Environment and Nature Books

Its a great book i needed it for a science fair project and it helped me out alot i had 1 day and it practically did it for me!!

Great ecology guide to aquatic life. It takes you from the chemistry of water through a section on glaciers and into life in a pond, stream, and a wetland. Great guide for elementary/middle school teachers and would make a great text for a high school course.

Let me get right to the point--this is a great book for learning about aquatic ecology. It's all the things many conventional textbooks are not--readable, concise, interesting and useful in the field. I highly recommend this book for kids in grade 8 and up, for adults who need a concise and thorough introduction to ecology and environmental issues, and for anyone with a naturalist bent. If I were going to teach a high school or community college course in ecology, this is the book I would use.

I took an Ecotoxicology course as a fun class, so far the class is great and the book helps clarify some of the topics we are discussing. The chapters are short compared to other textbooks, making it much easier to read. The book contains great diagrams and illustrations/pictures, there are also additional reading suggestions that helped when I was trying to find a project topic. I am glad I decided to take the class and happier that I purchased the suggested book.

This text does an excellent job of addressing the subject from a multi-discipline perspective. It is well written but requires some background in chemistry; as it addresses the biological fate of many chemical/organic compounds. It does so in a format that does not prepare the reader for immediate sleep but does require active participation on the part of the reader. This is not a High School or Doctorate level reference but aimed well at the BS level reader.

I received the text book very quickly and the book was in mint condition. The service was perfect.

I have read many of the reviews of Reading the Mountains of Home--both before and after I studied the book itself--in various magazines and newspapers, and, while many of them summarize accurately and manage to convey fairly clearly its complex and compelling structures, the musical grace of the sentences, the unique of John Elder's vision about the interlinking of language and place and time and family, of Robert Frost's "Directive" and of the concept of wilderness in America. There is a sense also in which he has taken nature writing--a broad genre forever in evolution--and brought it to new heights through this creative interweaving.

But what I notice most is the book's quiet heroism. By this I mean simply that the author exhibits the courage to put all of his deepest convictions, his most strongly held beliefs, the raw stuff of his very life in a place for all to see. One does not see this very often in books. We need more writers like John Elder. We need people like John Elder, people who have the courage to write from the deepest parts of themselves for the greater good of all of us and the larger home we call earth. If there were six stars I would give it six stars.

This is an unusual book. John Elder has written a book that blends the rhythms of life with the rhythms of nature.

Using Robert Frost's poem "Directive" as a springboard, Elder guides the reader through a series of year-long hikes that provide a rare glimpse into the writer soul, family and surroundings. His musings transport the reader from the glaciers that shaped his the plateau for the Village of Bristol, VT., the farmers who struggled and more often than not, failed to scratch a living from the rocky soil that surrounds his adopted home.

He carries us from broken china to Abenaki settlements, meditating on family relationships and deeper relationships with the land.

This is a beautiful example of nature writing, a work that draws a balance between the machinations of civilization and the beauties of wilderness. By inviting the reader to follow the last line of Frost's "Directive," to "Drink and be whole again beyond confusion.", Elder creates a sense of hope that Vermont's balance between nature and culture can speak to the rest of the nation.

I learned much about New England from this fine book -- and about Robert Frost.

Two-time Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Winona LaDuke presents Recovering The Sacred: The Power Of Naming And Claiming, a discussion of the struggles Native Americans have made particularly in modern history to reclaim their rights and cave a path that balances personal, ecological, and cultural integrity. From "Vampire" biopiracy incidents such as taking samples of Native Blood under the pretext that it will be used to research diabetes and selling it to bidders who actually use it as evidence for the Bering Strait land bridge theory - in direct conflict with the religious beliefs of those who provided the donation - to corrupting public regard of Native tribes through using their names at sporting events (it would be unthinkable to wave crucifixes or the Torah at heated game, yet spiritual Native American objects such as the feather headdress are freely worn), to modern land grabs for any coal, oil, or valuable materials remaining on any Native reservation and more, Recovering The Sacred sheds a spotlight on the disdainful to hostile manner in which America regards its Native peoples. A carefully researched and persuasively presented accounting of the inequities of the past, what Native peoples are courageously doing now to protect their rights and their culture, and what challenges the future may bring. Highly recommended.

Leading activist/scholar writing from among the Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe) of northern Minnesota, Winona LaDuke brings to all of us the ecological wisdom of Native Americans.

