Reviews (2)

this is not a field guide
I read the other review and was deceived. The other reviewer made it sound like a field guide comparing it to Peterson.NO!!!!There are a total of 45 color plates covering less than 500 of the about 1500 Brazilian birds and some of these plates are black and white.

Birds in Brazil
Birds in Brazil is a big book, beautifully produced on quality paper.It is exhaustive but never exhausting on the topic of Brazilian birds .The color illustrations are beautiful, but unfortunately they are separate from the text about the birds.That is the book's only fault.The text is in smooth and enticing English, and where the same birds are to be found migrating to the United States, the information is quite comparable in completion and interest to the American field guides of Roger T. Peterson.That leads me to believe that the information about birds that we don't experience will be equally accurate.This book is captivating and well worth the price.It is a coffee-table style book that we will be proud to use and to display. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Brazil    4. Conservation    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Ornithology    9. Biological Sciences    10. Birds & birdwatching    11. Birds (ornithology)    12. Birds and Natural History    13. Latin American Studies    14. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching    15. Reference works   

Subjects:  1. Agriculture - Forestry    2. Canada    3. Forest ecology    4. Forestry (General)    5. Forests & Forestry    6. Forests and forestry    7. Life Sciences - Botany    8. Life Sciences - Ecology - Forest Ecology    9. Nature    10. Nature/Ecology    11. Science    12. United States    13. Forestry & silviculture: practice & techniques    14. North America    15. Science / Botany   

Subjects:  1. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    2. Marine Life    3. Marine invertebrates    4. Mexico, Gulf of    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Reference    8. Seashore biology    9. Conservation of the environment    10. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    11. Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection    12. Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects   

Subjects:  1. Economic Conditions    2. Economics    3. Environmental Science    4. Environmental Studies    5. Environmental policy    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Sustainable development    8. Environmentalist thought & ideology   

Reviews (36)

Succinct, focused, readable
For those of you who are just getting interested in the subject, David Goodstein's Out of Gas is the book you want to read first.I have read several books on the impending energy crisis, including:
Best introduction to fuel (oil) depletion I have read...
This book is a short read, so the review should be short, too.This is the best book on fuel depletion on the market, in my opinion: short, accurate, factual, non-polarizing, objective, useful, and scientifically correct.Reviewers who quibble over small stuff are missing the point.There is an annotated bibliography for those who want more.You can't go wrong with this one.

This book played fast with the facts
After reading this book, I sold my copy as a used book on Amazon --- and I almost never do this. I have read 5 books about the end of oil prior to reading OUT OF GAS, and I felt that the author played with the facts to make his point. Clearly, the author wanted the make the crisis that we are facing seem less urgent and dire than the other books on the topic. While I am not a scientist who has studied this topic first hand, I have studied books and other literature on this topic, and feel that other sources provide better information. Specifically, Hubbard's Peak is not as clearly explained here as in other books.
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Subjects:  1. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    2. Forecasting    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Petroleum industry and trade    6. Petroleum reserves    7. Management of land & natural resources   

Reviews (6)

As important as Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring"
This book has been a walk in the park. Almost literally.Needing nothing more technological than sunlight and, for some of us, a pair of spectacles, reading "Return to Wild America" is the closest thing to "being there."Mr. Weidensaul's prose carries us over the rivers and through the woods.His descriptions allow us to see, hear, feel and occasionally smell the magnificence of nature. It is a wonderful and elating trip.For birders, I am sure that there is the added bonus of familiarity with the beautiful birds that I have just met.
A Reprise of a Famous Naturalists' Journey
I read Peterson's and Fisher's "Wild America" in 1955 when it first was published.My father belonged to a book club and this book was the primary selection one month. It was an enchanting read and it strengthened my interest in all of the biota of North America, although I eventually became a professional biologist specializing in invertebrates.
You Just Have to Know Where to Look
Scott Weidensaul deserves recognition as one of the best naturalist writers working today. Here, Weidensaul follows in the cross-continental footsteps of Roger Peterson (the bird guide guy) and James Fisher, who in the early 1950s wrote about their bird watching journey across North America and created the environmentalist classic "Wild America." Weidensaul is also a bird fanatic, reporting on the astonishing variety of avifauna he encountered while tracing the footsteps of Peterson and Fisher, but he also imparts great amounts of knowledge on all other forms of wildlife as well as larger issues of ecosystem health. Weidensaul certainly finds that many of the natural areas visited by Peterson and Fisher fifty years previously are in worse shape nowadays, with encroaching development and pollution, and great decreases in plant and animal populations. The most distressing example here is the continuing ecological disaster taking place in the Florida Everglades, while the state of nature in several of the other areas covered is barely heartening.
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Subjects:  1. 1908-1996    2. Ecology    3. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    4. Essays    5. History    6. History Of Science    7. Life Sciences - Ecology    8. Natural history    9. Nature    10. Nature/Ecology    11. North America    12. Peterson, Roger Tory,    13. Science    14. Science/Mathematics    15. Travel    16. Weidensaul, Scott   

