Environment and Nature Books

I just finished this book in Czech, so can't comment on the English translation. I truly enjoyed Zidek's book and couldn't put it down for the 2 days it took me to read it. I was hugely impressed by Zidek's engaging writing (she is a forester by training), by her drive and optimism, and by her family's resilience and resourcefulness during some very difficult times. Despairing over the political situation in communist Czechoslovakia, which included a devastation of the environment through poor management, ignorance, and neglect, Zidek and her husband decided to take their children and their beloved dog and leave the country, with Canada as their ultimate goal. After a dangerous border crossing from Yugoslavia into Austria, and then into Germany, they spend some time as refugees in the German Alps while waiting for a visa to Canada. They finally make it, thanks to the help of many decent people along the way, some of them strangers. What happens in Canada is a long string of adventures which I will not divulge, but which keep you turning the pages. I have to admire the Zideks' willingness to take any kind of work, to live in trailers and campers, to "do without" in all kinds of ways, in order to build a life of their dreams in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Thank you for writing this book!

I got this book because i love Robert Lyn Nelson's art. THe art is BEAUTIFUL!! I was also amazed at how well the story went along with all the pictures. I was think that they would make a story with all of his art. However it seems that the art was created for this book. My kids love it (ages 4,3,2, 7 months) I don't let them read it alone because i am afraid it will become destroyed. I love this book!

The book is valuable and understandable. I am doing research in preparation to a move to the west coast of Oregon. Professor Komar takes a complicated issue and makes it understandable for a lay person. He is clear about what level of evidence exists for various subjects and is clear when expressing his opinion. The book very much answered just about all the questions I had.

Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart is a children's picturebook that puts a double twist on the old American tall tale of Paul Bunyan. In Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart, the iconic giant lumberjack and his big blue ox Babe meet an extraordinarily tall and strong woman - a match made in heaven? But before the big, beautiful Lucette will agree to be Paul's wife, she challenges him to a test of love. Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart isn't just a tall tale - an underlying theme about the importance of conservation and love for the land courses through the rollicking adventure. "I need me some shade and fine-smelling woods and a sparkling lake for a good swim. So if you want to show me you love me, Paul, start planting trees where you've cut them. And start saving trees around lakes and streams. You need to become an all-around man of the woods - a forester!" Illustrator Renee Graef, whose other credits include artwork for the "Kirsten" books in the American Girl series, brings this original take on a timeless legend to life with expressive and vibrant colors.

Of course I gave my own book five stars. This book is largely the proceedings of a symposium held at the fall 1999 American Chemical Society meeting. It is the first book published on perchlorate as an environmental contaminant since its widespread discovery in 1997. Topics range from toxicology to analytical techniques to treatment/remediation. The book starts with the fundamental chemistry of perchlorate and moves on through other topics. I have encouraged chapter authors to make their works readable to a general science audience. Relative to its content, the price is fair; it's a pretty thick book for the money. This book is not for everyone. It's geared more for researchers and regulators. I have tried to make it as complete as the science would allow at the time. Many studies involving perchlorate are underway, and many papers are being published in the literature. However, this book will give consultants, researchers, and students a good overview of what was known in August 1999. Certainly, there have been advances since then, but the information remains valuable and applicable now. A lot of people put a lot of work into putting this book together, and I think it shows.

This book presents the research of a variety of well respected scientists working in the area of pesticides and wildlife toxicology. The chapters are straightforward and present results and viewpoints based on science rather than sensationalism or "political correctness". If you're seeking unbiased information on the effects of pesticides on wildife, this is the book for you!

This publication is a must have for anyone dealing with pest of native conifers of California! It is the perfect size to carry in the field while looking at the health of your trees as it fits into your vest or pocket. The photos are excellent, and the guide is one that most anyone can use to determine just what is wrong with your conifers.

With the current catastrophic pest outbreaks in Southern California this is a book that everyone living in the forested areas should purchase, read, and follow up with the other references. It lists which agencies are involved and how to contact them.

A long overdue publication!

Brian Barrette, Staff Chief
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Retired

Phenotypic Plasticity examines the way elements outside the organism influence the effects of the collection of genes that constitute an organism (genotype) to form it (phenotype). The author, Massimo Pigliucci, a professor of evolutionary biology and philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook has achieved a widely acclaimed synthesis of research in ecological genetics, developmental biology and evolutionary theory that is "must reading" for specialists in these fields as attested by the reviews above. It will also be a richly rewarding (and challenging) read for non-specialists in the social sciences and medicine as well as the life-long learner interested in the hoary nature-nurture polemic.

