Book Description
Long known for her insightful and thought-provoking political journalism, author Elizabeth Kolbert now tackles the controversial and increasingly urgent subject of global warming. In what began as groundbreaking three-part series in the New Yorker, for which she won a National Magazine Award in 2006, Kolbert cuts through the competing rhetoric and political agendas to elucidate for Americans what is really going on with the global environment and asks what, if anything, can be done to save our planet. Now updated and with a new afterword, Field Notes from a Catastrophe is the book to read on the defining issue and greatest challenge of our times.
Customer Reviews:
Eloquent But Only Notes.......2007-10-09
The title of this book is apt: Field Notes. Whether the word Catastrophe is equally apt, or merely good salesmanship, can be left undecided for the moment. Chapter by chapter, Ms Kolbert has written honestly and earnestly. Chapter 2, for instance, recounts the historical development of the concern over global warming, clearly and fairly, in a mere nine pages. Chapter 3 outlines the recent studies of glaciers, and the possible implications of those studies, with equal brevity and clarity. Chapter 1 sets a passionate tone for the whole book, confronting the fearful sense of global warming at the level of villagers whose lives are already impacted; I have kayaked many times in the Seward Peninsula region, over a span of 25 years, and I've personally felt the real urgency that Ms. Kolbert reports. Each chapter of the book is in fact an essay unto itself. Ms. Kolbert is a front-line journalist, not a climatologist. That is the source of her stylistic clarity, obviously, and of her daring in reporting on the crisis at multiple levels. It also makes her vulnerable to the dogmatic deniers of anthropogenic climate change, as is colorfully exhibited in the several ranting one-star reviews on this page.
This is the University of Washington common book for 2007-8.......2007-10-04
The University of Washington has selected this book as its "Common Book" for the 2007-2008 academic year. That means each of the UW's 10,000+ incoming freshman this year have received a copy of the book and are reading it.
An Extraordinary Work: Important and Readable.......2007-09-23
`Field Notes From a Catastrophe' is Elizabeth Kolbert's masterpiece of conciseness and clarity explaining current climate change science and the political obstacles (read the US, Republicans, and Bush Administration in ascending order) to getting serious about attacking the problem. Originally published in 2005, the paperback version has an afterword written in 2006.
Kolbert takes a journalist's approach to explaining the climate change phenomenon (the book began as a series in the New Yorker). She takes the reader to Shishmaref, Alaska an island village rapidly becoming an untenable place to live due to climate-induced sea ice changes, to the North Slope, to the great Greenland ice shield and she brings the story down to a human scale.
Kolbert also leads the reader through the science of global warming making understandable seemingly arcane topics like "dangerous anthropogenic interference" (DAI), which is basically the point where something truly major goes haywire. Kolbert brings the joy of learning to the reader, until one ponders the potential consequences of what she lays out for us. Perhaps most disturbing is the evidence she marshals that the climate has already changed. For example, the climate has warmed sufficiently to allow numerous butterfly species to migrate to new previously too cold locations and to cause the extinction of certain frog species.
Scientists do not, of course, understand everything about climate change (indeed, it is in the very nature of science that an endpoint of total knowledge is never achieved). Those political and economic forces (primarily in the United States) that benefit from the status quo latch on to the uncertainties to create doubt among the public and forestall action. Her interviews with Bush administration officials strike an odd note - they stonewall with robotic incantations. While Europe and most of industrialized world has acted, the US has dithered, delayed, and denied.
Kolbert explains why scientists conclude that it is virtually certain that under the current `business as usual' approach, greenhouse gas concentrations will reach a level that causes massive coastal flooding, large scale extinctions, and crop failures leading to starvation (DAI). These outcomes will not be evenly distributed and are likely to fall heaviest on the poorest countries. Scientists do not, however, know what level of greenhouse gas concentration will cause these impacts. The Bush administration uses that uncertainty as a reason to do essentially nothing and Congress too has failed to force any action.
Kolbert's book inspires the reader to search out even more current information (NOAA's Arctic Change web site is one good source). And the news is alarming. This stuff is not just a tree hugger's paranoid delusion: global heating is happening, it is happening now, and it is getting worse faster than anticipated.
Kolbert's book is a work of journalism (and given the rapidly changing reality, journalism is probably the best source of information) that informs on both the science and the politics of climate change without stridently hectoring the reader. Kolbert presents the facts. The reader would have to be a dim bulb indeed not to get the picture.
Absolutely the very highest recommendation. Kolbert's Field Notes From a Catastrophe deserves more than 5 stars.
Some very misleading reviews here.......2007-08-09
Reviewer T. Ferrell says "The author comes from an assumption that climate was once stable and has recently become unstable. She states this directly several times and it is the overall impression she intentionally leaves."
I'm not sure if the reviewer didn't actually read the book or is deliberately trying to smear it, but Kolbert states many times that the climate has changed in the past.
This is clearly written sober account of global warming and the effects it is having, and will have, on the environment. An excellent, concise read.