Reviews (37)

More relevant than ever 31 years later
Ecotopia has been on my reading list since it first appeared in 1975. I finally got around to reading it recently and was suprised to find it utterly engaging and only slightly dated (two-way TV must have seemed pretty cool prior to the Internet). Meanwhile, world population has grown by 2.5 billion and if anything the book is more relevant now than ever before. For example, in Callenbach's fabled nation, San Francisco's underground streams and creeks have been daylighted; schools don't have curricula or administrators; drug addictions are treated rather than punished; the work week is 20 hours; and the word "consumer" is not used in polite company. A great read for illiberal times.

Nope
Ask anyone who wes ever assigned to clean-up after a Dead concert. Even if Ecotopia worked, it would not be long before the crooks rose to the top.I like to think that Democracy and justice gives us a better chance.

essential reading.
What an inspirational book! Such great words sound so new because we are living in a denial so very old. What an important piece of work and how relevant now more than ever!
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Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Environmentalism    3. Environmentalists    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - General    6. General    7. Human ecology    8. Nature conservation    9. Fantasy    10. Literary Criticism & Collections / American    11. Science fiction   

Reviews (4)

Interesting
Found this book very readable.Thought it was fascinating as an introduction to how the Yangtze shaped China.Gave me a good overview of the the area around the river basins.
Great book for all disciplines...
This book encompasses the history of the Yangtze, as a history major I enjoyed learning about the history pertaining the Yangtze. Moreover, it discusses the political motives behind the construction of the dam. Also, this book addresses the social as well as environmental costs of TGD. It is a great book for students, travelers, environmentalists, historians, and those who have an interest in China.

Before the Deluge
A superb book. Drawing from her life experience, the author gives vivid picture of people's life along China's Yangtze River. The construction of the super-dam will greatly alter people's life there. We should thank the author for recording, thus preserving the past that will be gone forever. Scholars, especially scholars of China Studies would get detailed description of the daily life of Chinese people. Travellers would also find the book useful. The author was among the first group of foreigners who worked and travelled in China after 1976. Thus, her story is really invaluable since not many foreigners had the chance to witness China around 1980. Overall, the book is informative and insightful. Wonderful work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. China    3. Dams    4. Electric Power Resources Management    5. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    6. Environmental aspects    7. History    8. History - General History    9. Nature    10. Nature/Ecology    11. Rivers    12. Social History    13. Social life and customs    14. Yangtze River Gorges    15. Yangtze River Region (China)    16. Social & cultural anthropology   

Editorial Review

The oceans of the world rank foremost among humankind's last great frontiers, and their climatological and ecological workings remain mysterious to all but specialists. In this lively, well-written survey, marine scientist Carl Safina encourages readers to take a wider interest in the oceans, especially because so much of that great blue expanse is now threatened by human progress. Safina notes, for example, that the North Atlantic's tuna population has fallen by more than 90 percent in just the last few decades. It has gone the way of cod and herring and pilot whales thanks to a combination of changing global temperatures, overfishing, pollution, inland watershed and delta destruction, and other causes--many of them attributable to human activities. Even now, he notes, many Pacific fishing fleets use cyanide to catch fish, a process that destroys sensitive marine ecosystems. Safina's tour of the world's waters may inspire readers to press for changes in the way that fish is brought to their tables, and to take a more careful look at the natural processes that govern this watery planet. ... Read more

Reviews (29)

Absolute poetry
I'm only about halfway through this book, but it's so moving that I decided I needed to rave now.Carl Safina uses an amazing grasp of language to paint mental pictures of what he writes about.I work in the scientific community and have spent a lot of time on that water, and his writings are not only objective and scientifically sound, he constructs them in such a way that they are beautiful.You will have a thirst for each topic and region of which he writes.I borrowed this book from the library and had vowed to buy it before I'd finished the first chapter.It has only improved as I've proceeded.

