Environment and Nature Books

Professor Collman's new book is an excellent source of information about the foods you eat, the drugs you take, and the environment you live in. He explains how and why natural substances are essential to your good health and also how these same substances can be dangerous to your health. Easy and fun to read, this well researched book provides an abundance of facts and information about the benefits and dangers of vitamins, hormones, health foods, prescription and over-the counter drugs, air pollution, radio activity and other topics of interest to everyone. Would make a good present for anyone and has excellent references for further reading, an extensive glossary, and is well indexed. An exellent and well balanced book by an outstanding teacher.

The book, "Naturally Dangerous" is balanced, recognizes known facts and points out uncertainties in our knowledge when the facts are not known unequivocally. The simplified chemistry and physics of a wide range of human experience should be valuable to most readers. Unfortunately there are some on the "fringe" of health and environmental issues who adopt firm positions, are unwilling to accept evidence which doesn't support them, and may be vaguely critical of the book's content. This is called "politics", and it gets in the way of the orderly pursuit of truth. This book is a refreshing step in the direction of truth.

Well, he opens the section on Organic Foods with "Organic food, promoted by 'political correctness' and some scientific misunderstandings..." I guess my chance for an objective view on this subject just flew out the window.

He then states that organic food is more likely to harbor bacteria (8 times, although we don't have any details where that number came from) and that there are no reports of deaths due to pesticide residues so that it is obviously better to eat non-organic. Hello? Why are people dropping like flies from cancer? Pesticide residues is certainly a great place to look for answers, but here its dispensed with in a couple of pages.

Next he goes on about the dangers of contaminated alfalfa sprouts, which is peripheral to the whole arguement since they are not necessarily organic.

And finally, we get to hear an explanation of how naturally occurring carcinogens are more dangerous than synthetic pesticides or herbicides.

In another part of the book he states that factory raised chickens are far more likely to carry salmonella than free range. That seems like something of a contradiction to me.

This fellow may be a chemist, but what we are hearing are opinions. You can believe his if you want, but I'm not convinced.

On the up side, I did learn that a healthy person passes wind 14 times a day, at a volume between 25 and 100 millileters on each occasion, so I'll give him 2 stars.

NATURALLY DANGEROUS

"Nothing is completely safe or risk free", as we are constantly required to balance "one risk against another". So says Dr. James Collman of Stanford's Department of Chemistry in the preface of his recently published book, "Naturally Dangerous". Filled with interesting, scientific and historic anecdotes which will appeal to the curious reader, it's larger purpose is to explain in lay terms, the essence of the more important scientific controversies which have impacted public policy in recent decades. There is great risk in nature, but scientific understanding and the introduction of commercial applications of science have insulated us from many of these naturally occurring risks, allowing for a near doubling of life expectancy over the past century. But this desirable end has come at a cost. As Dr. Collman posits, "there is no free lunch". We constantly deal with tradeoffs between risk reduction and the creation of new risks, which our interventions spawn. It is only through meaningful understanding of the pertinent scientific concepts that we as a society can begin to make rational judgments. The problem is that we live in a sea of scientific illiteracy both on the part of the electorate as well as within our political leadership. Often trained in the law, many woefully lack necessary technical insight. Such a state paves the way for purposeful obfuscation of the scientific reality, creating an environment favorable for the promotion of public phobias for partisan political ends. By providing us with 224 pages of easy to read basic science, Dr. Collman does his part to push these debates in a logical direction.

Duncan Mason, MD

As a former marketing assistant for a small publisher, this interesting work caught my attention. It is a highly informative reference, which addresses health and environmental issues that will be of interest to everyone. The information is indispensable to anyone concerned with their heath and provides details on prescription drugs, vitamins and herbal medicines, along with some possible dangers or side effects of popular herbs. Where misconceptions abound or confusion arises due to conflicting information in the popular press, this resource provides a logical viewpoint.

Collman covers the underlying science, in a non-technical and understanding manner, behind the chemistry involved in our everyday lives. You'll find this book valuable time and time again.

The book I ordered was shipped immediately and received in almost record time. The packing was excellent, the book was in perfect condition, and if one receives service like this, you can't go wrong!!

This book made a great high school graduation gift for a nature enthusiast. Even though it's a bit bulky to take to a tiny dorm room, I know she loved the pictures and it will never become outdated. Great price, too!

This is an absolutely fabulous book as was the first edition although I am a little partial to that one, The Earth from Above. Very educational, illuminating, fascinating.

The theme of this book is man's impact on the planet and the life-or-death need for sustainable development. The introduction is a mix of statistics and a call to action, while each month is prefaced with text on some aspect of our planet's characteristics and condition (April: Biodiversity--A Condition of Survival; August: Renewable Energy; December: Free Trade, Unfair Competition, and Equitable Commerce).

The aerial shots from French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand are astonishing in their diversity and beauty. One for each day of the year, they run the gamut from unspoiled natural beauty to despoilment by industry. Each photograph is annotated with a mini-lesson of its own on the facing page. Atolls, volcanos, a stunning linear railway switching yard, fish farms, agricultural scenes, golf courses, alpine glaciers ... a feast.

