write about what was outside the box but writing from inside the box. I particularly disliked the sentence that included: "... how much more we need to do to help make the earth more sustainable..." Wait a second, if you were writing from a viewpoint that "Nature does not exist just for us and we only think we are in charge. We need the earth, but the earth does not need us," how can you talk about "making the earth more sustainable?" The earth is what it is and is bountiful, it is our resource exploitation and pollution that are not sustainable for human survival.
I found the first part of the side bar "Free-Access Resources and the Tragedy of the Commons" quite interesting, but the second part on solutions seemed to missing a lot. The first of the two listed solutions was: "Use free-access resources at rates well below their estimated sustainable yields or overload limits by reducing population, regulating access, or both." It then went on to say how this is rarely used since it means we would have to establish and enforce rules and regulations, and it is hard to figure out a sustained yield. But it doesn't mention that educating people about these resources that they take for granted could go along way. Also not mentioned is that regulating the devices that allow people to exploit these resources (such as clean air, the atmosphere, water and wildlife) so easily and unthinkingly would be much easier than regulating their actual use. A lot of the resources mentioned are being depleted by pollution not use in a strict sense. The other solution listed is: "Convert free-access resources to private ownership," since if someone owns something they will protect it, has so many problems which are not addressed. The books lists the problem with this solution as being that "it is not practical for global common resources (such as the atmosphere, the open ocean, most wildlife species, and migratory birds) that can not be divided up and converted to private property." What about the fact that people do exploit the resources that they do own, and the fact that it would no doubt cause even more problems with poverty, and sharing things in common is what brings people together as a community (e.g. they all go to the park and see each other), and so many other problems that I get overwhelmed just thinking about them.
There was a lot of talk about overpopulation as a major problem, but not so much talk about overconsumption by certain parts of the population, even though there were sections on this. There was a section on ecological foot print and how the people in the USA have such a large one, but this didn't seem to get integrated into the text. There was also the statement: "Thus poor parents in a developing country would need 70 - 200 children to have the same lifetime resource consumption as 2 children in a typical U.S. family," but there was a lot of emphasis on population as a major problem and how in underdeveloped countries populations are growing as such a fast rate, when slight rises in US middle/upper class populations can make so much more difference. It felt to me like too much blame poor people in poor countries when it is people in the US and corporations based in the US enriching people in the US who are causing so much of the problems, even exporting our TV and advertisements to other countries which makes people want our unsustainable lifestyle.
There was also no mention of empowering women as a major tool to deal with high birthrates. There is overwhelming evidence that when you empower women to choses when they want to get pregnant and give them education and job skills birthrates do down. The paragraph on why poor people have so many children basically says the reason is to have their labor, with no mention of lack of birth control or power of women to make choices. It also seemed racist and disrespectful.
While we are on the subject of racist and disrespectful, what is with the developed and developing labels? The societies in all countries are developed, it is just industrial manufacturing and certain kinds of resource exploitation that are not as developed.
One last perhaps picky complaint. Figure 1-13 mentions "Traditional decision making" and "traditional societies" but it really does not mean traditional, it means modern industrialized hierarchical societies. This may seem picky but I feel it really does matter, we need to keep remembering that these societies we are living in are new, not traditional. True traditional societies did merge social, economic and environmental issues when making decisions, in fact, they did so in all aspects of living their lives. What we need to do is get back to them.
Policical retoric and not science.......2007-04-29
The state of Washington mails each registered voter a "Voter's Pamphlet" with statements for and against each initiative and candidate.
This book has the same format as a page for initiative X complete with rebuttals, but no page against initiative X.
This is completely one sided political rhetoric.
Why are high school students being given 815 pages of brainwashing?
I can understand some political extremest writing this book, but why would the Mercer Island school district buy this book?
I know science.
This ain't science.
Maybe political science.
Good Practical Book.......2007-04-20
Being a chemistry student, I've read this book as part of my classes. I've got to say, it's an excellent book, definitely worth reading by itself. It offers concrete, pragmatic solutions and an unbiased collection of scientificly supported descriptions of environmental problems and how to deal with them. It's also almost completely devoid of gloom and doom, as opposed to some of today's green movements. Very much recommended.
Schoolbook review.......2007-01-03
I found this book to be fairly well written with only a little bias toward evolution, an unproven scientific theory.
Reviews, anyone?.......2006-01-18
This is an excellent textbook, one that I have used in two of my Environmental Science classes (namely, Environmental Problems of Man [Bio 11], and Energy for the Future [Envi Sci 1].) While not completely without bias (which is mostly subtle, and not totally incorrect), the book offers a solid introduction to many environmental issues. The introduction chapter of the textbook states that environmental science is interdisciplinary, and the book is laid out accordingly. Chapters run the gamut from biology, chemisty, simple physics, and pure ecological common sense. An excellent purchase for any serious scientist and/or conscientious environmentalist.
Customer Reviews:
Great.......2006-02-26
My book was recieved before I expected it and it was in good condition. It was a pleasure buying from Belkisa.
Thank You.......2005-09-13
The book came in a weekend as soon as the seller had the address. Book in good condition.
Gentle on the issues but well written........2004-08-21
I am an environmental science teacher who chooses to use this book. I agree with the long winded reviewer that this book is gentle on the issues, but believe this approach to be important in an introductory course. As the teacher, I make it my job to color the issues I find important. The 8th edition is out, so this version will become less popular.
