Road Ecology: Science And Solutions

Book Description

A central goal of transportation is the delivery of safe and efficient services with minimal environmental impact. In practice, though, human mobility has flourished while nature has suffered. Awareness of the environmental impacts of roads is increasing, yet information remains scarce for those interested in studying, understanding, or minimizing the ecological effects of roads and vehicles.

Road Ecology addresses that shortcoming by elevating previously localized and fragmented knowledge into a broad and inclusive framework for understanding and developing solutions. The book brings together fourteen leading ecologists and transportation experts to articulate state-of-the-science road ecology principles, and presents specific examples that demonstrate the application of those principles. Diverse theories, concepts, and models in the new field of road ecology are integrated to establish a coherent framework for transportation policy, planning, and projects. Topics examined include:

foundations of road ecology
roads, vehicles, and transportation planning
vegetation and roadsides
wildlife populations and mitigation
water, sediment, and chemical flows
aquatic ecosystems
wind, noise, and atmospheric effects
road networks and landscape fragmentation

Road Ecology links ecological theories and concepts with transportation planning, engineering, and travel behavior. With more than 100 illustrations and examples from around the world, it is an indispensable and pioneering work for anyone involved with transportation, including practitioners and planners in state and province transportation departments, federal agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. The book also opens up an important new research frontier for ecologists.

Divorce Your Car! : Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile

Average customer rating:

Good Stuff
A great book!
Methodical outline of problems and solutions
Save Time, Money & the Environment--Divorce Your Car!
An excellent resource

Divorce Your Car! : Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile
Katharine T. Alvord
Manufacturer: New Society Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Industry | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Traffic & Safety | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

How to Live Well Without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of Life
Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America and How We Can Take It Back
Carfree Cities
Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things (New Report, No 4)
The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists

ASIN: 0865714088

Book Description

Our romance with cars, begun with enthusiasm more than 100 years ago, has in fact become a very troubled entanglement. Today's relationship with the automobile inflicts upon us pollution, noise, congestion, sprawl, big expenses, injury, and even death. Yet we continue to live with cars at a continuing cost to ourselves and the environment.

What can people do about this souring affair?-Divorce your car! Re-meet your feet, board a bike, take a train, pull out of this dysfunctional relationship with the automobile! Divorcing your car can take many forms, from simply using it less to not owning one at all. This practical guide shows how divorcing a car can be fun, healthy, money-saving, and helpful to the planet in the process.

Customer Reviews:

Good Stuff.......2005-09-28

I'm moving out of state next year and won't be taking my car with me. Life will probably be more difficult in some ways but it's worth it. When you read about cars and study about them and think about them, it's really unbelievable the amount of death, destruction, and suffering that they've caused over the last hundred years. I've read a lot of anti-car books and this is one of the better ones. It's very thorough while not being too dry or academic like some of the others. Read this book and you'll learn things that will surprise you, like how much money it really costs a society when it uses cars as its main form of transportation. And don't forget perhaps the greatest tragedy of all. Cars gave rise to one of the lowest forms of life that the human race has ever known - the car salesman!

A great book!.......2004-12-09

This book inspired me to bite the bullet and become car-lite (I live a little too far from town to achieve car-free just yet). It has a lot of exciting examples of how being car-free and car-lite can lead to a more pleasant lifestyle, as well as motivation why it's a good thing to do. Katie's own example is also inspiring, as she has significantly reduced car usage while living in a rural area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a place with legendary winters. Now when I get whiny about putting on my rain suit in the winter here in Northern California and want to jump in my car instead of riding, I think about Katie and her husband biking in the snow of the U.P.

Methodical outline of problems and solutions.......2004-08-05

Divorce Your Car, by Katie Alvord, is thought provoking. In the United States of America, an automobile is many things to many people: transportation, status symbol, hobby, money pit. Alvord takes apart the place of the car in modern society (the focus of the book is on North America, though she does refer to Europe and the Third World in places) and roundly condemns our dependence.

Her book is split into three parts--the first covers the history of the automobile and other forms of transport. She legitimizes what I'd often heard and dismissed as a myth--the car industry bought up the transit systems of cities in the US early in the 20th century and replaced them with buses. The second is a laundry list of the negative effects of the car (which, I must confess, I didn't finish--too depressed after the first thirty pages). The final section covers alternatives, including walking, biking, mass transit, non-gasoline cars, and telecommuting.