Surprisingly affordable, unexpectedly heavy at over 5 pounds, and stunningly thought-provoking, this book has given me hours of communion with Mother Earth. If it increases our awareness of our impact, then they are hours well spent.

Linda Bulger, 2008

This book is more than just a collection of breathtaking aerial shots of the global community in which we live -- it's an informative and often damning look at the world that we have created, and how our lives make it what it is. The book does not pull any punches, and often as we gaze at the sheer beauty (both man-made and natural) of this planet, we are slapped in the face with the facts of life. It's a picture book that seems to be telling us, "Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but here are a few that you may not have noticed."


Don't just buy this book for yourself, buy it for every person that may come into your home, pick it up, and look at just a few pages. You will help each of them understand the complexities and dilemmas of our modern lives.

In the dominant celebrity culture, explanations of societal phenomena that focus on institutions, laws and processes tend not to resonate with the public.

Increasingly, it seems, events and trends are understood and reported as the products of individuals: Bill Gates creates the computer revolution, Boris Yeltsin leads Russia to a purported democracy, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, flanked by Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan and Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers guide the world economy through turbulent times to a prosperous future.

Well, say reporters James Ridgeway and Jeffrey St. Clair, let's apply the personification-of-social-developments approach even-handedly. In A Pocket Guide to Environmental Bad Guys (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press), Ridgeway and St. Clair name names of the worst polluters, deforesters and despoilers of the wild, and the top lobbyists they employ to pass laws, gut regulations, broker deals and win tax breaks to legitimize their poisoning and destruction of the environment.

"You can focus on institutions and laws until you're blue in the face," Ridgeway says, but no one will pay attention.

"While there has been a plethora of books on how the environment is getting better," he says, in fact things are getting worse. And the way to grab people's attention is not by waving statistical trends on deforestation or global warming or any of a myriad of other environmental ills. People respond when they can put a human face on problems.

There's another reason to identify the "bad guys," Ridgeway says. "You need to know your enemy," Ridgeway explains. "How they operate, what they eat, what their styles" of doing business are. So who do Ridgeway and St. Clair identify as the bad guys? Here's a smattering:

* John Bryson, CEO of Edison International. Ridgeway and St. Clair list Bryson's "most imaginative sideline" as co-founding the Natural Resources Defense Council. Edison's subsidiary Mission Energy is building dirty coal-fired plants in Indonesia.

* Charles Hurwitz, CEO of Maxxam, who just managed to ransom the Headwaters redwood grove in northern California for nearlyn half a billion dollars. Faced with threats that Maxxam saws would chew the entire forest, the Clinton administration agreed to pay $480 million to acquire Headwaters -- even though the government estimated the market value at less than $100 million and even though companies owned by Hurwitz owe the government nearly $2 billion for the collapse of a savings and loan.

* Jim Bob Moffett, head of Freeport McMoran, the mining giant that operates the world's largest gold and copper mine in Indonesia. Local indigenous communities charge the company has polluted local rivers, killing fish and forests, and that the Indonesian military has committed brutal human rights abuses to crush anti-Freeport protests. Moffett's "quotable quote," according to Environmental Bad Guys, refers to Freeport pollution at the Indonesian mine: "[It's] equivalent to me pissing in the Arafura Sea."

* Ira Rennert, who is now building the largest residence in the United States, on Long Island, and controls 95 percent of Renco Group, which in turn owns Magnesium Corp. of America, "the largest source of air pollution in America."

* Donald Pearlman, a former high official in the Reagan Energy and Interior Departments, who "is by far the energy industry's most effective lobbyist in fighting climate control rules."

Identifying the bad guys is Ridgeway and St. Clair's entry point, but it is not the entirety of their handy Pocket Guide. In addition to peeling away corporate greenwashing to reveal how dirty Big Business really is, they highlight the critical work being done by thousands of grassroots groups in the United States to put the bad guys in their place.

Ridgeway and St. Clair have subtitled Environmental Bad Guys "(and a Few Ideas on How to Stop Them)." The most important of these ideas, Ridgeway explains, is that hope for saving the environment lies not with "the large environmental groups which sit in Washington, and don't represent anybody or anything," but with the smaller groups that have maintained their edge, practice a combative politics and are directly confronting corporate power.

It turns out that while highlighting individual bad guys may be a key to focusing the public on environmental degradation, the key to blocking them is not to rely on individual celebrities, but garnering public support. Prominent environmental good guys -- people like David Brower, founder of the Earth Island Institute and Friends of the Earth, and Lois Gibbs, made famous at Love Canal and now heading the Center for Health, Environment and Justice -- have made their mark not as backroom lobbyists, but as effective organizers and crusaders for environmental justice.

Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor.

A Pocket Guide to Environmental Bad Guys is a sharply-written profile of how American liberty & justice and our planet is being killed off. Written by two top-notch investigative reporters, James Ridgeway of the Village Voice and Jeffrey St. Clair of CounterPunch, the book is filled with horrifying tales of eco-pillage and disturbing photos and graphics, including Dewer's profiles of corporate pirates such as Charles Hurwitz, butcher of American jobs and ancient redwoods, and Jim Bob Moffett, whose mining company, Freeport McMoRan, has been linked to human rights abuses in Indonesia.