The familiar story of Gregor Mendel's magnificent and painstaking genetic studies with peas often leaves out the care the good monk took to isolate pisum sativum from environmental influences. His research procedures mostly eliminated what in the early era of the gene was called the "noise" of environmental influences on the development of the pea characteristics he studied. Mendel's 1866 publication, largely ignored until it caught the attention of a new generation of biologists in 1900, ushered in the classical period of genetics. The active discussion of Mendel's thought provoking paper led Wilhelm Johannsen, a Danish botanist, to emphasize the distinction Mendel had made between the "factors" and the "characters" they produced by introducing in 1909 the terms "gene," "genotype" (the complete set of genes or more properly alleles) and "phenotype" (the appearance or expression of characters in living things). It was this distinction, with an assist from Francis Galton, which mainly accounts for the enthusiastic 20th century debate about whether we are what we are as a result of genetic inheritance (nature) or environmental influences (nurture). The reader who desires a more detailed history of genetics will find it in Sturtevant's A History of Genetics (Cold Spring Harbor, 1965/2001) and Stubbe's History of Genetics (MIT Press, 1972) among many sources.

The plot surrounding nature v. nurture thickened with renewed emphasis on the early 20th century work of the German botanist Richard Woltereck demonstrating that the genotype could produce a range of characteristics depending on the particular environments in which it developed. The implication: There was plasticity to the genotype. Pigliucci uses Woltereck's concept of the Reaction Norm as a point of departure to explore plasticity. First, he carefully explicates the concept of phenotypic plasticity, the often misunderstood idea of "heritability," and the way plasticity is studied by biologists. Also recommended in this context is the work of Sarkar, for example, Genetics And Reductionism (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998). In Chapter Three Pigliucci provides a brief but much needed conceptual history of phenotypic plasticity. The fact that Woltereck or reaction norm, norm of reaction, or the German "reactionsnorm" cannot be found in either Sturtevant or Stubbe's histories provides silent but eloquent testimony about the emphasis on the one gene-one character notion that dominated early 20th century genetics and perserveres today in press releases that usually begin: A gene has been found for...

Chapter Four (The Genetics of Phenotypic Plasticity), Five (The Molecular Biology of Phenotypic Plasticity) and Eight (Behavior and Phenotypic Plasticity) dig into the evidence for plasticity and, of particular relevance to humans, the ways in which hormones can effect adaptation to a specific ecological (outside the organism) environment by carrying information from that environment to the genotypic-specific reactions triggered by that environment. These adaptations and the responsible mechanisms are also discussed in some detail by Cellura in Chapters Two through Five of The Genomic Environment And Niche-Experience (Cedar Springs Press, 2005). Pigliucci also has chapters on developmental, theoretical and evolutionary biology and the ecology of phenotypic plasticity. In an epilogue he discusses philosophical and policy issues often encountered in the nature-nurture debate.

Phenotypic Plasticity is a sweeping review of the literature that is forging a new paradigm in biology, closing the loop in the misleading dichotomy between nature and nurture. Reading it and re-reading it will provide insight upon insight about real world biological adaptation.

I bought this book, along with the poetry collection, No Nature, to gain an insight into the work of Gary Snyder, someone I had often seen quoted, but had never read at first hand. Snyder is perhaps best known as a west coast 'nature' poet, a fellow traveller of the 'beat generation', but he is also a prominent Buddhist, bioregional visionary and literary scholar. To judge from this book he is, moreover, an accomplished and eloquent essayist. The essays presented here, articles, reviews, talks and what might loosely be called manifestos, come mainly from the 70s to the 90s and span the breadth of Snyder's interests. Arranged in three sections, Ethics, Aesthetics and Watersheds, Snyder's writing manages to be poetic, religious, political and compelling at all times. Having read this book I feel inspired to read more, I'll try The Practice of the Wild next (more prose), followed by Turtle Island (poetry for which Snyder won the Pulitzer Prize). For anyone concerned to cultivate a humane relationship with the more-than-human world, Snyder is a surefooted guide.

Jack Yost has wide experience in the area of peace studies and international relations. He worked for the World Federalists in the New York and developed peace studies programs and futures programs at Portland State University. His book focuses on people who have the kinds of ideas that could shape the 21st century. The book is very well written and should be an inspiration for all levels, including high school students. It would make an excellent gift for young people who might identify with exceptional people who have been involved in the kinds of ideas that could give direction to the 21st century and provide a basis for a better future.