I found the book to be quite good in outlining the problem and highlighting solutions. The dependence of modern life on the car is a dependence on convenience. But, to some extent, it's a matter of inertia. Automobiles are so prevalent and easy that many of us never try the alternatives, let alone use them in preference to our car. A strong point is that she realizes that car-free living isn't for anyone, and makes a point that going car-lite can have a positive effect as well. She also touches on the far reaching implications that technology decisions have had on our society, our cities and our lives--from subsidies to the development of advertising. It would have been interesting to read more about that, but what she did say was definitely thought provoking.

However, I do have three quibbles. Alvord cites sources extensively, but her arguments would be more compelling were the sources less biased (as you can tell by titles like Asphalt Nation) and more first hand. She ignores two factors that would affect my divorce. Giving up your car, or at the very least being aware of alternatives, makes drunk driving less likely--a good thing! On the other hand, if you don't have a car, you suddenly have a dearth of available camping and hiking activities. But these concerns aren't everyone's, to be sure.

Overall, a book well worth reading, especially if you commute a lot. Too bad they don't sell it as a book on tape!

Save Time, Money & the Environment--Divorce Your Car!.......2004-04-21

Alvord makes a very convincing argument for divorcing your car. So convincing, in fact, that my husband and I will likely divorce our one and only car in the coming months.

Divorce Your Car explains the obvious--how divorcing your car will save money and help protect the environment. More intriguing, though, is the explanation of how divorcing your car will actually save you time.

How can divorcing your car save time, you wonder? Alvord factors in not just how long it takes to get somewhere (by car versus by other modes of transit), but also how much time you have to spend working to pay for all the costs associated with a car. When all is said and done, the car doesn't move any faster than a bike.

While Alvord does mention that walking and biking instead of driving have health benefits, her calculations of time don't include another big factor working against the car--making time for exercise. Many people complain that they don't have "time" for exercise. I used to complain about this too. But now that I bike virtually every day, making time for exercise is a non-issue. It may take me 20 minutes to bike somewhere I could get to by car in 10 minutes, and ditto for the return trip. But if I had to find another 40 minutes each day to exercise (plus time to drive to and from the gym!)...geez, no wonder I didn't used to have time to exercise.

By ditching the car, you can save enough money to work less (Alvord has some inspiring examples) and easily work exercise into your daily routine. As an added perk, you even get to help save the planet. What's not to like!

An excellent resource.......2004-04-13

I checked DIVORCE YOUR CAR out of our local library, because the title made me wonder how such a thing could be possible. I read the whole thing, and I was astounded at how simple it really is to use your car less.

The first two parts of the book cover the history of the car and the American "marriage" to it, as well as the reasons that same marriage has turned into a disaster. The third part then offers practical solutions for non-car travel, going into great detail about walking, biking, mass-transit, ride-sharing, etc, and providing plenty of information on the benefits, drawbacks and availability of each, as well as how to get in contact with alternative travel associations in your area, or how to start your own.

It's a slim volume, but the quality is evident. This book really woke me up to something MAJOR I could do to improve my own quality of life and the planet's. My fiance and I currently own one car between us, and though we've been doing alright with it, we'd been planning to buy another! After reading DIVORCE YOUR CAR, we're realizing we really don't need to have more than one, and we're now planning ways to use our bikes and mass transit more, and actively discouraging each other from taking trips we don't need to take by car. It's already making a big difference, and someday we hope to go entirely car-free, with this book (which I've since purchased from Amazon) and our creativity as guides.

Book Description

Chinese production of automobiles rose from 42,000 cars per year in 1990 to 2.3 million in 2004; the number of passenger vehicles on the road doubled every two and a half years through the 1990s and continues to grow. In China Shifts Gears, Kelly Sims Gallagher identifies an unprecedented opportunity for China to "shift gears" and avoid the usual problems associated with the automobile industry--including urban air pollution caused by tailpipe emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, and high dependence on oil imports--while spurring economic development. This transformation will only take place if the Chinese government plays a leadership role in building domestic technological capacity and pushing foreign automakers to transfer cleaner and more energy-efficient technologies to China. If every new car sold in China had the cleanest and most energy-efficient of the automotive technologies already available, urban air pollution could be minimized, emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases would be lower than projected, and the Chinese auto industry would continue to flourish and contribute to China's steady economic development. But so far, Gallagher finds, the opportunity to shift gears has been missed.