Unlike most books on liberty or the environment, this one goes right for the throat, exposing the people and their chemical, nuclear, and extractive industries gouging the Earth and poisoning and killing our people. And how these robber barons manage to exercise their malignant corporate power through legions of lobbyists, lawyers, public relations hacks and corrupting political handouts.

St. Clair and Ridgeway not only rip the mask off of the corporations taking away liberty and justice, plunder the Earth, but their book is one of the first to expose the lame response of so many of the establishment's lapdog environmental groups. With Clinton and Gore's rise to power, big green groups, such as The Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club, went along for the ride, allowing the administration to get away with (or actually aiding and abetting) one shameful deal after another in exchange for coffee with Al Gore and a pat on the head.

But the story is not all doom and gloom. Ridgeway and St. Clair's guide also charts how innovative grassroots citizens creative campaigns from around the country have waged successful battles against the nuclear industry, hazardous waste dumpers and even rapacious timber companies. Citizens have demonstrated they can take back their constitutional rights to liberty and justice, their country, their flag, and their future.

All Americans, concerned about our survival as a species, the survival of our country, its democracy and people should read this book and take heed.

Forever Wild and Free Tim Hermach

Although it lacks scholarly citation and in-depth analysis, this book sizzles. Sometimes a small, compact, hard-hitting, concisely-worded book is exactly what the doctor ordered. If you are sick of theoretical softies telling you the environment is this or that, look no farther. This book takes dead aim at actual polluters and the stinky cloud of facts that surround them. Bull's Eye!!!

"A Pocket Guide to Environmental Bad Guys" (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press) by James Ridgeway and Jeffrey St. Clair

A Review by Michael Donnelly

The Earth isn't dying. It's being killed and the people doing the killing have names, faces and corporations they hide behind and we intend to tell you who they are and how they do it.

That about sums up the premise and promise of the new book, "Environmental Bad Guys" by James Ridgeway and Jeffrey St. Clair. And, in an easy to read format, the authors deliver.

Ridgeway and St. Clair dispense with the usual focus on political institutions and laws that define the nation's anemic Big Green cartel. Instead, they opt for direct exposure of the "loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires" and the lobbyists and "environmental" groups they handsomely pay to further their polluting, deforesting and otherwise despoiling of the Commons for private profit.

The corporate practice of Greenwashing comes in for some well needed exposure, as well. And, also exposed - the shameless efforts of Teflon Green groups who haul in millions of corporate dollars to ensure that the sludge sticks anywhere but to its creators.

The book doesn't just trot out the facts and the bad actors. It offers hope, as well. A major part of the book is highlighting the grass roots, responsible greens who are making a difference against huge odds. The book is subtitled, "and a Few Ideas on How to Stop Them."

Expect the roaches unaccustomed to the light of such a book to run for cover. They'll surely break out the counter attack with assaults on the authors from the Wise Use loonies on one hand to the house-broken "Greens" on the other. It behooves the average air-breathing, water-drinking citizen to read this book and further their own self-defense.

Here in northern Nevada we live in an ecological ruin, courtesy of the big mining companies, which have gouged out the mountains and poisoned what pass for rivers in these parts. But who owns these companies? And how do they keep getting away with it? This book will tell you. I was surprised to learn that one of the biggest mining companies in Nevada, American Barrick, was actually a Canadian company and the former President George Bush served on its board. And it's not just mining firms. This little book gives you the lowdown on big timber, the chemical firms and the oil giants. It names names, telling you who their lawyers and lobbyists are, how much money they sluice into the pockets of their favorite politicians and how many times they've been caught violating the law. An incredible bargain.

I haven't read the book but as a reader of the Idaho Statesman (where his writing appears regularly), I can tell you he's a terrible writer.

A clash of cultures hit Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 1988. New National Park Service ideas on using fire as a tool, and giving natural fires great latitude to burn -- an attitude held in part even my the U.S. Forest Service and other federal outdoors agencies -- ran head-on into the general public's Smokey the Bear says put fires out attitude.

The NPS came under a lot of flak after much of Yellowstone was scorched that summer. Then, in 1989 and thereafter, much of the media spun the story of the Phoenix -- the "rebirth" of Yellowstone.

Barker says the rebirth, at least as normally written up, is a myth, one of many still attached to the fires of 1988.

The biggest myth, still held by many people in various federal outdoors agencies, is that nature in general can be isolated, in wilderness areas, in a state of "reality." The second biggest myth is that fires, no matter the size and spread, can be managed or controlled.

The burn policy at Yellowstone and other national parks, as well as in other federal land agencies has only become more and more a political football between environmentalists and "wise use" types of the West.

Barker, though his sympathies are clearly not with the old-style U.S. Forest Service, makes clear that the modern USFS shouldn't be as demonized as it is by some environmentalists.

The one regret I have with this book is that Barker sounds knowledgeable enough to be more prescriptive about a future course for fire management. Other than citing the obvious lessons from Yellowstone, such as clearing brush further away from buildings in wild and "natural" areas, he doesn't go beyond that with ideas for future generations.