Climate has never been "stable".......2007-07-04
While the book was well written as prose, it was intellectually myopic. The author comes from an assumption that climate was once stable and has recently become unstable. She states this directly several times and it is the overall impression she intentionally leaves. Certainly climate change has an effect on people, flora and fauna, but that does not mean that you ignore the fact that there are winners with climate change as well as losers. Example, as the globe warms agriculture moves north expanding into areas previously too frigid to support farming. No mention of this?
But it is not that she just focuses just on the losers. She glosses over issues that might complicate her simple thesis that man is responsible for climate change as "not understood." This is the explanation she gives for example when discussing how atmospheric CO2 was historically low during the ice ages and was high during periods of warming. This is "unknown." She simply ignores the fact that the worlds oceans hold most of the planets CO2 both directly as an absorbed gas, its concentration being directly related temperature. She also ignores the carbon bank in phytoplankton. I believe she does this because it would bring into question her simple thesis. What warmed or cooled the worlds oceans before man was on the scene.
This is a problem for me because a wider view of climate change would reveal the true issues. At one point in time the earth was a snowball entirely covered with ice. At another point in our past the oceans were much higher and the poles were nearly devoid of ice. If global climate has always been in flux do we now propose that man should control the world's climate? If so, what is the best climate? Is it the best thing to have a sizeable portion of the worlds surface are covered in ice or too cold to support agriculture? Who decides? If man does control the weather is the only way to do it to cut back on fossil fuel useage? The author appears to believe so. Does the entity who controls climate take responsibilty for the weather and its effects? A freeze occurs in a temperate agricultural region. Is this now someone's fault?
It's very easy to look who loses with climate change. It is much more difficult to consider the bigger picture. I was not impressed by this book.
Book Description
This book focuses on natural disasters: how the normal processes of the Earth concentrate their energies and deal heavy blows to humans and their structures. It is concerned with how the natural world operates and, in so doing, kills and maims humans and destroys their works. Throughout the book, certain themes are maintained: * energy sources underlying disasters * plate tectonics and climate change * earth processes operating in rock, water, and atmosphere * significance of geologic time * complexities of multiple variables operating simultaneously * detailed and readable case studies.
Customer Reviews:
GEO Book.......2006-03-16
The book has an excellent number of graphs and pictures and makes it fairly easy to absorb information through self-learning. Great tool with lectures. Sometimes a bit of a drag on the boredom scale depending upon the topic.
Abbott explains how Natural Disasters occur .......2005-09-19
Although Abbott could have done a better job of simplifying some of his explainations, he does a great job of breaking down the formation of Natural Disasters in easy to understand steps. He also provides briefings on real life natural disaster occurances.
Natural Disasters.......2004-05-07
I used this book for one of my Earth and Ocean Science courses at the University of British Columbia. Although I enjoyed the many good examples, I found that the text did not have a very good flow to it. I found some of it to be choppy, and some of the sentences to be quite unclear. I agree, the examples are interesting, but it seems like the text relies on those examples to be interesting. I think a lot of processes could have been explained better, as I thought the point from class notes I received from my professors did a lot better than the text in helping me understand certain processes. I definetely agree it's a beginner text though as the examples give a good indication that natural disasters only occur because humans have inhabited locations that often times threaten lives.
Natural Disasters makes geology interesting!.......1999-10-28
As a developer of geology and earth science college textbooks for major publishers, I've worked with a lot of excellent books. Patrick Abbott's Natural Disasters, second edition, is one of the most interesting, readable, informative, and engaging books available. It doesn't have all the four-color diagrams and photos, and doesn't need them. The book tells many fascinating stories that engage students (e.g., the Lisbon earthquake of 1755), relates these natural events to humanity, and offers outstanding short summaries of geologic phenomena and events (e.g., the K-T extinction). This is one of the few books I keep on my desk to illustrate geologic events and principles for friends and coworkers. Highly recommended!
A great book for beginners interested in this topic!!!.......1999-01-11
I just finished taking a course at Florida International University having to do with natural disasters and this book was the required text. I found the book very interesting and informative. The different forms of natural disasters were seperated by chapters and were very well explained. I found it very easy to learn about natural disasters using this book.
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Conflict Over the World's Resources: Background, Trends, Case Studies, and Considerations for the Future (Contributions in Political Science)
Robert Mandel
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ASIN: 0313261296 |
Book Description
As resource scarcity threatens and the economic gap between affluent and poorer nations continues to widen, conflict over natural resources is assuming critical dimensions. Mandel analyzes the causes and consequences of present tensions and offers case studies of five recent or ongoing resource conflicts illustrating major areas of confrontation and identifying the range of policy issues we need to confront. Synthesizing his findings, Mandel demonstrates the need for rethinking current policy and suggests alternative approaches that may help to reduce international conflict. The author first describes worldwide scarcity trends and trends in resource conflict and their relation to international conflict as a whole. He looks at the dynamics of resource competition, assessing the impact of scarcity, declining economic development, environmental awareness, resource interdependence, and other factors. The first case study, centering on the protection of an endangered species, examines the whaling confrontation that began in 1972. The oil crisis and the continuing conflict over fossil fuels is considered next. Other case studies focus on political coercion in the conflict over food; the scarcity of strategic minerals and competition to control them; and the conflict arising from nuclear pollution in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster. The concluding chapter, dealing with policy implications, explains why prevailing attitudes toward resources are counterproductive, and suggests ways of working more effectively to minimize international resource conflict. Combining solid empirical analysis with a thorough understanding of environmental theory and comparative resource issues, Mandel's study will be important reading for students and specialists concerned with resource policy, development, international relations, and conflict resolution.