Gallagher looks in detail at three U.S.-Chinese joint ventures: Beijing Jeep, Shanghai GM, and Chang'An Ford. These case studies are based on original research, including interviews with 90 government officials, industry representatives, and experts in both countries. Drawing from the case studies, Gallagher explores the larger issues of the environmental and economic effects of technology transfer in the automobile industry and the policy implications of "leapfrogging" to more advanced technology.

Windshield Wilderness: Cars, Roads, and Nature in Washington's National Parks (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books)

Average customer rating:

Windshield Wilderness: Cars, Roads, and Nature in Washington's National Parks (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books)
David Louter
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Industry | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Driven Wild: How the Fight Against Automobiles Launched the Modern Wilderness Movement (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books)
The Great New Wilderness Debate
Seeing and Being Seen: Tourism in the American West
Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks
The Seattle Bungalow: People And Houses, 1900-1940 (A Samuel & Althea Stroum Book)

ASIN: 0295986069

Book Description

In his engaging book Windshield Wilderness, David Louter explores the relationship between automobiles and national parks, and how together they have shaped our ideas of wilderness. National parks, he argues, did not develop as places set aside from the modern world, but rather came to be known and appreciated through technological progress in the form of cars and roads, leaving an enduring legacy of knowing nature through machines.

With a lively style and striking illustrations, Louter traces the history of Washington State's national parks -- Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades -- to illustrate shifting ideas of wilderness as scenic, as roadless, and as ecological reserve. He reminds us that we cannot understand national parks without recognizing that cars have been central to how people experience and interpret their meaning, and especially how they perceive them as wild places.

Windshield Wilderness explores what few histories of national parks address: what it means to view parks from the road and through a windshield. Building upon recent interpretations of wilderness as a cultural construct rather than as a pure state of nature, the story of autos in parks presents the preservation of wilderness as a dynamic and nuanced process.Windshield Wilderness illuminates the difficulty of separating human-modified landscapes from natural ones, encouraging us to recognize our connections with nature in national parks.

Solo: Life With an Electric Car
Average customer rating:

Noel planted a seed and left us the manual, who will make it grow?

Solo: Life With an Electric Car
Noel Perrin
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Mechanical | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Solo Travel | Specialty Travel | Travel | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Electric & Hybrid | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Build Your Own Electric Vehicle

Electric Dreams: One Unlikely Team of Kids and The Race to Build the Car of the Future Electric Dreams: One Unlikely Team of Kids and The Race to Build the Car of the Future

Electric Motors and Control Techniques

Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars That Will Recharge America

Convert It!

ASIN: 0393034070

Customer Reviews:

Noel planted a seed and left us the manual, who will make it grow?.......2007-06-10

I picked up this book from the public library shelves in 1993 on my way home from high school. Fourteen years later, I find myself making the final preparations to building my own electric vehicle. In an era of $3.30 a gallon for gasoline, electric vehicles have finally become cost effective as commuter vehicles. If you have ever been curious about EV's and how they behave in the real world, Solo is a book for you. My review of this book is not a traditional epinions review, I have made an effort to offer some counter points and give you the reader a 2007 perspective on the building and use of electric vehicles (EV's).

The book is about Noel's efforts to acquire and use an electric vehicle in the early 90's, years before the big three automakers even thought of mass producing their own. Since Noel could not buy a commercially manufactured EV he had to purchase a conversion. Conversions come in extensive varieties, from pure solar vehicles to hybrids (combination of a gasoline engine and an electric motor).1 While, I feel Noel's obsession with the environmental impact of EV's a tad obsessive, he does make several other good points towards the ownership of such a vehicle. The story weaves around the attempt to drive the car, Solo, from California to his home in Vermont. Sprinkled throughout, Noel discusses his own efforts to charge the car using solar energy and provides a brief history of these vehicles in the process.

As you read the book you will discover that Noel was an accomplished chatter box. He managed to hitch several rides from strangers who were interested in his car. His social gift also helped him convince business owners to let him charge his EV. The charging of the car required several kilowatts of electricity. Even though he was prepared to pay, the novelty of the car and Noel's charm seemed to give him several free charges. Predictably, gas station owners gave him the most trouble. He had to pay outrageous rates for the electricity to charge his car and once he was expelled from a gas station by the owner! Noel, by the end of his journey across America, was carrying 100ft of power cord so that he could charge his EV. He found himself throwing cord from second floor hotel rooms, plugging into bedside lamps and even using a nail to suspend his power cord on the side of a wooden building!