Beauty beyond compare
This is one of the most beautiful, powerful books I have ever read.Safina's journey encompasses the entire world and all points of view.His words have inspired me to pursue my dreams and opened up new worlds of knowledge.Now, every time I hear of politicians doing something stupid to the oceans or rivers, I just shake my head and say "'Song' should be required reading for them before they can draft a piece of legislation dealing with the oceans."

McPhee on Red Bull
This book would be twice as good if it were half as long. Evidently the only editors were fawning friends of the author, who must have felt that every observation, no matter how offhand or trivial, needed to be included in the bloated text. This is too bad, because he is a decent writer, knows and cares about fish and fisheries, and the story is compelling. Imagine John McPhee full of Red Bull and vodka and you get the idea.Read more

Subjects:  1. Environmental Studies    2. Essays    3. Fishery conservation    4. General    5. Marine ecology    6. Marine resources conservation    7. Nature    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Oceans & Seas    10. Wildlife    11. Conservation of the environment    12. Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection   

Reviews (9)

Highly readable - a pleasure to read
This is a highly readable book. The author generously shares his considerable knowledge in language that makes the texteasy to understand. Everything about it is well done: the book is well-organized and well written, with beautiful illustrations.
Handbook for the new forester and a delight for anyoneelse
This is a book for anyone who likes to read about someone's interesting life or observations,for anyone who likes to get a glimpse of a good man'smind and heart, for anyone who enjoys seeing things in a new way, and--of course--for anyone who owns or may buy wooded property.For the latter, it is an indispensable guide.For the rest of us, it is both delightful reading and consciousness-raising.
Awesome
If you are interested in the subject, this book is an easy read and will be as hard to put down as your favorite novel.
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Subjects:  1. Agriculture - Forestry    2. Environmental Science    3. Environmental Studies    4. Forest management    5. Forests & Forestry    6. Forests and forestry    7. Nature    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Woodlots    10. Sustainable forestry   

Subjects:  1. Calendar    2. Calendars & Diaries    3. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    4. Non-Classifiable    5. NATURE / Environmental Conservation & Protection    6. Photography / Nature & Wildlife   

Reviews (17)

The Luxury of Questioning Luxury
This book is revered by just about anyone who embraces green identity (which is almost inextricably linked to privilege and white identity) but does not bother to face the gaping fact that the only we as a society can acknowledge the impending end of nature is by and being over-developed; in short we in modern societies have so much luxury that we allow ourselves to be unaware of the luxury of questioning luxury.

Wonderful Book, A Little Outdated
This would've been a five-star review if this book were about 10-12 years newer than it is.In some ways, McKibben's extended essay on global warming has aged very well.His central thesis that nature is ended (not destroyed but removed of majesty or even neutered) by the overwhelming pressures of human industrial society and human overpopulation is as relevant now as it ever was, the truth of this argument more evident every day.And global warming, the central thread of his argument, is even more pressing today, even though we in the United States are doing even less about it.Though some of his worst fears have yet to come true, the reality of global climate change is bad enough, as underscored by the recent report on rapid climate change in arctic regions.
Prophetic and life changing.
In the ten years between the time THE END OF NATURE was first published in 1989 and reissued in 1999, we experienced seven of the ten warmest years in recorded history (p. xiv), which establishes Bill McKibben as a global warming prophet.And the thing is--we're still not getting it."We live in the oddest moment since our species first stood upright," McKibben writes in the new Introduction to his environmental classic, "the moment when we are finally grown so big in numbers and in appetite we alter everything around us" (pp. xv-xvi). The United States alone dumps 15 percent more CO2 into the atmosphere than it did ten years ago (p. xvi).Arctic glaciers continue to retreat, ice grows thinner, and the sea level steadily rises (p. xviii).In short, "this buzzing, blooming, mysterious, cruel, lovely globe of mountain, sea, city, forest, of fish and wolf and bug and man; of carbon and hydrogen and nitrogen--it has come unbalanced in our short moment on it" (p. xxv).Read more