The sacred has to be "recovered" by "naming and claiming" a people's land, its holy sites, and its "relatives" among other creatures (such as sturgeon, horse, and manoomin or wild rice).

In a splendid blend of wit, good humor, necessary polemic, personal experience (not only as Founding Director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, but also as world traveler), and copious research, this book lays down its assertive challenge to a dehumanizing materialism that has relegated "the sacred" to an allegedly peripheral irrelevancy.

LaDuke's book describes here how the Native American community has begun to "heal itself from the ravages of the past." Vigorous pro-active efforts emerge in her stories about naming and claiming what is sacred to that community.

Heart-wrenching and heart-warming. Winona LaDuke's straightforward descriptions of how the indigenous plant, animal, and human peoples of North America were decimated will take your breath away and her inspiring accounts of the steps that are being taken to rebuild and restore will have you breathing a sigh of relief.

Every page is a WOW moment - there are none that disappoint here! For anyone who likes to watch moving water AND waterfalls, this is 'the' book for you. It's also an excellent reference for painting or sewing these landscape scenes. Picture composition is top notch and careful attention was paid to the 'seasonal' influence of the pictures as well.

You cannot find a more comprehensible photo book showing gorgeous landscapes with the emphasis on the moving water aspect - the cover shot gives you a good idea of the content. The only thing possibly missing is an included cd of rushing water sounds, but then again you could buy that IF you don't already have one! Outstanding work of nature art, you will NOT be disappointed!

I also highly recommend the book 'Waterfalls & gorges of the Finger Lakes' by Derek Doeffinger, a smaller book than 'Rivers' but just as enjoyable!

A photographer with the eye of an artist, Tim Palmer has spent a lifetime photographing rivers. He has gone to extremes to get just the right view, at the right time of day, the right time of the year. He has combines these photographs with prose that is almost poetic to add in our understanding of what he sees, what he feels.

I don't know just how many states he covers in these photographs, but perhaps the most dramatic pictures are those taken in Alaska. From the bears fishing for salmon, to the young wolf who has found a drowned sheep, the broad expanse of the mountains the pictures show nature at its most attractive.

Surprisingly though his pictures show the beauty that remains in the rivers of the lower 48. In spite of what has happened in terms of polution, concrete channalizing by the Corp of Engineers, there is beauty to be found. And Mr. Palmer has the eye to find that beauty.

A prolific author, gifted outdoor photographer and a nationally-renowned river conservationist, this is Tim Palmer's ode to America's bountiful and beautiful rivers. No one writes about rivers -- or captures their magical essence in photos -- like Tim, because no one knows and cares as much about them as he clearly does. If you love rivers, then you will love this book! Learn more about Tim's love affair with rivers by visiting: www.americanrivers.org/palmerprofile.

This book is written for those of us who are not architects or engineers. It illustrates how to live more sustainably on this fragile planet. The process described of incremental learning based on experimenting with small changes over time to find the most efficacious approach to sustainable building, agriculture, food production and zero waste is a lesson in itself. Learning came from doing, carefully recording results, applying lessons learned and improving results. In addition, the book describes how sustainable practices can also be economic engines for new product development and cost reduction.

I've recently been in Tanzania looking at community development projects and I plan to send this book to several of the people that I met. It's the way to build and live for the future survival of our species.

Nancy Jack Todd eloquently relates the history of her and husband John Todd's New Alchemy Institute (NAI) for ecological design starting in 1969 to the present day incarnation of Ocean Arks International. This book has many photographs and drawings showing systems, buildings both at their research facilities and installations around the world and many of the dedicated people who have worked with the Todd's over the years.

The original focus of their research was to develop sustainable organic food production, bioremediation, off-grid energy production, and efficient building construction methods for a virtual stand-alone closed-loop system capable of self-sufficiency without any toxic side-effects, especially, effluent. Through trial and error and much research they met their goals and became internationally recognized for the high state of efficiency their various systems achieved. NAI became a successful format and influence for many colleges to replicate on campuses all over the U.S. and abroad.

Eventually, they turned their focus almost exclusively to natural effluent and pollution remediation techniques developing the "eco-machine" system that utilizes plants, micro-organisms and fish to convert sewage to re-usable water and fish for food production.

The Todd's contributions to solving many of the world's toughest environmental problems and influence on ecological study cannot be understated, especially in the area of bioremediation. If every municipality, farm, and industrial site in the world were join the ranks of those who have already installed "eco-machine" type water purification systems to clean-up their toxic run-off, a huge chunk of global pollution could be eliminated.