Some good features but no hard truths in textbooks!.......2004-07-27
These comments are on the 6th edition which I'm sure mostly apply to the 7th.
General comments. Well done book from one point of view and I suppose it's about as honest as you can get and still get it published and used. But, as with nearly all public statements on the environment, it carefully(and perhaps unconsciously) avoids any serious presentation of politically incorrect views. Sad, as they are often the only completely honest and accurate ones and as long as the world keeps up the illusions there is no hope for the future. I mention a few of the more notable ones that are nearly universal in public discourse. I mostly stopped reading books on the environment decades ago and this is only the second time I have ever written anything about it as it is clearly hopeless but as this book evidently reaches many I'll try. No, I do not have any vested interests as I am not rich, never have owned stock, have no children, never had any religious or political affiliations and no racial or elitist prejudices whatsoever. I'm old and in a few years I won't be here so I really should not give a damn but just can't help feeling bad about the end of the world!
P21 rt col bottom-"..conflicts over resources may flare up..." This has to be one of the understatements of the century as such conflicts have been a universal feature of society from its inception and get worse by the day so one might better say they happen constantly everywhere and are guaranteed to get far worse as the population grows and resources disappear. I'm sure that "people" were fighting incessantly over resources 3 million years ago. How do we know? Just take a look at primates.
P22 Fig 1.9 legend et seq throughout the book----one might say that "poverty" is the politically correct term for "overpopulation" and that as it is the people themselves who produce more children, and destroy everything they can, they (and their countries and the world) suffer the consequences of their own stupidity and selfishness. Of course the same is true everywhere and though tragic from some points of view it is simple justice from others. The poor are only the rich in waiting.
Fig 1.10---Percent of what ?
P25 Fig 1.12---Of course no precise figures exist on species loss but I'd say you might replace "host" by tens or hundreds of thousands of species being lost annually and no informed person could object.
Fig 1.13 and throughout the book re "helping" the poor. Yes this is the common and politically correct thing to say but if you reflect on the concept of "help" in its global long term consequences I think you will nearly always find that helping one person harms another, or actually many, both in the present and future. Increasing anyone's health, life span or standard of living inevitably destroys the earth faster and causes more suffering in the long run, so at the very least it's debatable as to what is helping and what is more humane and what protects the environment. E.g., they may not chop down so many trees for firewood if they can afford a gas stove or have as many babies if health standards improve but they will build more and bigger houses, consume more of everything, live longer and their negative impact on the world will be far worse in the long run. Of course it's the same for the first world also. The basic problem is the selfish nature of every human. Like all organisms, we are programmed to destroy the earth-i.e., reproduce and consume without limits. I recall some of the new ten commandments that my late mentor Garrett Hardin set forth in an essay some 30 years ago. "Blessed are the merciful for they shall be sitting ducks." and, if memory serves, "Blessed are the meek for they shall reproduce without restraint." It is a legitimate and revealing point of view that we are all enemies of life on earth and that every meal and every pair of pants contributes to its destruction. A dollar is a unit of planetary destruction and it's defensible that it's better spent on planting a tree, buying and protecting a nature reserve or buying birth control pills or an abortion than providing food, medicine or a new dam for the third world(or the first!). Or, if you must "help" others, tie money and food to population control and environmental protection . To live is to destroy, every mother and baby are enemies of life on earth., there is no free lunch, and if we look at the whole picture and are honest, it's clear that the only good human is a dead one. Not comforting, but if we keep up the illusions that are the nearly universal stance of social discourse, there is no hope at all for the future. But who has the courage to tell the truth, or as Hardin put it so aptly, to shout that the Emperor has no clothes?
Rt col top---4 million children hungry in USA?---I always wonder about these statistics as I have traveled over the USA including the ghettos for decades and I don't recall ever seeing anyone who looked like they were starving and in fact mostly people young and old look overfed so just how do they decide this?
Rt col bottom-It is highly debatable that colonialism destabilized or impoverished anyone(provided you look at the whole picture and consider the likely present if colonists had never entered these countries). The background is that all countries everywhere almost nonstop thru history have exploited each other and their own people to the max. If the colonists had not brought in medicine, money and technology most of the third world might be in far worse shape than now. Of course it's also true that the introduction of these is directly responsible for the population explosion that dooms them all.
P26 Fig 1.14 and thru the book---It is a defensible point of view, which they don't seem to mention anywhere, that these (ie third world) countries are overdeveloped and those of the first world grossly overdeveloped. Underdevelopment is another popular but fatal delusion. Nobody anywhere is underdeveloped in my view.
P27 left col middle. The only desire we really need to curb is the desire to produce more than one child---then everything will take care of itself. Without this, all the other laudable actions are almost certainly a waste of time.
P28 rt col. Same comments as for "helping" in Fig 1.13 above. Poverty reduction and social justice guarantee accelerated ecological collapse and that from another viewpoint, the "Good News" is really "Bad News" and vv. If one takes the long term global view, nearly anything that increases anyone's std. of living or a country's GDP is very bad news indeed. If we cared about the future (or say, even our own grandchildren) we would all be doing our best to reduce the GDP every year. It is a reasonable view that one of (or even THE) basic principles of human ecology is "THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH". And it is you and I who pay with our taxes (which equal years of our working lives!) and all the world's people in the future who pay with their happiness. Equality and justice and humaneness have a huge financial (i.e., environmental) cost which usually far outweigh the benefits and in the global long term produce more inequality, injustice and inhumanity than they remove. Of course I assume that like nearly everything I say here, the authors really know it too but just don't dare to say.