Rocky Barker's Scorched Earth is clear well written history of wildland fire. The work clearly stands on the shoulders of previous chroniclers of wildland fire, particularly Stephen Pyne, and ties the work of pioneers in fire ecology to today's prescribed fire programs. It does leave the question of how prescribed fire as practiced by government agencies can ever really work to lessen the urban interface danger open. Particularly since very near the end of the book (pp 235) Rocky states that Randal O' Tool found that only 7 million acres in the west have a high to medium likely hood of fires that threaten structures and of those acres only 8% are federal. This well hidden tidbit should be the core of Rocky's next book. Why should the federal government be involved in prescribed fire?

Rocky Barker uncovers a lot information about US fire policy. When I got this book for X-mas I thought it might be another one of the same old song fire books. Once I started reading it I became "fired up" again about US fire policy.
Those that have worked in the wildland fire service should really enjoy reading how people in the Forest Service and conservation movement recognized early in the last century that suppression policy was a mistake that would lead to the problems we are having today.
Well written and researched. Any fire managers out there ought to buy a copy for the office.

This is one of the best books available on the history and practice of fire control in the United states. The author's personal experience in Yellowstone Park during the fires of 1988 provides a perfect background for the story of how we got to where we are today. He documents the military beginnings of control efforts that greatly influenced how fire control is done. He also documents the recent history of letting fires burn for management purposes. The important lesson here is that forest fires are unmanageable under the most extreme conditions and little can be done to stop them.

Fire management is a complex socio/political problem that suffers from policy based on mythology and poorly informed public opinion. The Yellowstone fires changed the National awareness of wildfire and subsequent efforts to improve performance of the fire services have met with mixed results. Barker's dscussion of events following 1988 provides a widow in to how the fire services have responded to the Public's heightened interest.The paramilitary nature of these services delivers strong, disciplined responses to fire threats but we still seem to suffer from the expectation that extreme fires can be controlled.

This is a good potential text for introductory courses in Forestry and Conservation. The book is well written and very informative, I liked it very much.

Imagine yourself in the near future. You don't know where your parents are, or who you truly are. If you can picture that, you can picture Blay Raytree's story. The story begins with Blay in practically a sweatshop-orphanage in the year 2368. She ggets picked out of all of the other orphans to assist a bio-indicator. While she is in the house he bio-indicator is living in, she realizes something. Whenever she runs her wrist near the kitchen scanner, it beeps. Blay asks a friend, Lem Howell, an electronics genius, to help her. They find out it is an information chip with her age (sixteen years od), real name (Which is Blake Raintree), and other important information. In return, Blake helps Lem Howell and his son, Fraser. After Lem's wife was kidnapped by the Commission, Lem went insane and was unable to care for his son, so the town took up that duty. However, when Lem recovers his sanity, he can remember everything but the birth of his son. Blake helps to reunite them, and they then decide to live together.
Blake then realizes that Marella, the bio-indicator, has to go on a task by herself, which means she wouldn't be able to use Blake's special knowledge. Because Blake worried about what would happen if Marella failed the last test. Blake runs to the Masterr and tells him everything that she has dne for Marella to help her to complete the tasks. Instead of being scolded or punished like she expected, she was praised for her knowledge and love for all things Science. After that, the book begins to wind down, and it shows the world healing from the Technocaust, the very war that caused so many children to be parentless and not know who they were, or where they came from.
I give this book five stars and two thumbs p, because Janet McNaughton did a wonderful job weaving a story about the future into things that have happened in the past (the Holocaust, Hitler's invasion, most of World War II, just in a different year, and on a greater scale of damage).She obviously scrutinized over the amount of detail that wat put into it. Anyone who is into science-fiction books, books about what could happen in the future due to the way humans are behaving in the present, or just want a good, heartrending book that you can cuddle up with, then this book is awesome. I would recommend it to people ages fourteen to sixty.

*C.S. Larochelle

Blay Raytee wants to find her identity. When she gets the chance she takes it. She looks into her past and finds horrible things that happened to many citizens of Toronto her home city. The Technocaust was the cause of all this and she wants to do something about it. She meets an old man who finds out her identity and the rest goes on from there. This book was an amazing look into the future and told me about differences. This book is the all-time best book ever!

