Collapse
How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
by Jared Diamond

From the Publisher
"In his Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond examined how and why Western civilizations developed the technologies and immunities that allowed them to dominate much of the world. Now, Diamond probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates?" As in Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond weaves an all-encompassing global thesis through a series of historical-cultural narratives. Moving from the prehistoric Polynesian culture on Easter Island to the formerly flourishing Native American civilizations of the Anasazi and the Maya, the doomed medieval Viking colony on Greenland, and finally to the modern world, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of catastrophe, spelling out what happens when we squander our resources, when we ignore the signals our environment gives us, and when we reproduce too fast or cut down too many trees. Environmental damage, climate change, rapid population growth, unstable trade partners, and pressure from enemies were all factors in the demise of the doomed societies, but other societies found solutions to those same problems and persisted.
 

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The End of Nature
by Bill Mckibben

Review
"Whatever we once thought Nature was--wildness, God, a simple place free from human thumbprints, or an intricate machinery sustaining life on Earth--we have now given it a kick that will change it forever. Humanity has stepped across a threshold. In his free-ranging and provocative book, Bill McKibben explores the philosophies and technologies that have brought us here, and he shows how final a crossing we have made." --James Gleick, author of Chaos -- Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Environment
by Peter H. Raven (Author), Linda R. Berg (Author), David M. Hassenzahl (Author)

From the Back Cover
Environment, Third Edition is for the Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Natural Resources Conservation, or Ecology and Mankind courses found in the biology, botany, zoology, geology, agriculture, geography, or environmental departments. This book was written to present today's students with the enormous environmental challenges facing our world in the hope that they will read, think, discuss, reach conclusions, and act on these issues. Environment, Third Edition is a serious science text with an appealing writing style that is accessible to students from all disciplines. Rather than preaching, it presents a balanced, solutions-oriented approach to environmental problems. It provides students with the information and critical thinking tools to reach their own conclusions. Environment is filled with many new and unique examples to support each subject as it is developed.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Environmental Science
Working with the Earth (Basic Select)
by Jr., G. Tyler Miller (Author)

How can we sustain our environment? ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, 11th Edition, offers bias-free coverage of sustainability, along with the basic science you need as a foundation for understanding environmental issues. "How Would You Vote?" questions appear in the text and allow you to go online to investigate 68 provocative environmental issues and then cast your votes on the Web where the results are tallied and you can see how your opinions compare to your classmates'. You'll also receive online access to Environmental ScienceNow (a powerful online learning tool built around your individual progress that gives you a simple pre-test, and then focuses your learning experience on your studying needs), "How Do I Prepare?" (which gives you tips for test prep, and a review of basic math and chemistry). This book and its online learning tools give you everything you need for success in the course.

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The Eternal Frontier
An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples
by Tim Flannery (Author)

From Publishers Weekly
If Nature itself has a nature, it's the desire for balance. In a fascinating chronicle of our continent's evolution, Flannery shows, however, that this desire must forever be frustrated. Flannery starts his tale with the asteroid collision that destroyed the dinosaurs, ends with the almost equally cataclysmic arrival of humankind and fills the middle with an engaging survey of invaders from other lands, wild speciation and an ever-changing climate, all of which have kept the ecology of North America in a constant state of flux. We see the rise of horses, camels and dogs (cats are Eurasian), the rapid extinction of mammoths, mastodons and other megafauna at the hands of prehistoric man, and the even quicker extinction of the passenger pigeon and other creatures more recently. Flannery also spotlights plenty of scientists at work, most notably one who tries to butcher an elephant as a prehistoric man would have butchered a mastodon, and another who had the intestinal fortitude to check whether meat would keep if a carcass were stored at the bottom of a frigid pond, the earliest of refrigerators. This material might be dense and academic in another's hands, but Flannery displays a light touch, a keen understanding of what will interest general readers and a good sense of structure, which keeps the book moving, manageable and memorable. (May)Forecast: Atlantic Monthly clearly intends to build on the reputation Flannery attained with his previous, highly acclaimed book, Throwim Way Leg and they may have a winner here. The first printing will be 60,000 copies, with a $100,000 promotional budget and a 21-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
 

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Fight Global Warming Now
The Handbook for Taking Action in Your Community
by Bill McKibben (Author)

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Despite the array of groups and organizations working on global warming, we are still missing a key element: the movement. Along with the hard work of not-for-profit lobbyists, environmental lawyers, green economists, sustainability-minded engineers, and forward-thinking entrepreneurs, it’s going to take the inspired political involvement of millions of Americans to get our country on track to solving this problem. Linked up by the Internet and a common vision, we can start to make change from the local level to the national and global. We hope this book will give you the skills and inspiration you need to jump into this growing movement. It’s hard work, but—take it from us—it can be a lot of fun, too.