In Louisiana, we have hot weather all the time, up north Solo and Noel did not. Solo ran into range problems in colder weather. Noel describes his hassles with working around cold weather EV driving like a seasoned veteran. I have yet to read another candid discussion about EV's in cold climates. Future Vermont EV owners, should take notice and read the book!

The book does a great job of discussing the weakest point of electric vehicles today, hills and mountains. Noel's original intention was driving the car from California back to Vermont, but this dream was cut short when he tried to drive the car over Donner Pass, California. The main reason is the 1,000lbs, or more, of batteries the vehicles must carry to provide a suitable range for city driving. Another simple reason is the amount of current required for uphill climbs, 300Amps, compared to 100Amps for driving on flat roads. Lead based batteries tend to lose their rated capacity faster when discharged under high amperage load. As a result, while your ammeter says you are discharging 300Amps climbing a hill, the battery is losing 325Amps. The excess capacity is discharged as thermal energy and through a chemical process called sulfication. The foothills of Donner Pass made Solo travel approximately 25 miles, compared to the estimated 62 mile range the car got in the city. While my explanation is plain, a government report on the testing of the electric S-10 is a great resource to see how hills and battery heating affect the range of EV travel.2.

The most interesting political feature of the book is the support Noel received from the American automotive industry. On the back cover of the book, Sean McNamara wrote a glowing review of the book, he is a member of the Advanced Engineering Staff Electric Vehicles for General Motors. Within the book, Noel ran into a man named Robert D. King. Bob, as he prefers to be called, built his first EV in 1972. He then built several other EV's with features like regenerative braking and weight reduction to allow the EV to climb Mount Washington in the summer of 1978. So what did he do for a living? Bob turned out to be an electrical engineer for General Electric. He was working on an electric car concept for the Ford Motor Company. Leslie Nielsen gave the book a glowing review as well: "Solo by Noel Perrin is a delightful book. It is filled with information, even for those who have already experienced life with an electric car, most enjoyable! The alternative of a future without electric cars is a sorry prospect indeed. Like its star, Solo, the book is quietly moving. Oops!

Summary
In my opinion, Solo Life With An Electric Car is still the book to have for the EV thinking car builder. The core focus of the book, charging and driving, is still the focus of every EV owner. We now have low cost sealed lead acid batteries, but these batteries still charge just as slow as they did when Noel was burning kilowatts. The only worthwhile technology that has been developed since Solo, is the PowerFilm solar panel. Hydrogen Fuel Cells require $1,000 of platinum per KWH and require even more energy to refine the materials during production. Battery charging is still in the dark ages, only one manufacturer, Xantrex is making battery chargers that monitor the temperaturate as well as voltage.

Compounding the efforts to bring EV's mainstream are profiteers. They develop technologies to make EV's better but charge over-inflated prices for their products. For example, batteries. West-Marine has a line of AGM's that would fit perfectly in a converted EV. The batteries retail for (...), yet their wholesale cost is just (...). Anyone can buy the batteries if they sign up for an account at a marine wholesale distributor, but no one knows this. I have found other examples, but that is not the point, we must expose these people as fraud's by producing our own solutions into the public domain.

I gave the book five stars because the subject of EV ownership is not covered in print by anyone else, yet. As a work of non-fiction, I found the book very educational and filled with yankee wit that is sometimes more valuable than a room full of engineers.

(...)

The Elephant in the Bedroom: Automobile Dependence & Denial : Impacts on the Economy and Environment

Average customer rating:

Questionable Research
Its NOT about Raising Taxes!
Readable but not agreeable
The Elephant in the Bedroom: How much is it costing us?
The hidden subsidies that make an automobile a "requirement"

The Elephant in the Bedroom: Automobile Dependence & Denial : Impacts on the Economy and Environment
Stanley I. Hart , and Alvin L. Spivak
Manufacturer: Hope Publishing House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Safety & First Aid | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Getting There: The Epic Struggle between Road and Rail in the American Century (Chicago Lectures in Mathematics)
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America and How We Can Take It Back
Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
The Death and Life of Great American Cities

ASIN: 0932727646

Product Description

A library cover edition of the paperback.

Customer Reviews:

Questionable Research.......2005-10-25

I was very dissapointed with this book. I did find it interesting, and if the arguments were true they would be very convincing. Unfortunately, the authors use many different facts and figures to support their arguments, but do not cite where these facts and figures came from. These facts could all be made up. They could be all true. The reader has no way to know.
Therefore I don't find the book to be reliable.