Subjects:  1. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    2. Environmental Science    3. Environmental Studies    4. General    5. Human Geography    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Nature / General   

Subjects:  1. Agriculture - General    2. Crops    3. Ecology    4. Effect of stress on    5. Flowers    6. Forests & Forestry    7. Life Sciences - Botany    8. Physiology    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics    11. Technology & Industrial Arts    12. Nature-Ecology    13. Nature-Flowers    14. Plant physiology    15. Science / Botany    16. Technology / Agriculture & Animal Husbandry    17. abiotic stress    18. drought    19. genotoxic stress    20. salt stress    21. temperature stress   

Reviews (2)

Good Overview
This book provides a good overview of air permitting and good explanations of many of the issues involved. I don't think it "...shows facility air quality managers, regulatory agency staff, and consultants how to prepare permit applications for Title V Federal Operating Permits or for New Source Review (NSR)or Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) perrmits for new or modified sources of air pollutant emissions, and how to comply with permits obtained." The differences between different facilities and states are too great for one book to do all that. Most books providing advice about air permitting imagine the reader is working for some "Mega-firm" with a team of eager co-workers. They might prove more useful if they focused on the poor guy locked alone in a room with six inches of forms and a bad calculator. Still, Leonard knows his material and provides many useful insights into the permit process.He writes clearly, has organized his material well and does a better job with a huge topic than any other book I have found.

This is a great book on Air Quality Permitting in the U.S.
I used this book last year, as a text book in a class at UCLA that Iteach.I am also using it this year.The book was very well received bythe students.I found it very useful to teach from, and as a referencebook.It is the only book of its kind, as far as I know.Thanks, Leon! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Air    2. Air Pollution    3. Environmental    4. Environmental Engineering & Technology    5. Environmental Law    6. Environmental Science    7. Environmental permits    8. Law    9. Law and legislation    10. Pollution    11. Science/Mathematics    12. Technology & Industrial Arts    13. United States    14. Atmospheric pollution    15. Heating, lighting, ventilation    16. Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection    17. Occupational / industrial health & safety   

Subjects:  1. Christianity    2. Christianity - Stewardship    3. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    4. Environmental Studies    5. Human ecology    6. Public Policy - Environmental Policy    7. Religion    8. Religion, Politics & State    9. Religious aspects    10. Stewardship, Christian    11. 21st century    12. Central government policies    13. Christian mission & evangelism    14. Current Events / American    15. Environmentalist thought & ideology    16. Political control & freedoms    17. USA   

Reviews (8)

Surprising Religious Angle from Serious Economist
This book is well worth reading for Daly's explanation of "ecological economics." Rather than looking at the economy as a system existing in a vacuum, where an infinite amount of exchanges are possible to create an infinite amount of economic growth--as neo-classical economists believe--Daly places the economy within the physical environment. This environment of course is a place of limits: limits on raw materials and limits on places to store pollution. Thus, Daly shows that the economy must observe limits too.
Good enough
this book is good enough to get a good view of how SD is going and should go. Though much has changed since this book has been published.Globalization has taken SD in directions that were not previously predicted.

Growth isn't everything
I can't say enough about how moved I was by this book. Having worked in a corporate setting for a number of years, I have wondered how growth can always be the goal of business and how the world can keep expanding and still accommodate everyone's needs. Herman Daly breaks down the problems with economic growth and how fraudulent it is for measuring economic health. Daly advocates sustainable development from a number of economic and social angles. His explanations become abstract at times, but he effectively challenges established economic thinking and offers alternatives.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economics - General    5. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    6. Natural Resources    7. Nature / General    8. Sustainability   

Reviews (3)

Organic food is a human right!
In "Earth Democracy", Indian ecofeminist Vandana Shiva powerfully defends the rights of Third World farmers against agribusiness monopolies, biotechnology and international financial institutions like the WTO, World Bank and IMF. In a brilliant deconstruction of capitalist patriarchy, Shiva explains how market fundamentalism breeds religious fundamentalism and explores the many ways that corporate globalization negatively impacts the lives of low-income women around the world. Importantly, Shiva explains how the colonization of DNA by multinational corporations is an extension of the colonization of Asia, Africa and the Americas by an imperialist white elite. Outlining how the preservation of seed, water and sustainable food systems are a prerequisite for peace and real security, "Earth Democracy" is a timely and informative read for global justice activists interested in alleviating world hunger, healing the environment and creating peace.