In 1968, observing the state of civil rights in America, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.” Today, we are feeling that fierce urgency again for two reasons. The first is that scientists are telling us that we are running out of time even faster than we thought. If we don’t act within the next few years, we won’t be able to avoid the worst effects of climate change. The second reason is a more hopeful one. Recent political changes in Washington DC and around the country have finally created an opportunity for genuine political action on global warming. There is no guarantee that this situation will last. If you’ve been a little paralyzed by the sheer size and horror of global warming, now is the time to start moving forward, fast.

Copyright © 2007 by Bill McKibben. All rights reserved.
 

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Fighting for Love in the Century of Extinction
How Passion and Politics Can Stop Global Warming
by Eban Goodstein (Author)

Review
"Goodstein provides a good nonscientific account of the global climate change problem that is an informative read for nonscience audiences at all levels." --Choice

"Fighting for Love radiates with Eban Goodstein's genuine awe at the exquisite interconnectedness of our natural world. It focuses our attention on our spiritual connections with all forms of life. And it encourages us to engage in the rough and tumble realities of American politics. This book moves Goodstein from being a pied-piper of the climate movement to one of its prophets."--Ross Gelbspan, author, The Heat Is On and Boiling Point

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Gaia
The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine

by James Lovelock

Review

"This is the most accessible of Lovelock's three Gaia books...Lovelock is a brilliant writer."--New Scientist
"Brightly illustrated with color...on nearly every page, to appeal to the general reader, armchair ecoterrorist, and science fiction fan."--Book News, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Ignition
What You Can Do to Fight Global Warming and Spark a Movement
by Jonathan Isham (Editor), Sissel Waage (Editor), Bill McKibben (Introduction)

From Booklist
It is one thing for citizens to recognize a problem; it is quite another for them to compel legislators to actually do something about it. Like the civil rights and women's campaigns before it, the climate movement, despite its so-called birth with the first Earth Day celebration in 1970, is still in its nascency; and like its forerunners, it, too, must rely heavily on the grassroots efforts of individuals to pressure government at every level, from local to international, to create and enforce the laws and regulations critical to stopping the eco-destruction of the planet. To learn what works and what doesn't in this basic form of activism, the editors have assembled a veritable who's who of scholars, student leaders, and civic officials that includes such environmental heavy hitters as Bill McKibben, Ted Nordhaus, and Jared Duval. The goal is to create a persuasive and constructive handbook designed to turn a groundswell of environmental awareness into a tidal wave of strategic initiatives specifically formulated for twenty-first-century issues and opportunities. Haggas, Carol
 

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The Last Refuge
Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror, Revised and Updated Edition
by David W. Orr

From Publishers Weekly
In 13 essays, Orr, professor of environmental studies and politics at Oberlin, critiques what he says is the current Bush administration's lack of environmental policy and calls for a more engaged citizenry. Orr sets the scene by relating a 2001 meeting with noncommittal White House staffers in which he and other leading environmentalists presented an environmental status report, entitled "Common Ground/Common Futures." "The news was delivered," he writes. "But no one was home." The present state of environmental affairs, he says, reflects "an unconstrained managerial and well-armed plutocracy intent on global plunder." Orr advocates a coherent environmental agenda, vigorous public information, restored political leadership and increased emphasis on environmental study in higher education. Specific essays focus on particular figures in the debate: one exposes Bjorn Lomberg, a favorite author of Dick Cheney's, as "scientifically dishonest," while another praises writer Wendell Berry's commitment to agrarian ideals. Perhaps the most informative essay in the collection, entitled "Leverage," examines the meager patchwork of U.S. environmental regulations and the nation's libertarian tendencies. Orr's politics will be familiar to all left-wing readers. There is little originality in his criticisms of the right and its attitude toward natural resources and energy efficiency. Orr's writing is steeped in sometimes utopian antimodern longings for small family farms, ecologically sound urban planning, increased public transportation and ecological diversity. While it's not hard to imagine how these essays might energize a readership committed to Orr's brand of politics, their rhetoric is too repetitive and ponderously moralizing to win wider audiences for their ideas.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
 

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Plan B 3.0
Mobilizing to Save Civilization
by Lester R. Brown (Author)

Review
"How to build a more just world and save the planet... We should all heed Brown's advice." Bill Clinton "This book provides excellent insights for academics, students and lay readers alike... in tackling a host of pressing issues in a single book, Plan B 2.0 makes for an eye-opening read." The Times Higher Education Supplement "Brown is an effective Cassandra. His picture of climate-change-induced chaos is terrifying and convincing." Andrew Simms, New Scientist" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Rare Earth
Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe
by Peter D. Ward