Its NOT about Raising Taxes!.......2003-09-16

The book is great, invaluable if you want to really understand where 25% of our economy is going - much of it squandered.
I had to write this review because though because the last one got it completely wrong. Their premise was the authors wanted to just raise gas taxes - WRONG!
The authors repeatedly said the correct thing was to LOWER other taxes that subsidize cars, while EQUALLY raising auto taxes and other fees to bring driving back into the real world of capitalism - not the Stalinist system we have now that makes urban driving seem two or three times cheaper than it really is.
Then people (especially poor people) face the true cost of driving and parking. They then take cheaper means, such as walking, cycling, car-pooling, tele-commuting, transit, and rail or plane travel - just like they do in Europe.
The end result is people SAVE MONEY - just the opposite of raising taxes. Its called fair capitalism, and its the only thing that works.

Readable but not agreeable.......2001-03-15

I purchased this book in Hardcover from Amazon directly. Several good points are made with the problems of an automotive dependent society (the kid who spent his inheritance modifying a Van), but the solutions offered are simply incorrect or incomplete (the old 'raise gas tax' ruse). The Authors, however, are dead right in their criticism of the corrupt 'traffic engineers' (if you build it, they won't come!) and 'build, build, build!' method of non-smart development. They also are able to dissect the failed solutions of the others, such as "carpool" lanes and others(if they work and are used, they will also have traffic, causing the carpooling parties to drive solo since they have nothing to gain. Ergo, if they work, the fail).

However it is their demand for a "fair" (exorbitant) level of Petrolleum (Gas) taxation that causes them to lose credibility in my eyes. Yes, fuel taxes alone do not cover the cost of building roads, and yes, non-drivers have to 'pay' for the roads. But it is largely irrelevant given that most drivers, especially commuters pay heavy taxation to all levels of government, far more than they receive, even counting road building and maintenance. Furthermore raising petrolleum taxes will increase the cost of shipping goods in trucks from UPS to Supermarket supply vehicles, raising the price on everybody. Also, as much as 80% of all emissions are from COMMERCIAL vehicles (i.e. trucks), not passenger cars.

Whether they like it or not, the Internal Combustion engine has allowed a level of prosperity that horses could have never given us.

3 stars for being long on what's wrong, and short on what to do about it.

The Elephant in the Bedroom: How much is it costing us?.......1999-06-14

The Elephant in the Bedroom is a concise analysis of the automobile as a sugarcoated transportation system that has been sold to our country without any justice given to other transportation systems. One of the key questions brought up by the authors is "How much does the use of the automobile as the primary transportation system actually cost?" The authors bring up the seldom-discussed issue of "Who actually pays for the 'free parking' offered by commercial stores and restaurants?" Other issues discussed include gasoline taxation, political land use, automobile-driven economics, and various inefficiencies related to the current transportation system.

The hidden subsidies that make an automobile a "requirement".......1998-05-05

This is an excellent book that shows how the "highway lobby" (real estate developers, highway construction companies, politicians, trucking companies, automobile manufacturers) has gotten the American taxpayer to subsidize the use of automobiles. Fuel taxes in 1993 (when the book was written) amounted to $0.28 per gallon, while the subsidies (borne by sales and property taxes) are estimated at an additional $3.50 per gallon! The authors go on to show that the subsidies lead inevitably toward insolvency of public transporation systems, which require *further* subsidies from the taxpayers. Many societal ills are shown to be directly or indirectly due to this one fact -- that the *true cost* of operating a vehicle is hidden from the user.

Their solution would make Adam Smith proud: lower the property and/or sales taxes dramatically and raise the fuel tax and cost of parking so that users pay for the services they receive. This would lead to increased ridership on public transportation (to the point where these could once again become private companies instead of publicly supported agencies -- heck, there might be multiple companies *competing* for the privilege of transporting you!)

Book Description

Each year, thousands of tourists visit Mount Mitchell, the most prominent feature of North Carolina's Black Mountain range and the highest peak in the eastern United States. Environmental historian Timothy Silver explores the long and complicated history of this intriguing landscape, drawing on both the historical record and his experience in the Black Mountains as a backpacker and fly fisherman. He chronicles the geological and environmental forces that created the mountains, then traces their history of environmental change and human intervention from the days of Indian-European contact to today.