Book Description
Charles Perrow is famous worldwide for his ideas about normal accidents, the notion that multiple and unexpected failures--catastrophes waiting to happen--are built into our society's complex systems. In The Next Catastrophe, he offers crucial insights into how to make us safer, proposing a bold new way of thinking about disaster preparedness.
Perrow argues that rather than laying exclusive emphasis on protecting targets, we should reduce their size to minimize damage and diminish their attractiveness to terrorists. He focuses on three causes of disaster--natural, organizational, and deliberate--and shows that our best hope lies in the deconcentration of high-risk populations, corporate power, and critical infrastructures such as electric energy, computer systems, and the chemical and food industries. Perrow reveals how the threat of catastrophe is on the rise, whether from terrorism, natural disasters, or industrial accidents. Along the way, he gives us the first comprehensive history of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security and examines why these agencies are so ill equipped to protect us.
The Next Catastrophe is a penetrating reassessment of the very real dangers we face today and what we must do to confront them. Written in a highly accessible style by a renowned systems-behavior expert, this book is essential reading for the twenty-first century. The events of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina--and the devastating human toll they wrought--were only the beginning. When the next big disaster comes, will we be ready?
Customer Reviews:
Too much politics, too little thoughtful analysis.......2007-05-17
Perrow's book, Normal Accidents, is a classic in its field. I purchased The Next Catastrophe assuming that it would be a worthy successor. Boy, was I disappointed. Instead of careful argumentation, Perrow gives political commentary, based on nothing more than his own biases and preconceived notions. Normal Accidents was marred in a few places by clear political bias, but the overall analysis of the book was so well-done that overlooking those few places was easy. This is not true of The Next Catastrophe, in which good analysis and argumentation is hard to find amidst the diatribe. If you are interested in knowing about Perrow's political views, buy this book; otherwise, do not waste your money.
Amazon.com
The Johnstown flood of 1889, the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the pan-European bubonic plague epidemic of 1347-51--all of these events left deep impressions on contemporary history and are remembered even today. We have yet to gauge the effects of more modern disasters--for instance, the Kobe earthquake of 1995, which killed 5,000 Japanese--but we recognize their significance. Many scientists are now engaged in developing means to forecast natural disasters more accurately and to put in place more effective safety measures. Ernest Zebrowski tracks their work through history, noting that even the most current of ideas about, say, the dangers of wind shear will almost certainly be proven obsolete in the years to come. Students of technological history, geology, and climatology will find his work stimulating, and general readers will find it highly accessible.
Book Description
From epidemics and earthquakes to tornados and tidal waves, the overwhelming power of nature never ceases to instill humankind with both terror and awe. As natural disasters continue to claim human lives and leave destruction in their wake, Perils of a Restless Planet examines our attempts to understand and anticipate such phenomena. Now available in paperback, this highly acclaimed book draws on actual events from ancient to present times. Coverage focuses on basic scientific inquiry, technological innovation and, ultimately, public policy to provide a lucid and riveting look at the natural events that have shaped our view of natural disasters. While shedding light on the elusive quality of nature's intermittent tantrums and the limits scientific study and laboratory replication impose on our understanding of its mercurial ways, the author extrapolates from the history of science to suggest how we may someday learn to warn and protect the vulnerable populations on our small, tempestuous planet. Compelling and informative, this book will find readers both in and outside of the scientific community.
Customer Reviews:
Extremely interesting book on science of disasters...........2007-05-10
I've long been interested in climate, weather, and geological sciences that have very little to do with the science of the body or biology that I usually teach or that I read for. I didn't get much of this science in school, and I find it fascinating, though of course, it makes me extremely uneasy to read information like this after we have had several very large natural disasters that led to major suffering on the part of human beings partly through our own fault, and partly as a natural condition of being part of an eco-system that is very much impacted by what we humans do.
This book is not just the usual listing of catastrophic happenings, but rather a few major events are listed with significant information about what either led up to the event, or how the event happened, or how and why it impacted civilization. A lot of this stuff was a mix of several different ways of looking at disasters, including epidemiology and population statistics, things that are not usually looked at until way after the event, and even then, are dismissed. But we dismiss this type of study at our own peril. After Katrina, people should understand more that if you put a city near an immense body of water, with no protection for that city, whether natural or otherwise, there will be consequences of that action. Whether that consequence occurs during the lifetime of the people who build that city without thinking on the edge of a precipice, or whether it occurs during their children's lifetime, has little or no bearing on the deliverance of those consequences.