P29 left col. It seems very clear to me from the evidence presented throughout this book(and of course everywhere one looks) that the world cannot sustain even its current use rates without making blue sky projections unsustained by any hard facts. Eg, I have never seen a hint anywhere as to how the world will replace the 75 billion tons of topsoil lost every year. Every serious book like this should reference Lester Brown's lovely little book "Who will feed China? I have never seen anything to refute it either and of course the Chinese govt. shut down the web page it was reprinted on there.
P30 left col middle. And Fig 1.10 pg 31. Fine-give aid,-provided you tie it all to population control. Otherwise it just makes things worse. I used to rail against the huge military budgets too until I realized it's either good or irrelevant. "Human development" is just another euphemism for ecological collapse. Better to burn the money than increase the GDP anywhere.
P32 re statistics on a poor African village. So if the village will reduce births to about 10 so it shrinks by one or two a year then give them aid. People anywhere who are unwilling to reduce their population for the benefit of the future are not responsible members of world society, not, one might say, even human(and yes it's the same for NY City!).
P37 left col top. Re shooting of poachers by game wardens. Yes that's what is has, and will, come to-to paraphrase Mao, Ecology comes out of the barrel of a gun.
P38 , 39 Postmodernism etc. I suggest everyone read Pinker's superb "The Blank Slate: the modern denial of human nature." It is easily the best book on this and the influence of genes on human behavior. One way to look at things is that the basis for all our behavior and views come from our inborn psychology and much of this is a web of delusions (some of which Hardin called "Taboos") which prevent us from seeing ourselves as part of the world and thinking about these issues rationally and honestly. It is a revelation to realize that you are arguing with genes and not people but of course whether this really gets you anywhere is another matter.
P39 rt col bottom re the "fact" that we do not hold children responsible for murder. Many now do hold the child responsible and there are compelling reasons for doing so. Is it not the act rather than the precise psychological state of mind that matters? Practically, the combination of genes and environment that produces these acts is irrelevant. Most children or adults do not kill, rape etc and everyone can come up with an excuse. One might view the world's problems as due to the failure to hold people responsible for their actions.
P50 rt col middle re NeoLuddites who want to destroy modern technology. Very few people actually take such a view. Rather they want to stop development, reduce the GDP(Gross Destructive Product-my own highly revealing term but hardly very original), and decrease the population.
P191 and throughout the book. It is only fair to point out that it is the reduction of mortality that is primarily responsible for ecological collapse, war and most human misery. The last thing a sane, decent person wants to do is reduce mortality without reducing births.
P236 rt col middle---"Not all activities are harmful." All human activities are harmful and the only thing one can say is that some are more harmful than others!
P237 left col re supplying food to the world. One should keep in mind here and countless other places in the book that supplying these calories(and housing etc etc) is done at the cost of destroying everyone's future.
P238 left col middle-"poverty is the greatest threat to food security". Again, this is a politically correct term for "overpopulation" is it not?
P240 left col middle "What causes ..tragedies?" Yes of course we know what you mean and yes it's the PC thing that nearly everyone says but nevertheless, tragic and dishonest and absolutely futile not to list overpopulation as the basic universal cause of famine and just about all of the world's problems.
P243 rt col middle---"As a result in many places..." How about in "all" places? Is there really anywhere that human activities do not eliminate the topsoil? How can it be replaced if there is tillage and crop removal? References?
P246 rt col top-"relatively little impact" Ah, yes, what does that mean? If it means it can last a thousand years then maybe its little but even then those alive at that time would surely disagree! So acceptable impact should mean indefinitely sustainable which means the land will be as good 1000 years from now as today. And, so far as I can see, that means there is no such thing as sustainable use of anything in the modern world, not even the air or the sea.
P248 left col top. I have often thought it illuminating to think of each person as eliminating 15 tons of topsoil a year(of course maybe ten times that if they are rich and 1/10th if they are poor) and putting ca 4 tons of garbage and toxic waste and 1000 tons of polluted water etc into the world every year. Think about this in the middle of all the discussions about helping the poor, increasing food output and sustainability.
Rt col top---5 tons topsoil loss is then not really a NET loss at all but I've seen the studies that show that even flat, well managed land in temperate zones(eg USA) loses 10tons/acre/yr and this must be the NET loss. It is unclear how cropland can build up NET any topsoil!
Something very confused here and don't think it's me!
P265 rt col bottom---Again its at least debatable whether disease reduction is a benefit for reasons mentioned elsewhere. What "helps" some hurts others, now and in the future.
P311 left col top---destruction by antigovernment forces of forest projects in Israel??!! Are you sure its not Indonesia or India?
P313 rt col last line-I think the CR govt. terminated Janzen's project, undoubtedly for political(ie,selfish and stupid) reasons.
P325 left col middle----Consider Brazil---The fact is that the rich often do a much better job of protecting the land than the poor, who will eventually increase their numbers and exploit every square cm of anything they can get their hands on. They show this in this paragraph where they note that on big farms owned by the rich , 13% of land is idle-this is exactly what one wants-idle land-if only it could be 95% there would be no problems!