This book is a must have for all those interested bioremediation and that should be everyone- a clean environment requires it.

Ecological design issues were in the news in the late 1960s, the height of ecological understanding; yet today it remains relatively in the background. A Safe And Sustainable World: The Promise Of Ecological Design provides a personal account of those who set out to discover more sustainable methods of shelter and energy - and comes from research and work of a couple who served as sustainable leaders of ecological design for thousands. What can be done and what should/will be done is discussed in chapters defining elements of success and ecological failure.

This book will teach your kids about the desert and the giant sagauro cactus that grow in Arizona. My grandkids loved it!

The collaborative effort of author Jennifer Ward and illustrator Mike K. Ranger, The Seed And The Giant Saguaro is an absorbing picture book about how a variety of desert animals contribute to the planting, growth, and life of a Giant Saguaro cactus. The narrative is written in a "This is the house that Jack built" style, with each new page spread adding another line to the saga of the cactus' rise from a little seed. A colorful and engaging story, The Seed And The Giant Saguaro is especially appropriate for children ages 3 to 6.

This book, written in playful rhyme, chronicles how a "seed so black and tiny" travels through the desert and eventually takes root in the earth, growing into a giant sanguaro.

Helping along the way is a packrat who carries the fruit which contains the seeds "with a great deal of worry." Why? Because he was being chased by a "snake that slid with no sound" who, by the way, is being followed by a "bird that raced on the ground" who is . . . well, you get the picture.

The double-page spreads-done in rich greens, purples, golds, and yellows-illustrate the desert flora and fauna wonderfully. Readers will enjoy the discovering the clever details found throughout the book.

The author has included a "timeline" of how saguaros grow in the Sonoran Desert in addition to a page of "Fun Facts" about the creatures mentioned in the story. Did you know, for example, that coyotes can "dash" up to 30 miles per hour!

This fun read-aloud was a huge hit in every classroom in which we reviewed it. The text's repeating rhyme, written in the style of "This is the House That Jack Built," allowed students the opportunity to predict what the speaker was going to say.

In addition to being used as an engaging tale for storytime, it can also be used to build phonemic awareness and to enrich social studies units on deserts, plants, and more. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by the Education Oasis staff.

"And without trees for shade, it would be pretty darned hot on this planet." No, that is not a quote from the late Mister Rogers; welcome to Mister McKee's neighborhood. Shunning traditional bar charts, McKee, begins his book by comparing relative quantities of biodiversity found in his neighborhood to a nearby nature park using contrasting silhouettes of a squirrel, a tree, a bird, and...you guessed it, a bee. The point: biodiversity decreases as human numbers increase. At first, it was unsettling to me that a book about biodiversity loss was being written by a guy who didn't know a termite when he saw one and as soon as it was identified for him, he immediately called the exterminator-it having been found in his yard. However, this is not a book about sustainable lifestyles, it is about overpopulation and its effect on biodiversity. You might not have guessed it, judging from my excessively critical remarks, but this book is a good read. McKee proves to be a gentle and persuasive writer.

I gleaned several pearls from Sparing Nature. I learned that Ohio once harbored a wetland the size of Connecticut called the "Black Swamp." It was drained before the turn of the century. We are told that McKee's brother-a botanist-had located one of the last remaining bogs in Ohio, and in the name of conservation, the McKee family had chipped in to buy it

McKee talked about the loopholes in laws that allow developers to drain and fill wetlands as long as they create new ones someplace else. His point, "One simply cannot transplant an ecosystem." In terms of biodiversity, the artificial wetlands bear little resemblance to the ones that were destroyed. These laws are trading ancient wetlands for duck ponds. Extinction of a complex ecosystem is analogous to the extinction of a life form and just as permanent.

Rush Limbaugh-not generally known for his intellectual acuity-is mentioned along with his propensity to confuse population density with overpopulation. Apparently, Limbaugh uses the fact that every person on Earth could fit into the state of Texas as proof that overpopulation is a myth propagated by environmentalist wackos.

McKee makes a stronger than usual argument that humankind was responsible for the extinction of the large mammals that once roamed Europe, Australia, and the Americas. Those animals had survived multiple global warming trends. The only thing new with the last warming trend was a human population expansion of hunters with Clovis tipped spears. These creatures were surviving in shrunken habitats when man came along and administered a lethal blow. He reinforces this argument by noting that large animals are the first to be driven to extinction when humans colonize islands. Creatures without effective defense mechanisms against humans are history, literally.