This book is a must read for urban engineers and urban planning. Whether dealing with environmental impact of building unsafely, or the population statistcs of whether an area can adequately support an exponentially growing population without leading to problems such as that seen on Easter Island where a small environment could not support a large population adequately, is up for grabs. I would hope that those who come after us would do better at taking such concerns to heart when planning communities.
Karen L. Sadler
particularly appropriate for a post tsunami read.......2005-11-16
This is an approachable but not dumbed down introduction to the science and history of natural disasters: picking it up in the early post-Thailand/Indonesia/India etc tsunami it explained the whyfores and wherefores as well as the nature and extent of the damage clearly and concisely.
Highly recommended as an either an introduction to more technical treatments, or as an excellent 'popular science' outline of the subject.
Couldn't put it down.......2004-08-06
One of the best books I've read in a long time. This is popular science done right! For a start, the writing is very clear and the author manages to explain some complicated subjects in a straightforward manner.
A book on natural disasters wouldn't be complete without exciting tales of death, mayhem and general destruction. In this book, the author proves himself a first rate yarn spinner. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what happened when Mont Pelee exploded or when Lisbon was swamped by a tsunami.
This is the kind of science book I like. It assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, yet also assumes the reader is intelligent and can grasp new concepts. For example, the second chapter (in a book on natural disasters) is titled "The Evolution of Science" and provides a lucid and compact summary of the history and philosophy of science, no less! Bravo! Another great thing is the auther is always ready to point out the limitations of current science or current techniques. Some authors tend to gloss over the unknowns and pretend they know everything.
You can learn a lot from this book. Each page is dense with scientific information, with no filler. What to do if involved in an earthquake, hurricane, tsunami or volcano. How to build a house. How the richter scale works. Its all in there. And the author isn't afraid to throw a few equations into the mix to illustrate the science behind the discussed phenomenon.
If you are a thinker, you will love this book. Guaranteed!
Readable Non-Fiction.......2004-06-11
If you're the type of person who likes reading about disasters, but who wants more than tales of woe, then buy this book! Zebrowski gives thoughtful descriptions of various natural catastrophes that were exacerbated by human foibles and design shortcomings. His narrative offers enough detail to satisfy the engineer, but explains complex concepts in a manner that makes the material accessible and enjoyable to the layman.
Scientific Perspectives on Natural Disasters.......2002-05-20
Ernest Zebrowski, Jr. is both a teacher and a story-teller in "Perils of a Restless Planet." I picked the book up to review it and found myself reading it from cover to cover all over again.
Stylistically, the author will begin with the story of, say, the San Francisco earthquake (1906). He then compares it to the Messina earthquake (1908), and asks why there were so many more casualties in the Messina quake (only a 33% - 45% survival rate as compared to San Francisco's 99.8% survival rate). This question leads to a discussion of the strengths of materials---how well they perform when deformed by tension, compression, shear, and torsion. In San Francisco, the houses were built of wood, which will bend and twist and allow its occupants time to escape during a quake. The houses in Messina were built of stone. "It is this plastic behavior of wood (versus stone) that explains the dramatic difference in survival rates in the San Francisco and Messina earthquakes of 1906 and 1908."
There's lots of physics (and some biology, archeology, and sociology) in 'Perils' but it is all very clear and palatable. In fact, this book would make a good overview of science for high school students. It's got stories of volcanoes, plagues, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, asteroids, and poisonous lakes to hold the students' interest. The clear physical explanations of, for example, why some boats will float during a tsunami and others will turn turtle, are an excellent foundation for further explorations into the worlds of science. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how we've managed to survive and even thrive on the surface of such a restless planet. It is an excellent summary of the science necessary to understand many of the Earth's natural catastrophes.
Book Description
In The Great Lead Water Pipe Disaster, Werner Troesken looks at a long-running environmental and public health catastrophe: 150 years of lead pipes in local water systems and the associated sickness, premature death, political inaction, and social denial. The harmful effects of lead water pipes became apparent almost as soon as cities the world over began to install them. Doctors and scientists noted cases of acute illness and death attributable to lead in public water beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century, and an editorial in the New York Herald called for the city to study the matter after a bizarre illness made headlines in 1868. But officials took no action for many years. New York City, for example, did not take any steps to reduce lead levels in water until 1992, long after the most serious damage had been done. By then, in any case, much of the old lead pipe had been replaced with safer materials.