Left col bottom.-"productivity is ...higher". They just don't get it(of course they have most of the world for company!). What one wants if one cares at all about the future is DECREASED productivity, decreased everything and DECREASED GDP.
Fig 13.28 re the signing away of Indian rights to some land. I assume that they leave out the most important part -that they were FORCED in some way to sign the contract and how were they forced?
P 331 left col bottom and of course all over the book. "continue to use..in traditional ways." One might better substitute "abuse" or "destroy" as truly traditional, sustainable use is virtually nonexistent anywhere. They and all "native peoples" all use modern tools(ie steel hoes, machetes, fertilizers, chemicals, tractors, horses, sheep etc) they never had before, medicines etc and have larger populations and use the environment in countless ways and to a degree their ancestors never did. Sure, there is bad and very bad but I doubt very much a careful look will show that "traditional use" anywhere is really sustainable or that it has preserved anything like the ecology that was there 1000 years ago.
P340 rt col top, p 341 left col top---See the comments on p28. I can't see any evidence at all that the "new world order" will save a damn thing! In fact, with minor exceptions, it will only accelerate the destruction and the same goes for Thoreau's comment. Recall this dictum?-"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions". The surest way to destroy the planet is to give everyone what they want, or even what they need.
P377 Fig 17.4 Maybe I'm just dense but it is not obvious from this figure why the greenhouse effect causes more than 100 units to be radiated.
P378 left col top-"because of cycling..." Again it's just not obvious where the extra 30% comes from---the earth's core?
P403 rt col top--- and elsewhere: The costs of health care or of various diseases are almost always hugely wrong-ie, 180 deg in the wrong direction! Like the calculation of costs and benefits of many things, they deliberately or unconsciously(monkey psychology again)fail to represent the true situation. If one includes the savings resulting from decreased costs to society(ie medical costs, ecological costs of all kinds etc-to say nothing of the personal costs in suffering of patients and relatives)in the long term due to shortened life spans one gets very different results(eg, the huge costs turn into huge benefits). Amazingly, as this is an utterly taboo subject, this was pointed out in a report by an accountant for one of the large tobacco companies a couple years ago but of course they immediately issued an apology. It is only possible for the rich countries to ignore the facts and it is highly likely this will change also by mid-century when even the US welfare system(social security etc) will be bankrupt(just dial the SS 800 tel #) and the national debt will likely be soaring past $40 trillion and neither the US nor anyone will have the money or materials to feed the world(or to be its policeman). So from a strictly rational and humane point of view governments should do everything possible to encourage smoking.
Also, calling smoking control a pollution control measure is both wrong(as the decreased death and debility will clearly produce far more pollution of other kinds) and right, as we could then include population control as a form of pollution control and the only one which is really cost effective and permanent!
P414 and elsewhere: list of things-- What can you do? Infinitely greater impact by not having children or preventing others from having them. Failing this, working for any social measure that will decrease the population or GDP of your own country or others, eg, opposing the World Bank, the IMF, the UN, the WTO, construction of any kind anywhere, any type of Globalization, use of agricultural chemical and fertilizers, dams, irrigation projects, roads, public health projects, immunization, antibiotics etc etc , and spreading abortion, birth control, knowledge about the coming collapse of planetary ecology and the idea that every mother and baby are enemies of life on earth. All the listed measures do a little but in the end they are really just a sham.
Rt. Col. Bottom and elsewhere throughout the text. I think its critical to make everyone understand that the environment is so fragile(or people so destructive) that serious and often irreversible damage was being done on smaller ecosystems-especially in semiarid areas-- in prehistoric times and ever since. E.g., just a couple of many: archeologists a few years ago studied an ancient village in the middle east and found that in just a decade or so the plaster floors became mud ones as the wood available for making lime disappeared. Here and many other places they can see pollen changes that show the elimination or drastic reduction of some plants. Even Attenborough give some examples in his famous programs-the Roman's destruction of the ecosystem on the N. African coast by a few decades of farming and the desertification of Greece and the destruction of Ephesus by human activities in the dry surrounding hills. The disappearance of large animals in many areas coincident with occupation by early humans(eg Australia ca 50K years ago).
P434 Case Study: As I said elsewhere, "helping" Malawi now harms them and everyone else in the long run and the only models we should want to spread are one child families, declining GDP, no destruction of nature whatsoever and a very modest living standard.
P449 rt col middle-"surely these are goals worth pursuing". Surely not! The last thing the world needs is more and healthier people! Only if any kind of "help" is inextricably linked to population control and other environmental measures should it be given to anyone anywhere. Those who will not place the survival of the ecosphere above their own interests do not deserve any help nor even status as human beings. And yes, same for Indians or New Yorkers!
P455 In Depth rt col center re arsenic in Bangladesh water. No sane, honest, informed person should want to do anything to save them from the consequences of their own genetic greed unless they could be forced to become responsible citizens of the world at the same time(ie mandatory pop. and other environmental controls).
P468 left col top---As pointed out before, it is incontrovertible that misery and suffering will NOT be avoided but increased by providing sanitation to the world.
P468 left col re "taking" of private land by the government. Up to now the world has operated on the most primitive, undemocratic, unecological and totally self centered principles. The people who "own" the land and money and resources have "taken" it from the planet and all other people and other creatures without real(in my view) authorization or justification. So, the government(ie, the people or the world) is justified in "taking" them back. Yes of course they all have some rationalization but if you take a long term global view, its all just theft. Of course one could say this makes all current laws and government moot and I say -"Now you are getting it!"