A more peaceful and secure future
"Earth Democracy" by Vandana Shiva offers both a masterful critique of globalization and a hopeful vision for a better world. Ms. Shiva compares and contrasts top-down systems of authoritarianism and exclusion with bottom-up systems of egalitarianism and mutual cooperation to discuss how corporate power is proving to be a grave threat to democracy and the long-term viability of the planet. Ms. Shiva contends that a mutually-supportive network of empowered local communities might be able to create a global society that is based on humanitarian principles of peace, compassion and solidarity.
An excellent primer
A well-written discussion of some of the most important issues facing humanity in the 21st Century.The book does, however, jump from topic-to-topic with relatively little deep discussion.Still, "Earth Democracy" is a refreshing change from what passes for "scholarship" in much of the Left-press.On the other hand, being a shorter work does make it more accessible to the neophyte environmentalist who may be unfamiliar with the issues concerned.An excellent primer on the new corporate-ecology facing us all today. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    2. Environmental justice    3. General    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Political Ideologies - Democracy    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Social justice    9. Sustainable development    10. Women's Studies - General    11. Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection   

Editorial Review

In a wonderful weave of science, metaphor, and prose, David Quammen, author of The Flight of the Iguana,applies the lessons of island biogeography - the study of the distribution of species on islands and islandlike patches of landscape - to modern ecosystem decay, offering us insight into the origin and extinction of species, our relationship to nature, and the future of our world. ... Read more

Reviews (62)

Fabulous
Quammen's book is a rare bird--a clearly written science book that doesn't condescend to readers.It's long enough to go fairly deep, and deep enough to be interesting:it's on my short list of favorites.
Plotting the roadmap to species extinction
"Islands are where species go to die." - David Quammen, author of THE SONG OF THE DODO
Comprehensive
Mr Quammen's work is the finest written on the facts of island biogeography.Broad in scope, the writer visited the leks of the birds of paradise and those nasty lizards on Komodo.Other places of interest the book visits are Madagascar and the Galapagos, known for their weird endemic faunas that can only be explained in an evolutionary, and biogeographic manner. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biogeography    2. Biology    3. Ecology    4. Endangered species    5. Environmental Science    6. Environmental Studies    7. General    8. Island ecology    9. Life Sciences - Biology - General    10. Nature    11. Nature/Ecology    12. Applied ecology    13. Biology, Life Sciences    14. Nature / General   

Reviews (4)

The Missing Book ... but Worth the Wait
I ordered this book 3 months ago on Amazon. The book didn't turn up so unfortunately I couldn't make a proper review. I wasn't too impressed with Amazon - after numerous emails unananswered the book finally turned up 3 months and 20 days since the date of ordering. What can i say? ... It was definitely worth the wait. A very readable account of a highly complex topic demonstrating just how important it is that we all take action! I especially liked the advice on pp143 ...

interesting, engaging, makes you want to know more
In this book, Chris Spence was able to present global warming as a real and compelling issue and to entice the reader to investigate deeper into the complexities of this subject. This is more than any technical essay on global warming could have achieved in terms of drawing the attention to such an important subject, often disregarded because too "technical".

Easy Read
Good book that gets to the heart of the issues surrounding global warming, and does so without pummeling the reader with environmental jargon. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    2. Environmental Science    3. Environmental Studies    4. Global warming    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Popular works    8. Weather    9. Atmospheric pollution    10. Environmental economics    11. Pollution & threats to the environment   

Reviews (7)

Serving the Interests of the Dominant Culture; A critical perspective
As all the other reviews are positive, I will add a much needed critical perspective.
A new view on the bison's demise
Andrew Isenberg, professor of History at Princeton University, has produced a brilliant monograph documenting the relationship between the Plains Indians, whites and the bison that once thrived on the Great Plains. Important contribution to the field of environmental history
Andrew Isenberg's "The Destruction of the Bison" shows that the interaction between ecology, culture and economy contributes the the destruction of bison. Unlike most historians who contributes the environmental degradation to Euro-Americans, Isenberg shows that Native Americans also play a role in modifying the ecology. He is able to show how introduction of horses, made Native Americans became more mobile and therefore were able to hunt the bison while riding their horses.