Troesken examines the health effects of lead exposure, analyzing cases from New York City, Boston, and Glasgow and many smaller towns in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and England. He draws on period accounts, government reports, court decisions, and economic and demographic analysis to document the widespread nature of the problem, the recognized health effects--particularly for pregnant women and young children--and official intransigence. He presents an accessible overview of the old and new science of lead exposure--explaining, for example, why areas with soft water suffered more harmful effects than areas with hard water. And he gives us compelling and vivid accounts of the people and politics involved. The effects of lead in water continue to be felt; many older houses still have lead service pipes. The Great Lead Water Pipe Disaster is essential reading for understanding this past and ongoing public health problem.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent histrical expose about the negative inpacts of lead contamination.......2007-07-01
Troesken(T) has done an excellent job of demonstrating why lead was used in ,and contined to be used in,water pipes over a period of 150 years despite a great deal of scientific and anecdotal evidence linking the lead to numerous physical ailments being available to city planners during this time period.The answer was that decision makers were penny wise and pound foolish.Lead water pipes were very cheap to build,long lasting,and easy to maintain.One area of discussion that should have been more heavily emphasized was the overwhelming connection between lead exposure and lower IQ scores.Lead exposure from birth to age 10 leads to a loss in IQ of from 6-10 points.The major groups impacted are black and Latino -Hispanic Americans getting their drinking water from city-metropolitan water systems.This accounts for about 40% to 67% of the alleged disparity in IQ scores that is supposed to exist between white and black Americans .These facts are ignored by Herrnstein and Murray in their book" The Bell Curve"(1994).
A little lead won't hurt ya! Look at me.......2007-03-31
Romans had lead in their pipes--you wanna blame the rise and fall of the Roman Empire on lead pipes? Lead is just a nuissance, ntohing more. Hech, I used to eat lead painat asa a kidd and I don't have any long erm side effects that I'm awarae of
A Must Read!.......2007-03-02
Werner Troesken presents the history of lead water pipe use without hyperbole. Instead you get scientific analysis mixed with telling anecdotes and then more scientific analysis. You might think the lack of hype would make for a boring read, but this book is truly fascinating. Mr. Troesken gives us a great example of how we don't see things until we believe in them. The copy I read was borrowed from the library, but I am buying my own copy now.
history, science, policy--what more could you want?.......2006-12-19
Troesken smoothly integrates several complex topics in a very readable style. If you wondered how lead is so toxic, as well as the surprising level of exposure to it in the past, wonder no more. He carefully establishes how common it was to be exposed to levels of lead in drinking water that were dozens of times higher than the present day EPA maximum. He establishes that public officials were loathe to do anything about it, in large part due to lead's excellent capabilities--it's malleable, strong, and cheap. And ever so toxic. Troesken concludes with a recommendation for further study on an overlooked topic--effects on human health of nonorganic toxins in the past. One more reason I'm glad to be alive now.
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The Economics of Natural Hazards, 2 Volume Set (International Library of Critical Writings in Economics)
Manufacturer: Edward Elgar Publishing
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ASIN: 1840648155 |
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Set during the devastating tsunami of 2004, MAMA is the touching true story of a baby hippo that was separated from his mother when the wave hit. After struggling alone for several days, the baby was rescued by Kenyan wildlife officers and brought to live in an animal refuge. There, all by himself, he adopted a new "mother"--that just happened to be a 130-year-old giant male tortoise. And they've been inseparable ever since.
Although MAMA takes place against the backdrop of a terrible human tragedy, at the heart of this story is a moving and original tale of adoption--and of finding love and companionship in the least likely of circumstances.
Includes an author's note.
Customer Reviews:
Maybe I'm hormonal..........2007-05-20
...but every time I read this book I get teary eyed. Of course I use the word "read" loosely as there are only two words in the whole book: mama & baby.
I found this book after reading Owen and Mzee (Isabella Hatkoff) which was a short non-fiction book with photographs detailing the remarkable story of a baby hippo that lost his mom in the 2004 tsunami; he is later rescued and sent to a zoo where he is "adopted" by a giant 130 year old tortoise.
This picture book attempts to condense that incredible story in a handful of pages that are illustrated with simple and homely images using only the word "mama" to move the story line along. (There is also an author's note at the end which explains more about the true story.)
It's a pretty bold concept but I think it works. I'm still not a very big fan of the illustrations and the story is troubling but as a book it really does resonate for me and honestly I wouldn't change a thing about it. It's perfectly imperfect.
There are lots of reviewers that will argue it's a scary book thematically, but I think it's also very touching. I probably wouldn't recommend it to everyone but it's certainly one of the most moving picture books I've happened across.
I think this book may also find a welcoming home on the bookshelves of children who have themselves been misplaced from their parents and adopted by surrogates...or anyone who has tragically lost something and found it again in the unlikeliest of places.
Essentially it's a story of trauma and loss and hope and love. It's a story about life.
Sometimes Momma's are lost and baby's are placed gently in others care.......2006-11-02
To understand this book it helps to have a child placed in your classroom who has lost her momma. In my room this year is a sweet little one who lost her young momma at two. She has at 6 been placed into my hands and no day goes by that I don't feel the dissonance of realization of what this loss means for this little one. It's not easy being different than the other children, but its far worse when others cannot accept and process and care about this-preferring to "never ever speak" of such things. That's a real rejection of the experience of loss. This story is one of a baby hippo told in pictures...hippo baby goes in the world following mama, losing momma to a tsunami and then finding an old tortoise to call mama. As the journey is told through the pictures we feel the bonds of mother and child, the sadness of this tragedy, the honoring of the tragedy, the way the baby is able to go on through the disaster and be loved by another as the love of mom, our first love, is transformed into the love of a friend. This is a refugee story. In the end it is my belief we are all refugees, all searching for mother love, all looking for acceptance and love. This is a story to tell of that life journey. Absolutely poetic, absolutely charming. Children will relate, feel , learn if this is presented with love and context.....