From Library Journal
Renowned paleontologist Ward (Univ. of Washington), who has authored numerous books and articles, and Brownlee, a noted astronomer who has also researched extraterrestrial materials, combine their interests, research, and collaborative thoughts to present a startling new hypothesis: bacterial life forms may be in many galaxies, but complex life forms, like those that have evolved on Earth, are rare in the universe. Ward and Brownlee attribute Earth's evolutionary achievements to the following critical factors: our optimal distance from the sun, the positive effects of the moon's gravity on our climate, plate tectonics and continental drift, the right types of metals and elements, ample liquid water, maintenance of the correct amount of internal heat to keep surface temperatures within a habitable range, and a gaseous planet the size of Jupiter to shield Earth from catastrophic meteoric bombardment. Arguing that complex life is a rare event in the universe, this compelling book magnifies the significance A and tragedy A of species extinction. Highly recommended for all public and academic libraries. AGloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll. Lib., Kansas City
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
 

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A Short History of Nearly Everything
by Bill Bryson (Author)

From Publishers Weekly
As the title suggests, bestselling author Bryson (In a Sunburned Country) sets out to put his irrepressible stamp on all things under the sun. As he states at the outset, this is a book about life, the universe and everything, from the Big Bang to the ascendancy of Homo sapiens. "This is a book about how it happened," the author writes. "In particular how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." What follows is a brick of a volume summarizing moments both great and curious in the history of science, covering already well-trod territory in the fields of cosmology, astronomy, paleontology, geology, chemistry, physics and so on. Bryson relies on some of the best material in the history of science to have come out in recent years. This is great for Bryson fans, who can encounter this material in its barest essence with the bonus of having it served up in Bryson's distinctive voice. But readers in the field will already have studied this information more in-depth in the originals and may find themselves questioning the point of a breakneck tour of the sciences that contributes nothing novel. Nevertheless, to read Bryson is to travel with a memoirist gifted with wry observation and keen insight that shed new light on things we mistake for commonplace. To accompany the author as he travels with the likes of Charles Darwin on the Beagle, Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton is a trip worth taking for most readers.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Silent Spring (Special Edition)
by Rachel Carson (Author)

From The WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women; review by SH
In 1960, a woman noticed the birds had stopped singing and their population had severely decreased in her neighborhood. She summoned a friend, biologist/writer Rachel Carson, to investigate this wildlife mystery. Subsequently, in 1962, Rachel's discoveries and efforts were brought to the forefront in her book, Silent Spring, which revealed the atrocities of pesticide poisoning. The over-spraying of DDT, dieldrin and other pest killers was poisoning the entire world of living things, humanity included. Rachel's work not only left chemical companies casting about trying to discredit her findings, but, most importantly, prompted an enormous environmental movement which continues today. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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The Weather Makers
How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth
By Tim Flannery

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Mammologist and paleontologist Flannery (The Eternal Frontier), who in recent years has become well known for his controversial ideas on conservation, the environment and population control, presents a straightforward and powerfully written look at the connection between climate change and global warming. It's destined to become required reading following Hurricane Katrina as the focus shifts to the natural forces that may have produced such a devastating event. Much of the book's success is rooted in Flannery's succinct and fascinating insights into related topics, such as the differences between the terms greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change, and how the El Niño cycle of extreme climatic events "had a profound re-organising effect on nature." But the heart of the book is Flannery's impassioned look at the earth's "colossal" carbon dioxide pollution problem and his argument for how we can shift from our current global reliance on fossil fuels [...]. Flannery consistently produces the hard goods related to his main message that our environmental behavior makes us all "weather makers" who "already possess all the tools required to avoid catastrophic climate change."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
 

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The World Without Us
by Alan Weisman (Author)

From The New Yorker
Teasing out the consequences of a simple thought experiment—what would happen if the human species were suddenly extinguished—Weisman has written a sort of pop-science ghost story, in which the whole earth is the haunted house. Among the highlights: with pumps not working, the New York City subways would fill with water within days, while weeds and then trees would retake the buckled streets and wild predators would ravage the domesticated dogs. Texas’s unattended petrochemical complexes might ignite, scattering hydrogen cyanide to the winds—a "mini chemical nuclear winter." After thousands of years, the Chunnel, rubber tires, and more than a billion tons of plastic might remain, but eventually a polymer-eating microbe could evolve, and, with the spectacular return of fish and bird populations, the earth might revert to Eden.
Copyright © 2007

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