He defines a keystone species and suggests that because of their extinction, many other life forms that depended on them were also driven to extinction. Although not mentioned in the book, the California condor comes to my mind. They evolved to feed on the carcasses of large mammals. They were hanging in there along with their keystone species the bison. The end of the bison herds doomed these birds. The fact that we have, over the course of thirty years and after having spent millions of dollars, managed to multiply the last twelve condors into a few hundred is largely irrelevant. Without human intervention-feeding, monitoring, and protection-the California condor would go extinct within a few years because the world they evolved to live in is gone. McKee ties into this concept the fact that the extinction of a species lags behind the eradication of its environment. This implies that the extinction of many species is already in the pipeline. Our zoos are filling with animals that are or will soon be extinct in the wild because their habitats are gone.

The next climatic shift will be the final straw for thousands of species that have survived humankind's onslaught because they have no place to weather the change. McKee considers the plight of orangutans. If a change in rain patterns causes their remaining habitat to dry out there will not be remnant populations surviving in pockets of wet jungles waiting to repopulate. There are people in those places now, billions, and billions of them.

Sparing Nature is unique in that it bypasses the usual debates about the causes of hunger, war, and poverty, and instead, focuses on the devastation being wrought on biodiversity, the cause of which is undeniable. There is something fundamentally wrong with today's contraceptive technologies when you consider that even here in the US over half of all pregnancies are unplanned. This statistic strongly suggests room for improvement. Halting our growth at something like 7.5 billion instead of 9.5 would prove critical to preventing the extinction of many thousands of species.

Although fertility rates are falling, world population is still growing rapidly. This falling fertility rate reinforces all of our hopes that when our growth finally does stop-as the laws of physics say it must-it will be the result of low birth rates instead of high death rates. At that point, the struggle to slow our growth will be won and will then be replaced by the struggle to allow our numbers to decline. While humanity will continue to fight over this and millions of other issues, quietly, in the background, the remnants of our planet's biodiversity will continue the struggle for existence.

Russ Finley, Author of "Poison Darts-Protecting the biodiversity of our world."

Jeff McKee has written an excellent and important book on the topic of global biodiversity loss. By drawing on his experience as professor and nature enthusiast, he provides an overview of the issues in an easy to read writing style. He takes the reader from the soil in their backyard to the biodiversity trends in countries around the world while maintaining a positive spin on things. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the current and possible future state of the earth's biosphere.

I am doubly familiar with this book because, in addition to reading the published version, I served as one of eight evaluators who provided feedback in the latter stages of manuscript preparation.

In chapter one the author points out that he had two meanings in mind when he chose "Sparing Nature" as a title. The first echoes a warning from Malthus that nature has generously distributed the seeds of life, "...but has been comparatively sparing in the room and nourishment necessary to rear them."

The second meaning comes straight from Prof. McKee. To secure our own future and that of our planet, we must spare nature from the devastation human overpopulation can and will wreak if we don't voluntarily act to limit it. In a country like America the problem is particularly insidious because we don't feel personally crowded, having had plenty of exposure to seemingly endless open spaces. We take the food that crams our markets for granted, as if it grew in the backs of trucks. We have little sense of the contiguous ranges that wild creatures need to survive, or of the degree to which forests, trees, plants, people, animals, insects and microbes are interdependent. The aim of "Sparing Nature" is to gently but firmly raise our consciousness on all these issues in an entertaining and edifying way. As a scientist the author would rather persuade than simply preach, and therein lies the strength of the book.

McKee's case is built on three theses:

1. Human population growth has had a long-standing causal relationship with loss of biodiversity. In other words we have, deliberately or not, acted from the very beginning to reduce the variety of living things on Earth.

2. The most effective measure available to combat further loss of biodiversity in our late-stage predicament is proactive slowing, halting or reversing of net population increase.

3. Conservation of nature's variety is vital to the health of our planet and therefore equally vital to our own self-interest.

To succeed the author must convince us that theses (1) and (3) are true, and that thesis (2) is not only correct but presents a clear and present danger if not heeded. Hence he is invested in an advocacy position and wants to enlist the reader as both believer and activist. This is a tall order, far more difficult than simply identifying and elucidating a problem.