P484 rt col top---'waste of ...resources". Wonderful!---the sooner all the energy sources are gone, the better.
P485 rt col middle----"methane is ten times.." but on pg 387 you say its 20 to 30 x as effective as C02.
P488---Nobody seems to realize that Chernobyl is the only meaningful nature reserve in the world and a model for what could be done elsewhere. Only if it causes a quick and certain death to use it will anything be protected.
P494 rt col---I don't have the reference handy but I recall that if most of the worlds energy ever comes from fission(and much more so from fusion) not only will it devastate the ecology of many rivers and large areas of the sea(cooling water) but the heat will likely produce a significant acceleration of the greenhouse effect.
Table 22.2----these yields are over useful life of the equipment or what and they are the total earnings/total costs or total energy yield in BTU/total energy input in BTU or?
P511 Table 22.3 ---Yes the efficiency of some fuel cells may be 40% provided you do NOT count the energy needed to produce the fuel and the cell and transport and maintain and dispose of them etc. and of course the energy and materials for deal with the pollution they make and the consequences of the C02, plastic, heat pollution etc. Of course as they note someplace there are major hidden and subsidized costs for all energy sources, foods, jobs etc etc.
Rt. Col bottom-same comments for biomass re hidden costs(financial, health, ecological etc) of production, transportation, pollution, disposal etc.
P514 rt col. Middle---"contain 4.8 billion gigajoules"--- OK but see my comments on p513 re the costs(energy etc) to get this biofuel and use it and dispose of it and deal with the consequences and much of this 4.8 will disappear and, as with using anything for any reason on a large scale, the long term consequences re financial and ecological costs may make it a better choice to just forget the whole thing.
P515 left col top re fuel alcohol production and "grain surpluses".... It is a certainty that this situation ( surpluses, space, topsoil, low cost chemicals etc) will not last more than a few decades, so again if one looks at the global long term situation, or even just at Brazil's I think one will come to a very different conclusion as to what really makes sense.
P533 left col top-and throughout the book--Of course there is a large degree of arbitrariness in how anything is to be valued but this is one of the key ecological concepts and mostly misunderstood or ignored(deliberately!). A can of coke costs say 75 cents to buy retail but the real costs include the energy, soil loss, other ecological damage and pollution created to produce and transport (and dispose of wastes) the sugar, flavorings, and above all the aluminum in the can. Most of this is hidden (ie, subsidized in various ways by taxes or ecological, health etc., consequences that are just ignored-ie, other people or the future has to deal with them). So from the perspective of someone whose life is being destroyed by a bauxite mine or a sugar plantation or from say 50 years in the future we might value the coke at $5 or 10 or 100. The markup increases as we go further into the future and as the complexity , size and cost of the item increases. A reasonable current value for a car might be 5 or 10 times its actual costs and food the same (but highly variable)as it costs topsoil, chemicals that devastate the ecology etc and a house varies depending on its materials, where it is and what was or would be on that land now etc.
P554-left col bottom.-"tragically high" infant death rates. Of course many beg to differ and say its neither a tragedy nor nearly high enough. An infant who grows to adulthood and reproduces uses vast resources that may increase by say 10 to 100 times if it has eg, great grandchildren and the total of misery they suffer and cause others to suffer is hardly negligible.
P565-left col bottom..."feasible benefit"---As I have stated elsewhere it is very clear that there is a huge LOSS to the world and no benefit at all if ones takes a global long term view.
Rt col middle---"China has done....". All the sources I see show that China's cities are swelling rapidly and the population is increasing some 12 to 15 million a year and as for much of the third world the std of living is improving on the average but most of it is by a small minority and this is all being done by destroying their own and the world's future.
P584 Global Issues----Yes of course this is the standard refrain and we know what they mea,n but for reasons stated before, I maintain its obvious that making the poor rich(or the rich richer) does not REALLY make the world a better place but inevitably destroys it faster. In the global long term view development is destruction.
P591---Table 25.7 first line--One hopes they will "respect " the world, but in fact regardless of what anyone says we all do "resect" it!
Horrible........2004-01-21
Any text that advises poverty-stricken Africans to use solar-powered stoves as opposed to wood-burning fires to cook their food in attempt to lower energy consumption has gone too far off the deep end as to be a suitable college source.
Too many typos, too opinionated in the wrong places, not opinionated enough in the right places, just horrible. Wretched book. And to think, my family spent over $100 on the package. Ack!
[Ask your prof to use one of the labs to research better textbooks if this is all he/she can come up with.]
Book Description
The threat of continued warfare to the future of humanity has become dire. "The Great Turning explores that threat in detail and provides an equally detailed plan for meeting -- and overcoming -- it. Written in the author's trademark clear, compelling style, this timely book uncovers the roots of Empire in ancient Athens and charts the long transition from the institutions of monarchy to those of the global economy as the favored instruments of imperialism. Korten then discusses the promise of early America as a democracy dedicated to spreading liberty and freedom -- and the failure of the "American experiment" through the contemporary takeover of the U.S. government by corporate plutocrats, religious theocrats, and neoconservative militarists in pursuit of naked imperial ambition. Korten draws on sources as varied as evolution, developmental psychology, and the wisdom of religious mystics to make the case for "Earth Community" -- a people-centered, community-based future that is both possible and necessary.