The Secret Under My Skin
Janet McNaughton

Blay is chosen to help a bio- indicator accomplish a special task. As she begins helping, she also uncovers keys to both the healing power of the world and to her past.
In the year 2368, confusion and fear rule the Earth. In this world, everyone is under strict government control. Blay Raytee, a government work camp orphan, is no exception. She is told the same lies the government tells everyone. However just when she starts believing that she will live out the rest of her life in a work camp, she is saved. As she helps Marella, the bio- indicator accomplish her tests, she also learns more about herself with help from her new friends. For one thing, her name isn't Blay, but Blake Raintree. Her friend, Lem Howell, also finds out who her mother was and was able to locate one of her friends that is still alive. In return, Blake helps Lem and his son, Fraser, out. After Fraser's mom was taken away by the Commission, Lem went into a mental state. He was not able to take care of his son, so the town took care of him. However when Lem recovered, he could remember everything about what had happened except the birth of his son. Therefore, in return for all the help Lem has done for her, Blake reunites the two and they finally move in together. Blake also learns that she has made a mistake. She has allowed Marella to abuse her gift. Blake was giving her all the answers to her tests because Marella really didn't know them. Luckily, she hears what is planned for Marella and knows that it should be her doing that, so she finally gives in and tells. Instead of being punished, Blake is praised for having the gift of loving science. All is well in Blake's world, and the healing of the world has also begun. This was a good book and a good look into the future.
The author tries to use terms in the book like some of the terms associated with World War II. During the Holocaust, millions of Jews were killed, and in this book, the author calls the time when thousands of techies were killed the Technocaust. The book also refers to places where the techies where taken to after being captured as concentration camps. In the book, there is not a president or a king, but a Commission, who wants to have total power over the people, just like Hitler. Another way this book used events from WWII was when they explained how the Commission took over. Hitler took over because Germany was politically unstable after the First World War In The Secret Under My Skin, the Commission was able to take over because the governments couldn't cope with the effects of global warming. They tried to cope with floods, forest fires, hurricanes, ice storms, and the droughts and famines, but they couldn't and so they allowed themselves to be controlled by the Commission.
This book gives us a look into the future. It tells of what global warming could do to the environment and the effects it could cause to future generations. It also shines light on what could happen after the storms, when the whole world is in a state of emergency. By foreseeing what could come of this world, it also shines light on the world's past. The same types of things are happening repeatedly. Many of the things that happened in WWII happened during the Technocaust, and like in the Cold War, there is tension, brewing for war between the Commission and the Way.
This book also gives good guesses to what technological advances we could have in the future. Blake had a microchip in her arm. It told her what her name was, where she was born and her birthday. Blake also had a panel in her room, on her wall that she could set. It was like an alarm clock, radio, television and thermostat all in one. The house also had many panels throughout it that did various things such as turn the lights off and tell them when the food was running low. There are also things called last books that you have to pot into things called biblio-techs, so that you can read them.
The Secret Under My Skin was a great book. When reading you can experience how the world might be like in 2368, with all of its technological advancements. That world was not great at all, but at least we know that if the world ever did get that bad, there will still be people out there who want to make the world better and actually take a stand.

S.Gore

It's always a shock when you find what you've believed since you were young is not what everyone else in your community believes to be true. Blay Raytee can't remember her parents or where she was from. She was placed in a government-run orphan work camp where they learn how technology users are evil and have to die in order for prosperity to return to the earth. She is afraid to go outside without a protective radiation suit. Things all change when she is chosen by the "bio-indicator" to be her assistant as she prepares for her trials. Blay begins to learn how different the world is from what she was taught in the work camp. She is drawn into a secret world as well as learns how to love for the first time. She also grows to understand her own value and her own hidden secrets. If you like "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, then you should enjoy this book.

Set in the far future in a world wrecked by exploitation, there is no airy fairy mysticism, just sensible plotting and an attempt to get to grips with scientific and technological possibilities in poor circumstances.

Well written and really compelling characters.

Required reading for freshmen entering SUNY Geneseo in preparation for an Adirondack Adventure. Bought this version after inadvertantly getting an abridged Walking.

Short little essay by Henry David Thoreau about nature. Writer teaches us that simple walking can awake awareness about animals, trees and flowers around us. It is meditation on connection between wildlife and men, development of civilization from nurture thru nature and men's appreciation of the world outside of human villages and societies. It is amazing to read this piece that was created by a writer who died in 1862. With environmentlist movement of today, it is refreshing to find a piece by one of the early nature writers that teaches us to appreciate world we are born into. Thoreau teaches us to surrender to the world that has been in existance long before humans came to occupy it. While he is aware of limited ability of older men to sustain themselves in widerness, to him it is incomprehensible how women can live in confinment of the domestic life. I became interested in this writer after watching the film "Into the Wild", Now that I read this little piece, I understand how someone young and impressionable can fall under the spell of Thoreau's words about nature and the beauty of it, especially on the west side of the hemisphere.

ok it's old english, but it's classical masterpiece.
i recommend it to anyone that enjoy and dream of nature and the wild.

The words of Thoreau are familiar to all those who have experienced life in the woods. His philosophies and observations are just as relevant today as they were when he first wrote them. In more eloquent words Thoreau explains how In the woods and wild places we find fuel for the soul. Without them we become stagnant in physicality and mentality. I recommend this book to anyone interested in conservation.

More than any book, this argues for experiencing nature and preserving wilderness. Thoreau himself saw that fewer passenger pigeons were visiting and even then was aware of threats. Though first spoken in lectures on 1851, and 1856-1857, and published in June 1862 Atlantic Monthly, a month after his death, it still speak to us in the 21st century. For example ".. what would become of us, if we walked only in a garden or a mall?", . "In wilderness is the preservation of the world." , "To preserve wild animals implies generally the creation of a forest for them to dwell in or resort to. So it is with man". So lace up your shoes, grab your binoculars, and go for a walk and join the tribe of squirrels!

Where the Forest Meets the Sea is a beautiful book. I first experienced it in 1988, when my grade 2 teacher had it as a project to read all the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award nominations to my class. Afterwards, she conducted a pole. This one was voted the most popular (and there was some pretty good competition! [e.g. Crusher is Coming])

It's the story of a young boy's adventure in the Daintree Rainforest, in Queensland, Australia, told through words and intricately designed collages. The enviromental message comes through clearly in the final question and gives kids something to think about (without being forceful).

I still enjoy reading/viewing this book today.