Since the themes implicit in the theses are both historical and global, the reservoir of possible talking points is enormous. McKee chooses well and constructs a cogent set of chapter topics and subtopics designed to progress logically and incrementally to the appropriate conclusions. His initial strategy is to define the nature and extent of plant/animal biodiversity, and to trace its evolutionary development together with that of early and modern humans. The results reveal an inexorable Homo sapiens "wedge" steadily forcing other species into extinction and thus indicating that thesis (1) is true. Additional evidence connecting biodiversity loss to harmful trends such as disease-prone monocrops, erosion-driven soil depletion, eutrophication of water habitats, thermal pollution, desertification and vanishing potable water sources supports the conclusion that thesis (3) is also true.

To establish the danger of ignoring thesis (2), the author argues strongly that neither resource rationing (i.e. conservation) nor improved technology, no matter how conscientiously pursued, can keep up with an essentially unregulated exponential population growth in the long run. Further, we are a lot closer to the long run than the perennial "eco-optimists" realize. On this point McKee is an unapologetic neo-Malthusian, and justifiably so because he shows quantitatively that Earth's usable land per person is already in the scary zone. The finiteness of our planet and the mathematics of human reproduction (six billion and counting) virtually mandate an accelerating slide toward disaster if we don't voluntarily curb our built-in urge to procreate. In the final analysis, a worldwide policy of self-motivated population control is the ONLY humane and practical measure available to sustain Earth in an ecologically viable equilibrium with nature.

Deadly serious as these matters are, reading "Sparing Nature" is by no means a depressing experience, nor is its tone even remotely overbearing or coercive. McKee approaches the reader in a relaxed and friendly fashion, using the recurring theme of his outdoor "office" on the banks of the Olentangy River in central Ohio to personalize his view of nature, family and the good things in life. The book opens with an informal survey contrasting creature variety in the author's suburban yard with that in a nearby patch of woods, and readers are encouraged to see for themselves what a toll human incursion exacts on biodiversity. As in his previous book, "The Riddled Chain," McKee sometimes underscores points by referencing his extensive anthropological field work in South Africa.

Greatly to the author's credit is his refusal to oversimplify or resort to hand waving. The many difficult aspects of determining the true extent of biodiversity, estimating rates of loss, and assigning causes are not minimized. For anyone interested in delving deeper, the chapter notes provide a comprehensive list of source material. Although it wasn't much fun to see the spread of humanity likened to proliferating weeds and cancer cells, I could not fault McKee's reasons for doing so, and he is clear about taking no pleasure in using the metaphors. Reading "Sparing Nature" will prove more than worthwhile for anyone with an open mind -- and a little time to spare.

This book is exceptionally easy to read for a stat book. It is very straightforward with practical examples and an emphasis on "how to" with just enough -- but not overwhelming -- theory. Some statistical bakcground is definitely helpful, but the basic principles are presented simply enough that a novice shouldn't feel too uncomfortable.

If you are responsible for designing, reviewing, or interpreting environmental sampling and the resultig analytical reports, then BUY THIS BOOK, READ IT, DO THE EXCERCISES!

You must have some background in statistics to understand it, so if you don't have that, take an introduction to statistics course. Otherwise go play in another sandbox, you'll be outclassed in this one. ;-)

This is a "must have" book for anyone in the environmental industry....I can't believe this is the first review...

I use this as my 'bible' to remind me about what is truly important in this hectic world we live in. It is the best book I have on the topic of 'Living Simply' that gives a clear, principled philosophy from someone who obviously lives the life of which he writes.

I recommend it highly to anyone who would like information and motivation to pursue this topic further in their lives.

This book is a great introduction to the voluntary simplicity movement, why it evolved, why it is spreading so fast and why yo should live a simpler and more "mindful" life. It does not have specific step-by-step advice, but intelligent arguments and lots of facts on the current state of civilization and the simplicity movement. It is a very enjoyable read and very thoughtprovoking. Thank you Mr Burch!

If you want great practical advice to complement this book, get The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs.

In Stepping Lightly: Simplicity For People And The Planet, Mark Burch writes in an engaging and "reader friendly" style about the meaning, purpose, and necessity of voluntary simplicity in one's life personal lifestyle and the value of simplicity for individual and collective efforts to create a more sustainable planet and society. Burch persuasively argues for a thoughtful corse of living which requires "cultivating mindfulness" and personal authenticity, as well as balancing livelihood with an intentional and conscious approach to daily life. Stepping Lightly is informative and inspiring reading for anyone seeking a personal, more ecologically friendly, and satisfying lifestyle for themselves, their families, and their communities.