Customer Reviews:
Hope Restored.......2007-08-07
David Korten has restored my hope that humanity can and will survive the upcoming collision with our own short sighted Hubris. Some, perhaps many of us will make it through and will have restored to us in the process a great deal more of our own compassionate humanity. Well researched, well written. A seminal work! Thank you David!
The Great Turning.......2007-06-12
This book should be read by anyone thinking about how to move toward a fair, just society. Korten talks about levels of maturity leading to understanding that enough people and groups have reached a level where a society based on the principle of community rather than that of domination is within reach. It undercuts struggling with all the forms injustice takes in our present society and considers joining with like-minded groups all over the world to form a bottom-up society concerned with the good of all rather than just looking out for what's good for the most powerful among us.
The Ideal of the Bodhisattva.......2007-05-13
The Great Turning masterfully traces the concept of Empire from pre-history to the present and states that the current world situtation has been shaped by the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the few. The motivating actions of governments are to preserve their control over the forces of money and power. The democracies of the Western world are not true democracies as they maintain their control over the many by giving prevledge to the few. Korten goes on to relate various pardighms that our culture buys into and which perpetuate the rule of Empire. one of these views is related in the "Imperial Secular Meaning Story."
"Matter is the only reality. the whole of the cosmos is a product of the orderly playing out of physical forces amenable to description and prediction by mathematical equations. Life is the accidental outcome of material complexity. Consciousness and free will are illusions, nothing more. Because life has no intrinsic meaning, the only rational couse of the intelligent individual is to seek material gratification through the accumulation of wealth and power.
The evolution of the living species occurs through a competitive struggle in which the fittest survive and the less fit perish. Mammalian species, naturally organize themselves into heirarchies of dominance for mutual protection and breeding success.
Human progress likewise depends on competitive struggle in which the most fit triumph and those of second rank serve the most fit. the winners prove their superior worth and therby their contribution to the betterment of the whole by virute of their victory. They have a natural right to the rewards of their victory as their just due. Their is no reason for guilt or for concern for those whom the struggle destroys or leaves behind, as their loss is itself proof that they are the less fit. For the betterment of the whole, we must all accept that this their proper fate."
What makes the Great Turning a landmark book is that it exposes these myths for what they are-propaganda for maintaining control with power and wealth. The actions of governments rather than being for the well being of the people are for the maintaining of the myths which concentrate power and wealth in the hands of the few. Korten goes on to forge the strategy for removal of these myths and replacing them with the reality of a sustainable Earth Community.
The human and Divine potential of the sage, writer, artist, scientist cannot be fully realized without the move away from empire to Earth Community. The Bodhisattva's vow while at the threshold of enlightenment takes on the meaning for all of us to work out our daily lives in harmony with the forces that are attempting to bring about an Earth Community.
A "Must Read" for Every Lover of Democracy.......2007-03-08
This is the most important book I have read in years! There is hope. The people can take back America and truly make it a land of freedom, liberty and justice for all.
A MUST-READ.......2007-02-20
This book has changed the way I think about the world and the challenge we face in avoiding "the great unraveling." After reading it, I want to stand up and start making a difference.
Book Description
Five years ago Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth and his family lived in a big house, had two luxury cars, loads of money, and lots of stuff. As chief of the medical staff at a large hospital, Sleeth was living the American dream--until he realized that something was terribly wrong. As he saw patient after patient suffering from cancer, asthma, and other chronic diseases, he began to understand that the Earth and its inhabitants were in trouble. Feeling helpless, he turned to his faith for guidance. He discovered how the timeless lessons of personal responsibility, simplicity, and stewardship taught in the Bible could be applied to modern life. The Sleeths have since sold their big home and given away more than half of what they once owned. In Serve God, Save the Planet, Sleeth shares the joy of adopting a less materialistic lifestyle, and reveals what was easy and what was hard about the changes his family has made. Drawing on science and religion, Sleeth builds a bridge between environmentalists and mainstream Christians. He and his family are harbingers of the creation care movement, which calls on all those who love God to love our planet. Sleeth shares how material downscaling led his family to healthier lifestyles, stronger relationships, and richer spiritual lives. Serve God, Save the Planet is more than a book: it is a prescription for taking personal responsibility for global survival.
Customer Reviews:
Great stories and great ideas.......2007-09-10
I bought this book after hearing Sleeth speak (via the web) at Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan. I just finished the book and I really enjoyed it. Many of the topics that Sleeth covers have been on my mind lately but he definitely gave me some new ones to consider (ie. pets--yikes!). My plan is to go through his suggested action items (back of the book) and highlight the ones we've accomplished and make a list of new ones to tackle. I am sold on this concept; however, my family isn't quite there yet.
I have recently begun volunteering at a Christian agency that helps the underresourced. In doing so, I have become acutely aware of American (and my own) consumerism. So many things have only been used once or not at all and then they come to us. One day the fire marshall almost shut us down because we had mountains of donations. It is great that people are generous but wouldn't it would be better if they'd not bought so much stuff in the first place, only to donate it and buy new and different stuff?