Scary for little ones.......2006-10-19
My 1st grader said it best: "Cute pictures, but scary story!" She had tears in her eyes as she realized the Mama was gone and the baby was alone. He gets a new mama when he's rescued, but the ghostly outline of his lost mother is present on the last page. However, sometimes bad things do happen and for a parent who is interested in introducing the concept of death or losing a parent in some way, this book could be helpful. As an everyday bedtime story thought, I would say skip it. Could really worry some children.
Winter At Her Absolute Best.......2006-06-16
As a children's book librarian, I've been following Jeanette Winter's books for many years, and I have always been struck by how child-friendly they are. They are books written and illustrated for children, not for adults, and this is what makes them such welcome additions to any children's book library. With MAMA, we have the ultimate example of this. In life, even in a child's life, difficult things happen. Tsunamis happen. Hurricanes happen. Divorce happens. Rather than being told such things aren't real, children need to deal them, to process them, and in a way that provides comfort. And so it is that Winter, as a children's book author, fearlessly, and with the utmost of grace, tackles a difficult thing that really did happen, ultimately providing much hope and joy. Bravo, Ms. Winter!
A PERFECT Picture Book.......2006-06-16
This is perhaps the most beautiful and perfect picture book I have ever read. Using just two words throughout the entire text, brilliant author/illustrator Jeanette Winter conveys the most basic of all human emotions: the bond between a mother and child. This most universal of subjects is something every child will understand -- and not just understand, but feel. And with the beautiful, equally minimal illustrations depicting the big, blue ocean, this book is certain to put every child, and every parent, in a trance -- from beginning to end. And the ending is ultimately a very happy, life-affirming, love-affirming one -- that will leave most readers with a big smile tempered with tears, like the sunshine that follows, say, a tsunami.
Amazon.com
The 1990s have not been kind to Los Angeles. As Mike Davis writes, "The destructive February 1992, January 1993, and January 1995 floods ($500 million in damage) were mere brackets around the April 1992 insurrection ($1 billion), the October-November 1993 firestorms ($1 billion) and the January 1994 earthquake ($42 billion)." But, he argues, the increasing fear about nature's reign of terror in Southern California reflected in Hollywood's preoccupation with apocalypse--L.A. has been destroyed on screen by everything from lava (Volcano) to nukes (Miracle Mile) to alien death rays (Independence Day)--is in reality a strong case of denial. Again, Davis himself says it best: "For generations, market-driven urbanization has transgressed environmental common sense. Historic wildfire corridors have been turned into view-lot suburbs, wetland liquefaction zones into marinas, and floodplains into industrial districts and housing tracts. Monolithic public works have been substituted for regional planning and a responsible land ethic. As a result, Southern California has reaped flood, fire, and earthquake tragedies that were as avoidable, as unnatural, as the beating of Rodney King and the ensuing explosion in the streets."
As in City of Quartz, his earlier book about Los Angeles, Davis reveals the deeper ideological narratives behind historical events. Whether he's explaining the motivations behind the persistent refusal of civic leaders to admit that a tornado alley runs down the middle of the region, from Long Beach to Pasadena, or discussing, as one chapter refers to it, "the case for letting Malibu burn," he outlines his arguments with a fascinating amount of detail and a subtle sense of irony. There are wonderful chapters here, such as "Maneaters of the Sierra Madre," a zoology of the wild beasts Angelenos fear, including mountain lions that descend from the hills to eat joggers and small children, swarms of Africanized killer bees making their way across the deserts, and El Chupacabra, the "goat-sucking vampire" that joined L.A.'s roster of faddish icons in 1996.
Although this book is specifically about Los Angeles, its lessons about the relationship between urban developments and natural ecosystems and about the dangerous influence of class politics on environmental safety policy are applicable to any city. Anyone with a serious interest in natural history or urban policy should make a point of reading this book. --Ron Hogan
Book Description
"Graced with a bold political and environmental vision, much splendid phrasemaking and a multitude of facts. . . . A truly eccentric contribution."--The New York Times Book Review
Earthquakes. Wildfires. Floods. Drought. Tornadoes. Snakes in the sea, mountain lions, and a plague of bees. In this controversial tour de force of scholarship, unsparing vision, and inspired writing, Mike Davis, the author of City of Quartz, revisits Los Angeles as a Book of the Apocalypse theme park. By brilliantly juxtaposing L.A.'s fragile natural ecology with its disastrous environmental and social history, he compellingly shows a city deliberately put in harm's way by land developers, builders, and politicians, even as the incalculable toll of inevitable future catas-trophe continues to accumulate.