This is a fictional story but it is based on a real family living in a remote part of the Australian rain forest. You can only take a boat to the beach during high tide and you need to know how to navigate the reef. Unfortunately the reef is not as spectacular as it used to be. The water is not as clear because there has been run off from road construction.

Luckily the forest surrounding the homestead is all protected park land now. However, there are still outside factors that can affect the health of the water and the forest. I think this is a wonderful book and the content is age appropriate. We live in a world we have to protect and we need to honor our children by being truthful with them. The artwork is beautiful and rich and the story is closer to reality than one might think.

This fictional story shows a white father and son taking a day trip to an island off the coast of Australia. The island is rainforest. The boy and his father enjoy the wilderness surroundings. The boy plays by exploring the rainforest alone and using his imagination to think about the creatures that inhabited this place in years gone by. The illustrations are creative as they show the imagined creatures as transparent. I loved the use of illustration in this way as we "see" what the boy was imagining. The story is very nice until the end. When the boy and his father are preparing to leave for the day, the next scene shows the future when the whole island is over-populated with tourist attractions and it shows two children sitting and eating in front of a TV set. This scene is in the imagination as the buildings and such are shown in transparencies.

I loved the story until the end. I think we need to think carefully what thoughts and concepts we are putting into our children's heads. This book is for ages 4-8 and is a picture book. Can we let them have some innocence and wonder before they learn of rainforest destruction? I don't recommend this book unless you skip the last page entirely! At what age is it appropriate for a child to be worrying about destroying rainforests in the name of tourism? My issue with the book is that it gets the reader excited about the Australian rainforest then gives them a punch by warning of rainforest destruction. This is a book with a message, it is obviously written to get children to to worry about serious envionmental threats at a (TOO) young age.

A boy journeys through the rain forest and begins to fantasize about the plants and animals that lived there millions of years ago. At the end of the day, he begins to wonder how it could change in the future.
The forest in this story really exists in Australia. The artist uses relief collages for the illustrations in this book. Many of these "collage constructions" have been exhibited in art galleries around the world. This story makes the reader think about how civilization can affect Mother Nature. Finding the hidden pictures is sure to delight readers of all ages.

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This is one of Jeannie Baker's early books, first published in 1988. It's good to see that it is still in print.

"Where The Forest Meets the Sea" is truly a work of art. It is an ideal companion to her most recent work "The Hidden Forest". It is fascinating to see how her style and technique has evolved and become increasingly sophisticated over the past 12 years.

Jeannie has an unashamedly environmental message to deliver, with her simple story lines dealing with the fragility of very special, ecologically unique areas. She doesn't push too hard with the rhetoric but lets her beautiful, ultra-lifelike, 3 dimensional images provide the perfect supporting context.

Having recently seen an exhibition of Jeannie's work that provided the images for "Hidden Forest" it is clear that it is the visual power of the images that is the most effective means of convincing people of the value of a particular environment.

In the dark forest scenes there are hidden dinosaurs and aboriginal figures providing a mystical quality to the book. The message that comes through is the timelessness of the natural environment.

We are reminded at the end of the book of the potential for man to radically change the environment for the worse. It takes books like this to provide us with insights and observations that will prevent this from happening.

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Lots of useful information, but should by no means be the only book you take with you. Entries are sparse and there's really nothing in it that you can't find on a Belize travel website.

We just returned from a 3 week trip to Belize. It was our first trip to Belize, or even any where south of the border. We planned the trip with the help of this book and one other. We found the reccommendations, suggestions, and other helpful info to be right on the mark. We're only slightly adventurous but with the help of this book, felt confident enough to use the local buses, make and change plans as needed mid-stream, and immerse ourseves in the local culture. Our trip was great.

I am now the sole author of this book (my friend Steele Wotkyns has moved on to other projects) and spent several months in early 1999 revising the text, photos, maps, and all hotel, restaurant, transportation, and outfitter listings. I've been traveling regularly to Belize since 1986 and have been particulary fascinated by its natural beauty, Maya ruins, diverse cultures, and national parks. If you have a spirit of adventure and a desire to experience everything this delightful country has to offer, I think you'll find this book the most useful among all the available guides to Belize. It's chock full of practical information (from on-line addresses and websites to hotel recommendations and adventure travel specialists) as well as some gorgeous photos by the country's best nature photographers: Tony Rath and Kevin Schafer. Obviously, I'm biased, but I hope you'll check out this new edition if you or a friend are considering a trip to Belize.

I'm the editor and publisher of Belize First Magazine (Webedition available) the Belize guidebooks on the market. This is one of the best, with good basic coverage of hotels, restaurants, sightseeing, tours, dive and snorkel options, etc. plus refreshingly different coverage of the natural side of Belize, both on the mainland and on the cayes. Richard Mahler knows his stuff.

--Lan Sluder Editor & Publisher Belize First Magazine

If you're looking for more than a lazy week on the beach, this guide is an excellent resource. I just spent a week in Belize and found it very helpful in deciding how to best spend my time and what to see in each place.

In addition to standard guidebook material, it has a chapter on Belize's animal and plant life, which I found to be a great resource while visiting the Cockscomb jaguar preserve. And there's a long section on various outdoor activities (snorkeling, caving, etc.), in addition to more standard guidebook content (regional info, history, etc.)