I'm sure I will loan this book to tons of people in an effort to do my part to "Save the Planet." I'm fairly sure that it'll be around for me, I'm just worried about my kids and grandkids!
amazing.......2007-09-03
I'd recommend this book to everyone. We live in a world that has become so focused on consumption and production that we forget that we really don't need all this stuff. This book is written by a former doctor who has transformed his life (as well as his family's) into one that is very simple, yet incredibly peaceful, and wonderfully dedicated to God's glory.
We often associate environmentalism and "nature-loving" with hippies... but why not associate it with God? After all, He created it.
An Amish life for me?.......2007-08-16
I enjoyed Mr. Mathew Sleeth's book immensely and there was much I took issue with. It is indeed disappointing to see such an earnest effort fall short. He speaks with authority on many subjects but has credibility with but a few. Mostly I do not find fault with his interpretation of scripture. It is in other areas that his knowledge is thin, non-existent or worse yet takes, as authority, information from others that is unsubstantiated. A significant percentage of the "facts" presented are implied to be common knowledge when in actuality they are, unfortunately, little more than a recitation of the pandering that comes from mass media. Mr. Sleeth skates past the documented benefits of the industrial revolution with an ease that is disturbing. Where Mr. Sleeth encourages us to live _personally_ greener lives is where his arguments are strongest. I for one am not interested in de-evolving to an "Amish" lifestyle. Surely he cannot believe that our God wants us to life a life that is restricted to the technology of the 17th century. I suspect that the world's _current_ population could not be fed if much of the western world's population adopted it anyway. I must ask the question, "Do you suppose God would bless the act of feeding starving children in Africa any less, IF the vegetables were grown organically versus the most current high production methods?" Read this book with a jaundiced / discerning eye. This is truly a case where the wheat must be sorted from the chaff. Not only did God give me two hands, he also gave me a brain. Now if you'll excuse me, I see that there are three more ripe tomatoes in the garden and we're having beans for dinner.
Great Christian stewardship outline.......2007-07-20
This book succinctly highlights our duty as children of God to care for each other and His creation. By making both small and large sacrifices, we can impove our contentment while saving the planet for the enjoyment of future generations. Thank you, Dr. Sleeth for providing a quickly readable, yet thought provoking call to action which should be used in church discussion groups nationwide.
Strays from his area of expertise.......2007-07-18
After three chapters, I said to my wife -- this is GREAT. Indeed, the first five chapters are a well-structured synopsis of the environmental concerns we are facing, and a wake-up call to Christians to participate in restorative work. From there, the book degenerates quickly.
The rest of the book is simply filler to make a profitable book -- a discussion of issues on the fringe of environmental concern. Consumerism is a relevant issue, for example, but unnecessary is an at-length comparison of Jesus and Santa Claus. Sleeth ventures far from his area of expertise, including some extremely shaky exegesis at times. There is an analysis of Revelation that is especially unfounded. Also disappointing is his lack of practical advice -- this is relegated to a few redundant references (lightbulbs, clotheslines, etc) and a few sparse appendices at the back of the book.
Sleeth could have published this book as a much smaller edition, including his first five chapters and an extended discussion on practical approaches to helping the environment. Seems like a lot of wasted paper and energy for a book that does not seem to contribute much, if anything, new to the environmental movement. Overall, I was very disappointed and honestly, more frustrated when finished than any book I've read for quite some time.
Book Description
While everything appears to be collapsing around us -- ecodamage, genetic engineering, virulent diseases, the end of cheap oil, water shortages, global famine, wars -- we can still do something about it and create a world that will work for us and for our children’s children. The inspiration for Leonardo DiCaprio’s web movie Global Warning,
The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight details what is happening to our planet, the reasons for our culture’s blind behavior, and how we can fix the problem. Thom Hartmann’s comprehensive book, originally published in 1998, has become one of the fundamental handbooks of the environmental activist movement. Now, with fresh, updated material and a focus on political activism and its effect on corporate behavior,
The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight helps us understand--and heal--our relationship to the world, to each other, and to our natural resources.
Customer Reviews:
If this is the answer, we are doomed. .......2007-09-23
As a biology teacher, I bought this book because I thought it would be a scholarly analysis of the current environmental crisis. Instead, it is largely a diatribe against all the "evils" of Western civilization, followed by plenty of New Age mumbo.
Here are a few gems of the author's "analysis":
--All human civilizations throughout history can be divided into just two groups: Old Cultures and Young Cultures. Old Cultures universally loved each other, lived in peace, respected the earth, helped old ladies cross the street and lived sustainably. Young Cultures (Europe, USA) rape and pillage, are resource-extracting, and practice despicable acts like ownership of property and buying and selling things in an economy, rather than communally sharing all the resources.
--To get back to Old Culture, you should leave your job, home and 401k and join with small bands of like-minded individuals to buy enough rural land to build basic shelters, grow crops, and grab your own solar energy. This will re-create the small, sustainable, "tribes" of the past.
--The author proposes walking outside with the book and attempting to talk to plants and animals, waiting until they talk back. At one point, he caresses a tree and apologizes to it.
--Just by thinking good thoughts you can effect planetary change. Since the entire planet is interconnected by a "morphic energy field" any good thoughts dumped into it will improve the whole "cosmic soup."
--If you get to the end of the book, the afterword tells you that you are an exceptional person (literally, a "Chosen One") and that you should run out and buy 10 more copies of the author's other books to distribute to friends.