Counterpointing L.A.'s central role in America's fantasy life--the city has been destroyed no less than 138 times in novels and films since 1909--with its wanton denial of its own real history, Davis creates a revelatory kaleidoscope of American fact, imagery, and sensibility. Drawing upon a vast array of sources, Ecology of Fear meticulously captures the nation's violent malaise and desperate social unease at the millennial end of "the American century." With savagely entertaining wit and compassionate rage, this book conducts a devastating reconnaissance of our all-too-likely urban future.
"Dizzying. . . . In Mr. Davis's account, the world ends in fire, and the next time is now."--The New York Times
Customer Reviews:
Modern America as a Place and Myth.......2006-11-09
This is a very, very fine book that looks at the archetype of Modern America, Los Angles and Southern California. Looking at the interaction of population growth, individualism (greed!), urban growth without planning, and the nature of the environment, this book shows how we are unwilling to acknowledge the normalcy of earthquakes, fires, tornadoes, and wild animal encounters. It is extremely well-written and researched -- and hard to put down! It is social criticism that is "grounded", literally.
Great for Residents of Los Angeles.......2004-12-07
As a resident of Los Angeles I found Ecology of Fear a great and informative read. I understand those who review it and find things to quibble with. Nothing is perfect. But for someone like me, possessed before reading this with a feeling that so many things in LA were just wrong, but not having a good understanding how how and why things got to be so messed up in so many ways, Ecology of Fear is an indispensible book. Perhaps the greatest thing I took away from this book was an abiding sense of the "alternate reality" LA that perhaps exists in some other dimension-- an LA where greenbelts line the rivers, where the foothills are left undeveloped and able to burn seasonally as meant to, and where resources are more equitably distributed.
trademark Mike Davis material.......2004-03-13
Not a sequel to City of Quartz, but a look at current and historical LA from an environmental perspective instead of Quartz's sociological view. Famous for its criticism as much as its content, Ecology Of Fear compiles a staggering amount of information into an informative and compelling story. LA's dynamism is a product of its people, land, water, air, wildlife, history, and future. This is the book that can tell you what life has been and will be like, for those who choose to live in the wilderness of Los Angeles.
You'll like parts and be bored by others..........2004-02-15
"Ecology of Fear" is unfortunately a necessary book in which Mike Davis once again denounces how the United States has managed to create a completely Apartheid-like society, but has done such a good job at it that people hardly perceive that they are living in a divided world (in this book, the divisions most commonly pointed out is the one between natural areas and inhabited areas, but we are also shown how a city is divided between poor and wealthy, and nature's role in this division). Nowhere is this more acute than in Los Angeles, the epitome of social division and exploitation of every natural resource. Davis convincingly shows how the natural world is utterly obliterated, with bogus re-creations made in its place where necessary, as a blind eye is turned to all of the destruction and the special interests of the wealthy are always put before those of the have-nots.
This is the aspect of the book that I found most interesting (more sociological and political), but there are chapters for people with different tastes and interests. For movie buffs or sci-fi novel readers, there are very well-documented sections on the portrayal of disasters in the Los Angeles area (I personally found this part less fascinating, because that is not my area of interest, but to many it may be). For environmentalists the book is a must-read on how NOT to manage an urban area. For local historians, there are some great anecdotes on LA history that I had never seen or read anywhere, and my family has lived in the LA area for decades. The saddest part of the book is discovering just how short-sighted people can be when making policy decisions and that capitalism's solution of allowing the power of money and majority opinion to solve everything does not lead those who possess power and wealth to make the soundest decisions in many, if not most, cases.
And who knew that there are tornadoes in Los Angeles?!
Public Gem.......2003-09-21
Ecology of Fear is a public gem, if just, for its inquiry into fire prevention and policy in two differing socioeconomic enclaves of Los Angeles,Ca affluent Malibu and densely immigrant Pico-Union Westlake District. Why a public gem in this respect?? It is a broadly appealing insight into the intersection of 'fire' policy and human welfare. The fire related inquiries alone perhaps will equally interest busy professionals, students, politicians, et.al with a keen interest in policy awareness, yet left with little time or resources for conquering the wealth of information disseminated by Mike Davis. It is likely that a casual read of this book will land the reader into perhaps a fit of rage, or maybe a touch of shame, and possibly even numbness.
Ecology of Fear will likely capture the reader's attention and generate much deliberation.
Book Description
Voices from Chernobyl is the first book to present personal accounts of what happened on April 26, 1986, when the worst nuclear reactor accident in history contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Svetlana Alexievich a journalist who now suffers from an immune deficiency developed while researching this bookinterviewed hundreds of people affected by the meltdown. Their narratives form a crucial document revealing how the government masked the event with deception and denial. Harrowing and unforgettable, Voices from Chernobyl bears witness to a tragedy and its aftermath in a book that is as unforgettable as it is essential.
Customer Reviews:
Profound and important.......2007-09-10
This book is a punch in the gut. There's no nicer way to say it. It's downright devastating. It's something that every single person should read. Even if you only know Chernobyl vaguely, two things are made painfully apparent by this book: whatever you've read about Chernobyl in the past has probably grossly underestimated the magnitude of the disaster; and the death and injury toll from the accident hasn't stopped yet. Not by a long shot.