Among the many tales Silver recounts is that of Elisha Mitchell, the renowned geologist and University of North Carolina professor for whom Mount Mitchell is named, who fell to his death there in 1857. But nature's stories--of forest fires, chestnut blight, competition among plants and animals, insect invasions, and, most recently, airborne toxins and acid rain--are also part of Silver's narrative, making it the first history of the Appalachians in which the natural world gets equal time with human history. It is only by understanding the dynamic between these two forces, Silver says, that we can begin to protect the Black Mountains for future generations.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent read..........2006-04-26

Weaving the history of the Black Mtns with the author's personal diary made this book exceptional. I particularly enjoyed the theory on how mountain balds were formed and how native americans survived and made most of the land. I recommend this book to anyone who hikes or camps and appreciates the mountains.

Mount Mitchell.......2004-11-23

What an excellent book! Timothy Silver has given us a two fold view of Mount Mitchell and the Black Mountains of North Carolina. A combination of the natural history of the area, and man's exploration/exploitation of these lofty peaks. I think what I enjoyed most about the book, were the short "interludes" where the writer inserts his many experiences of car camping, hiking/backpacking, trout fishing, or just marveling at nature while sitting at some well known spot, or some "hidey-hole" known only to people who frequent the area. These personal thoughts heightened my reading pleasure, because like the writer, I have spent a great deal of time in the Blacks and know of what he speaks.

The battle between the Mountain's namesake, the Rev. Elisha Mitchell and his former student, future Confederate general Thomas Clingman about who measured the mountain first, is fleshed out completely, and is probably the definitive account of this famous row.

The end chapters deal with mankind's interventions on the mountain, and the consequences of these acts. This is followed up with concise information about the acid rain/woolly adelgid issues affecting the Fir and Red Spruce trees on the mountain tops, along with some discussion about the growth cycles about the above mentioned trees, which in my opinion, clears up some of the misinformation out there. For years, the problem was blamed on woolly adelgids, then on acid rain. I personally feel like these two scourges work together hand in hand to decimate the once proud Fraser Firs.

This is truly a groundbreaking book. I'd like to see more works that follow this vein. Nicely illustrated.

The Black Mountains and Nature's Inherent Complexity.......2004-08-01

Timothy Silver has given us an excellent history of Mount Mitchell and the Black Mountains.
The work is titled as an environmental history, and it is supported by a wealth of factual information, but the whole presentation is a wonderful flowing story of these peaks in western North Carolina, and their history as they were shaped by nature and by man.
Of special interest is the account of the feud between Elisha Mitchell and Thomas Clingman. The story encompasses misunderstandings, fragile egos, and desperate politics. When Mitchell fell to his death in 1857, the public mind established Mitchell as a hero and martyr who died to establish these peaks as the state's best known landmark. His body was later moved to the higest peak, which is forever known as Mount Mitchell.
We are also able to see the history of man's interaction with nature. In the case of the Blacks, it is often with tragic results, and even when the intentions are good, the outcome is often marginal.
Dr. Silver leaves us with a compelling book that provides much information and asks many questions that we should consider not only for this mountain range, but for our environment as well.
I highly recommend this book. The author has done us a great favor.

Nature meets Culture.......2003-03-01

What a terrific book Timothy Silver has crafted! Anyone interested in mountains, hiking, fishing, environmental issues, natural history, or the local history of North Carolina's mountains will enjoy this wonderful account. Professor Silver, a historian in western North Carolina, has written a book in which Mount Mitchell stars at the center of his narrative--and both general readers and professional historians can find meaning and pleasure in his tale.

Like many environmental historians, Silver sees in the reciprocal interaction between nature and culture a larger story of a region. And he brings us this compelling story from a variety of intriguing angles. He offers his own assessments, ones generated on his extensive hiking and fishing trips in the Black Mountains of western North Carolina. He provides insight into the steamy 19th century historical controversy between rivals each seeking to determine which was the highest peak in the region--and to see who could do it first and most authoritatively. (And as a New Englander, I found the tale inviting even if our White Mountains fall short in elevation to North Carolina's peaks!) Professor Silver also examines logging practices and regional boosterism, the antecedent of eco-tourism.

Book Description

A collection of essays that grew from the authors travels along the folkloric backroads of Appalachia.

Average customer rating:

Very interesting book for industrial ecology and automobile

Industrial Ecology and the Automobile
Thomas E. Graedel , and Braden R. Allenby
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 013607409X

Customer Reviews:

Very interesting book for industrial ecology and automobile.......2000-06-12

This book gives discribes very good how the model of industrial ecology can be used for the automobile.

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