If this is the "strategy" of the new environmental movement, we are doomed. The author is clearly passionate about the issue and is attempting to drive deep cultural change to solve the problem, but his prescriptions are hopelessly utopian. I don't see how aboriginal mysticism is going to scrub the carbon dioxide out of our air or invent a better fuel cell.
Instead of buying 10 copies of this book, try Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" or "Collapse."
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
If there is a more important and powerful book out there, I haven't found it........2007-09-02
Better than anyone I've ever read or heard, Hartmann explains the cultural and environmental crises we have wrought, how we got there, and what we can do to overcome them. It is full of factual evidence and well-thought-out insights.
Hartmann is a brilliant and prolific writer as well as an Air America radio host. If everyone would read it, there would be a lot more hope for our future.
Everyone should READ THIS.......2007-08-01
A brilliant book, very well researched and taking us thru the times in a very easy to read style. It is not fiction but feels like a good thriller at times with a cannot put down flavour to it. It is educational and informative and moves thru the subjects systematically with a deep spiritual element towards the end and finalising with an action plan and on a positive note that all is not lost. I initially borrowed this from my library but decided I want to add this to my collection of books - it is so good ! Happy reading and please share what you have read with others so that there is a world movement to improve our environment for this earth belongs not only to humans but to all other living creatures and plants as well.
A wake up call.......2007-07-23
This is a great book that addresses a number of critical issues, and it provides a good springboard to look at our future and how we must change to survive. Disappointing to some is that he doesn't reach any conclusions, however the purpose of the book is not to be "A idiots guide to survival" rather to force the reader to draw his own conclusions.
I feel that he either missed some research or simply left it out. Two cases in point are tribalism and democracy. What he said about ancient tribes is mostly correct, however there are strong indications that some ancient tribes that pre-dated modern civilization were exceedingly warlike and did kill their neighbors, just because they were not of the same tribe. I admit that they were the exception, but they did exist and perhaps they are the root of the modern civilization of dominance.
The other issue that could have been explored is the difference in democracies between republics and confederations. Republics always consolidate power and historically have failed as he points out. However he doesn't take a look at confederations which by his definitions are more tribal in outlook. I lived in Switzerland for many years and they are the oldest surviving democracy in the world at more than 700 years. The government was influenced by the Allemanes (sic) a German tribe that had a very grass roots form of democracy. I have lived all over the world in many different countries and the only place I have lived that had a genuine democracy that represented the individual was Switzerland. Interesting to note is that they are also the "greenest" country that I have ever lived in, recycling and environmental consciousness is a part of the culture with few exceptions.
Good read........2007-07-14
I found Thom's book a very interesting read. His science was a bit basic but he is trying to get through to the average couch potato who is more interested in American Idol than what is really happening to the world around them. Thom's out look on the world is a bit melancholy but he has good reason to be. For the average person who feeds their mind with junk T.V and their body with junk food then they might learn something by having a read of Thom's books. Although I don't agree with everything Thom is saying I think his heart is in the right place and he really wants to see a better world for all of us. This is a good read and a good wake up call!!
Book Description
The 25th-anniversary edition of the premier text in medical anthropology. The newest edition of the premier teaching text in medical anthropology is thoroughly revised to reflect new developments in the field. Widespread awareness of emerging infectious diseases and global environmental change makes the ecological perspective of the McElroy-Townsend text even more relevant to students than when it was first published. Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective integrates biocultural, environmental, and evolutionary approaches to the study of human health. Research by human biologists and paleopathologists illuminates the history and prehistory of disease, while the work of cultural and applied anthropologists addresses contemporary health issues. Celebrating the book's 25th anniversary, the Fourth Edition includes increased coverage of emerging diseases, evolutionary medicine, the homeless, health disparities, and forensic anthropology. New chapters treat reproduction and careers in applied medical anthropology. New "Profiles" (case studies) on stress and toxic chemicals have been added and other profiles have been updated, further augmenting the classroom-friendly features the book is noted for.
Customer Reviews:
Dry Reading, But Useful.......2002-02-16
McElroy and Townsend's medical anthropology text is one of the classics in its field. I personally find the going very slow; I don't think that academic texts necessarily need to be presented in so pedantic a format. However, the information contained in the studies is quite useful to the anthropology student's understanding of disease in a cultural and ecological context.
Books:
- Essentials of Geology, Second Edition
- Exploring the Inside Passage to Alaska: A Cruising Guide from the San Juan Islands to Glacier Bay
- Ferromagnetism
- Furious Earth: The Science and Nature of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis
- Gemstones (Smithsonian Handbooks)
- Genetics: From Genes to Genomes
- Geoenvironmental Engineering: Site Remediation, Waste Containment, and Emerging Waste Management Techonolgies
- Geoenvironmental Engineering: Site Remediation, Waste Containment, and Emerging Waste Management Techonolgies
- Geographic Information Systems: An Introduction
- Geographic Information Systems for Transportation: Principles and Applications (Spatial Information Systems)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Delirium: A Novel
- Yoga for Dummies
- The Ticket That Exploded
- The Whelping and Rearing of Puppies: A Complete and Practical Guide
- the Torso
- Worlds in Collision
- Understanding Quantum Physics: A User's Manual, Vol. 1
- Handbook of Animal Radio-Tracking
- The Merchant of Prato: Francesco Di Marco Datini, 1335-1410
- "...The Secretary of War Shares Your Grief..." : The Brief Existence of Captain Milton Jerome Sheld