In her quest to expose the human cost of Chernobyl, journalist Svetlana Alexievich presents three years' worth of interviews with a wide cross-section of individuals. Unlike most books about Chernobyl, the focus is on the people of Belarus, who were not evacuated as quickly as their southern neighbors in Ukraine. The breadth of the author's research is astounding. The reader meets the widow of one of the first responders to the Chernobyl accident, a young firefighter who arrived at the nuclear plant clad only in his street clothes and ended up suffering an agonizing death in a Moscow radiation ward only 14 days later. There are children who were evacuated from surrounding cities and parents of children who have died from radiation-related illnesses. There's a respected scientist who, learning of the Chernobyl disaster, made frantic calls to all the Soviet brass in Minsk he could think of, only to be ignored. There are elderly men and women who have returned to the Exclusion Zone to live in solitude, eating radioactive crops. There are liquidators who toiled for months shoring up the reactor's ruins, only to receive a medal, a certificate and a serious or terminal illness as thanks. There's even an ex-Soviet official who tries to justify the cover-ups surrounding the Chernobyl crisis.
No angle is ignored, and no detail, no matter how horrifying, is politely edited out. Alexievich allows her subjects to tell their stories honestly and frankly. Voices from Chernobyl presents a profound moment of truth for a situation that, for 20 years, has been seeped in denial and secrecy. Very highly recommended.
Frst hand accounts.......2007-08-28
Touching first hand accounts of the people effected by the fallout of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Accounts of how land and the popluation were forever devasted and chagned, how the Soviet government secretly handled the containment and clean up and blinded many who dutifully responded by withholding and not inforing of the danger. The first story of the wife of a fireman who was one of the first on scene and her pain as she watched him die was the most gripping account to me. First hand accounts tell of poeple who have remained in Chernobyl, the way the land once looked and now looks and the soldiers who were sent to guard and contain the site. Overall I did find the book touching and intereting but towards the end, I did find the stories somewhat redundant of the theme.
This Book Will Break Your Heart.......2007-07-27
This book brought tears to my eyes reading the stories that these people have gone through. One would have to be made of stone not to cry over all that these wonderful people have had to go through.
Stories of love, death, sickness,pain, despair, and the reality of what could happen here in the States if we ever had a nuclear accident like they did. We must not grow lax or lazy and think it could not happen here, because the truth of the matter is that it could happen here. This book has convinced me more than ever, that nuclear power is not something that I want us to pursue as an souce of energy in this country.
I believe that it is important that I pass this book on so that more people can read this book. I want as many people to read this book, so that they know the facts of what would happen if we had a nuclear accident here in the States.
Voices from Chernobyl........2007-04-02
This was not the book I was looking for but it was the book I read. Far from an historical recreation of the disaster, Voices from Chernobyl is a personal confessional, a lyric documentation of intense human emotions. Svetlana Alexiech presents each story without comment or judgement. It is a stream of conscoiusness, profoundly moving in the face of this 1986 nuclear disaster, the gross incompetence of the Soviet Government and failure to contain the radioactive contamination. The stories are of those who stayed, those who came to help, those who died and those who survived. Haunting, moving, emotional, revealing, shocking, sad and inspirational. This book will stay with you long after the last page is turned.
And You Think Hurricane Katrina Was A Disaster??.......2007-02-13
This book is a collection of stories, commentaries, and monologues from the people who lived and continue to live through the Chernobyl crisis. Their voices are simple and honest but come from the heart and clearly depict their hardship and suffering. Their voices also give portrayal to their culture which combines old world peasantry and Soviet collectivism that is clashing with an unexplainable, unseeable, and futuristic horror. It is this clash that renders the whole catastrophe so heartbreaking. That a simple, family oriented, agrarian society who have already lived through so much suffering be victim to such an accident is quite heartbreaking. And to make matters worse, the lack of education, support, protection, and management by the Soviet government is apalling. The failures of a socialistic bureacracy are quite apparent. After reading this book, I can clearly argue why nuclear technology should not be placed in the hands of governments such as Iran or North Korea who already have a record of irresponsibility. Allowing these countries to develop nuclear energy is like giving a three year old a loaded gun to play with. Well written and well deserving of the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award for non-fiction.
Books:
- Found (Firstborn Series #3)
- Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering
- Gemstones of the World: Newly Revised & Expanded Third Edition
- Geology and the Environment (with Environmental ScienceNOW and InfoTra )
- Geology for Engineers and Environmental Scientists (3rd Edition)
- Geology of the American Southwest: A Journey Through Two Billion Years of Plate-Tectonic History
- Geostatistics for Natural Resources Evaluation (Applied Geostatistics Series)
- GPS for Land Surveyors (PBK)
- Havana Then and Now (Then & Now)
- Historical Geology: Evolution of Earth and Life Through Time (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)
Books Index
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