You always wonder if a guidebook writer really knows what he's talking about, but after using this guide to get around Belize, I can say that Richard Mahler really knows this little gem of a country.

The market is saturated with green these days, so readers may have a hard time figuring out which books to read. I like this book for providing a broad foundation of information. Using the classic "Everything" format (and a title that's more palatable than Dummies or Complete Idiot's), the author shows that greening up your life doesn't have to be a radical endeavor. There are lots of Internet resources for learning more about specific programs, products, etc. And I like that McDilda an environmental engineer, not a stereotypical Hollywoodesque tree hugger who's jumping on the bandwagon.

This is a great start for anyone trying to learn about how to go green. I read the book, incorporated one idea, and then returned to the book to try another thing. Great tips, helpful info, and fun to read, this is a great resource.

This book has great, easy tips that are easy for the average family! Easy to read, and very adaptable to the average life. I found myself looking out for the little things I could do to help the environment, and feeling good about making those small changes. It's also helped us make better decisions as we build our next house. Our home is healthier, our lives are cleaner, and we are teaching our kids about having a positive impact on the world.

i havent finished reading the book, i have enjoyed what i have read and the information is helpful.

This book tries to focus on too many issues. It's just a little elementary for my taste, but probably great for someone who has no clue how to live "green."

First Light by Rebecca Stead is told by two narrators. The first, Peter, is the son of a glaciologist and a genetic scientist. He is thrilled when his parents decide to take him on an expedition to Greenland, where they will be studying different aspects of glacier ice caps and the effects of global warming. Thea, the other narrator, lives in a city underneath the ice in Greenland, called Gracehope. Thea and Peter meet accidentally and without warning, the two worlds collide in what could be disaster.

The novel was a bit slow in the beginning, but picked up in pace and excitement towards the middle. The was very reminiscent of Jeanne DuPrau's City of Ember books, though I almost liked the setting in First Light better. It has been said that people can really survive surrounded by ice...so who knows if there really is a Gracehope out there! :-)

I was a little disappointed in this title, though I very much enjoyed it...it just wasn't quite as fabulous as everyone has said. I think that's why I would much rather read a book before so many other people get their hands on it, that way my view isn't skewed and I don't get my expectations too high! At any rate, I still enjoyed the book, it was well written and I look forward to seeing other works from this author.

First Light was hard for me to put down. Peter Solemn's world is rocked in the very first chapter when his father, a glaciologist, announces the family is going on a research trip to Greenland. Two chapters later, we meet a second main character, Thea, who lives under the arctic ice in a society created generations ago by a group of people fleeing persecution in Europe.

What I loved most about this book was that it plunged me into not just one, but two fascinating new worlds. Greenland itself really qualifies as an alien landscape of sorts, and Stead's rich details bring it to life. (Is there really a Volkswagon Road there where the company tests new models? So cool!) Thea's world beneath the ice is painted vividly as well with terrific techno-details about the innovations of that new society called Gracehope. I've added Gracehope to the list of imaginary places (along with Hogwarts and Narnia) that I long to visit some day.

I'm not giving too much away if I share that Peter and Thea cross paths along the way. Their stories intertwine in ways that are surprising but perfect and believable at the same time. First Light is a great read -- a fantastic mix of science fiction and adventure with plenty of real science mixed in, too. Teachers looking for titles to integrate with earth science and environmental units will especially love this one.

Ok, around the year 1800 a tribe of people in England with mitochondrial DNA mutations that give them special powers are persecuted as witches and decide to leave England -- maybe. They decide to go to Greenland, of all places -- a little implausible, but ok. Once in Greenland, they still don't think they're far enough away from their enemies, so they tunnel into a GLACIER and find an underground lake, where they live for 200 years after sealing up the access tunnel, with no contact with the outside world -- sorry, but I don't buy that one. AND, since they have these mitochondrial DNA mutations, they are so smart that they actually KNOW what mitochondrial DNA looks like and they weave the shape of it into their jewelry, etc. Sure. The author obviously has read City of Ember and liked what she read. So here once again we find a population that is forced underground and that forgets it is supposed to surface when the coast is clear. The plot in City of Ember, however, was internally consistent and made sense. This doesn't, even though it is a page turner. You finish the book after staying up all night, and then five minutes later, after thinking about it, you say "hunh"?

If you liked City of Ember, here is the next book to pick up. A great first book, and a wonderful story. And for those who like fantasy without a lot of fantasy creatures and magic, even just for a change, this is one of your few choices. It is a great piece of writing when you can get that otherworldly feel within the confines and rules of this world. Hope they look at this for a Prince Award.

Michael Sullivan ([...])

Sometimes I stop myself in the middle of the day and think random thoughts. Thoughts like, "Why am I so freaked out by pigeons with deformed feet?" or, "Is there a logical reason why grass never became a delicacy?" and even, "Did I like science fiction as a child?" That last question pops up more than the others, maybe because it's worth pondering from a contemporary marketing/librarian standpoint. The conventional wisdom will tell you that science fiction for kids doesn't sell. Of course, dig a little deeper beneath that statement and you'll find exceptions to the rule. Bruce Coville's My Teacher Is an Alien series, Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time or The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau all come to mind. DuPrau's book is the best example of a successful science fiction novel (what with the movie and all) and it seems appropriate to mention it in terms of the most recent title I just read. "First Light" by Rebecca Stead is a meticulous melding of science fiction, ecological fact, and crisp storytelling. Melding global warming and DNA, and set against a magnificently chilly backdrop, Stead creates a cohesive, gripping story without allowing her book to fall apart into incomprehensible goo.

Two kids. Two lives. First of all you have Peter. He's happy enough living in New York City, but when his dad informs the family that they're taking some months off to join him on his expedition to Greenland, the kid is seriously excited. It's a pity that he's been getting these headaches though. They're not serious or anything, but once in a while Peter finds that if he looks at something far away he can suddenly zoom in on it like there's a telescope inside of his eyes. That problem has nothing on Thea's, though. Thea lives in Gracehope, a civilization of ice, skating, and dogs. Her home is in the center of a glacier and it is there that her people have survived for hundreds of years, purposefully hiding from the outside world. Thea is convinced that there must be a way out of Gracehope since the population is booming and supplies are running low. Unfortunately, her grandmother (and ruler of Gracehope) forbids any research into the matter. Yet soon enough Thea takes a chance and runs into Peter, leading to the discovery that their lives and pasts are oddly and inexorably linked.

Quite frankly, I just liked the writing. It's interesting and to the point without forgetting to get a little descriptive now and again. For example, when Peter considers his father's experience in the Arctic as opposed to his scholarly methodical university self, it occurs to the kid that being the son of such a man, "was a little like living with Clark Kent but never once getting to meet Superman." Larger overarching themes are treated with a similarly deft hand. I liked Stead's handling of Peter's mother's depression. It's a difficult topic, and it would be all too easy to turn his mom into a villain when she's not feeling well. Instead, you have the distinct sense that she really can't help getting whapped with a bad bout once in a while. In terms of readability, "First Light" will not bore your average middle grade child reader. It has a firm enough grasp on its own private world to convince you that what happens in Gracehope could happen anywhere.

I do not write fiction, but if I were to hazard a guess at what it is like to write a work of science-fiction as opposed to a work of fantasy, I would have to suspect that science-fiction was the harder row to hoe. After all, you need to place your world firmly in fact, and that means research. In Ms. Stead's case it would have meant the research of the Arctic, DNA, ice, global warming, and who knows what else. Little throw away lines like, "It was against the law to bring dogs into Greenland - the Inuit wanted to keep their breed pure..." smack of the truth. Ditto the rumor that hidden somewhere in Greenland is, "a road on the ice cap built in secret by Volkswagen as a private test site for new cars." Sometimes convincing your reader that they're in another world requires a realistic infusion of real facts. Lose your details, lose your readers. That's why Peter's superhuman abilities that emerge throughout the book don't become superfluous. Not only does Stead ground them in fact but she also works them into an overriding theme concerning Peter's mother's job.

And can I say how much of a relief it was to meet a character like Jonas in this book? Jonas is Peter's father's research assistant and is part-Inuit. Were Stead a different writer she might have used this character to launch into a whole taking-care-of-the-Earth slash Indian-way-of-life kind of didactic poppycock. She would have made Jonas a symbol rather than a person. To her infinite credit, however, Jonas is none of those things. He is capable and interesting, but his purpose in this book is to act as a person that Peter can talk to when he can't talk to his parents rather than some kind of fount of infinite wisdom.

There were a couple problems here and there, of course. For example, I did feel that there was some difficulty in this book when it came to separating names of characters. Particularly characters of the dog-like persuasion. In Gracehope the dogs, or Chikchu, are special companions to the humans. Each person is assigned their own dog, which is fine and all but because Thea is constantly working with a bunch of different animals it can get very confusing parsing one canine from another. To a certain extent, this was applicable to the adults living in Gracehope as well. I don't know if it was that their names weren't distinct enough or what, but sometimes I had a hard time remembering who was who. A name chart at the beginning or end of the book would not have been out of place. Some reviewers have also criticized the mythology surrounding Gracehope's origins. Though a little foggy, I bought into the idea that a persecuted people might be able to found a new land with some ingenuity here and there. Maybe the actual details were sketchy, but once you're in Gracehope you're convinced that it could work the way Stead says (though certainly the issue of indoor plumbing is never really addressed). For my part, I wasn't altogether persuaded that someone from the past, however gifted they might have been, would have cracked the secret of DNA. Stead asks you to make a leap or two in the course of the book, but these are never leaps that distract entirely from the central theme, characters, or plot.

Certainly this is the book to pull out and recommend when you get kids screaming for more books like "City of Ember". The two titles are vastly different in tone and methodology, but they share some surface similarities. Both books involve cities under the surface of the Earth where a boy and a girl are desirous of some upward mobility (sorry, I couldn't resist). Both involve civilizations that over the course of generations have forgotten that they are temporary situations. Stead's book doesn't naturally lend itself to sequels, which is a bit of a relief. Sometimes it's nice to read a book that doesn't end on a cliffhanger or climax. As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I've never been able to ascertain whether or not I myself read science fiction as a kid. Still, I like to think that if I did, this would have been the kind of book I'd have liked. Equally enjoyable to boys and girls, it's a fun take on a different kind of world.