Book Description
This latest installment in the P.I.G. series provides a provocative, entertaining, and well-documented expose of some of the most shamelessly politicized pseudo-science we are likely to see in our relatively cool lifetimes.
Customer Reviews:
Trolls.......2007-10-12
This book is not only false, but completely irresponsible. The people who wrote this book are probably just a bunch of trolls who are in a tizzy because they don't want to give up their SUV's or their money they are earning from oil.
Good Book.......2007-10-01
It's about time someone brought to light the other side of the story. A must read for liberals.
Exceedingly one-sided attempt to suggest warming is beneficial and/or not man-made.......2007-09-23
The issue of global warming has long been in the news. From the perspective of Australia the issue is critical, as rainfall in my home city of Melbourne has declined by forty percent in the past eleven years. Such a decline is totally unparalleled in the 150 years of instrumental record.
At the same time, the northwest of Australia has seen dramatic increases in rainfall ever since the late 1960s, so much so that seven of its eight wettest years (since 1885) have occurred since 1995.
In this context, even though able usually to listen to anybody (actually, I generally dislike moderate views because they tend to be wishy-washy) it is not possible for me to take most of the claims made by Horner seriously.
Horner's contention, basically, is that global warming is either not man-made or will in the long-term benefit human society. As to the first point, he greatly exaggerates the proportion of greenhouse gases that is naturally occurring. For instance, my prior knowledge of science tell me that it impossible that more than minute quantities (like, say, a few grams per year) of sulfur hexafluoride or other exceedingly potent fluorine-containing greenhouse gases could be naturally produced each year. Because there is no natural sink for them, natural production of fluorine-containing greenhouse gases in the quantities asserted by Horner would inevitably turn the Earth into an inferno with temperatures hot enough, say, to melt copper. He also understates the proportion of other greenhouse gases that are man-made, notably carbon dioxide where emissions from combustion are far greater than those from biological decay, fires, volcanoes and oceanic release.
Horner's viewpoints about the extent and effects of global warming are also very poorly done. For instance, he suggests that increases in global temperatures have been due to closures of stations in the Russian Arctic. As a person with knowledge of how mean temperatures for an area are calculated, I know well that is unlikely unless every single station in Arctic Russia was closed (which is not what he says): the few that remain would be always given greater weight owing to the large areas they represent and the closures would not affect the average. Although he rightly asserts that the Southern Hemisphere is warming much less than the Northern, my knowledge of Australian climatology suggests this is almost certainly due to the large increases in rainfall that have occurred not only over pastoral areas of Western Australia but also in similar latitudes of South America. Large increases in rainfall naturally lead to reduced temperatures because it has become much cloudier. For example, 2000, whilst the fifth warmest year on record globally, was one of the coolest on record in pastoral areas of Western Australia owing to general record-breaking annual rainfall. In areas of Australia that have dried out, there has been as much warming as in the Northern Hemisphere.
Horners' idea about the question of "global cooling" is similarly weak. The issue rose form the fact that it was thought upon studying previous glacial-interglacial cycles where 10,000 years of interglacial were followed by 90,000 years of glacial that we were near the end of the Holocene and that the next ice age was due to begin soon. Recent data show that we are moving towards an era of longer - but cooler - interglacials (and relatively shorter, less cold glacial periods).
Horner's other chief thesis is that warming always benefits civilisations. He cites the effects of the Medieval Warm Period upon European civilisation as an example - for instance the settlement of Greenland by the Norse and its ending with cooling and the Little Ice Age. However, there is little evidence that this rule holds in hotter and more fragile environments. For instance, the Hohokam of Arizona declined after reaching a peak in the eighth century just before the Medieval Warm Period, and some Mesoamerican societies also declined from the ninth century, apparently due to climate change. In any case, because many areas that are major agricultural regions today were not farmed in the Middle Ages, comparisons are not possible.
Horner's viewpoint that reducing greenhouse emissions would be immensely costly is also impossible to accept. Government welfare to polluting corporations is extremely large, as are budgets for building utterly unnecessary freeways. These could easily be completely redirected to supporting renewable energy and public transit at great benefit to everybody except some exceedingly powerful vested interests in car and fossil fuel corporations. Although Horner is actually right in saying the US' per capita emissions show greater decline than Europe's, the difference is not significant and if it reflects anything at all, it is probably the greater willingness of Americans to accept less comfortable lifestyles.
The way in which Horner accepts only the evidence that suits his viewpoints is really the worst kind of science you will ever see. It recurs time and time against throughout this book and for this reason alone I would not recommend "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming".
What the media won't tell you about this farce called globla warming.......2007-09-22
This book covers all the stuff you need to know to become informed about so called global warming. Yes the climate does change but it is cyclic not due to man made causes!!!! The powers that be that worship this religion are only in it to pick your pockets and gain power!!!
It is a fallacy that man is causing this to the degree that the greens and the great Goreacle want you to believe.
Read this and become informed to put to rest the misinformation that they want you to believe.
Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming is Well Written.......2007-09-22
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming answers the unscientific and alarmist notions by Al Gore and the environmentalists. The book proposes reasoned thought instead of arm-waving and rhetoric. It proposes that no science is "settled" and everything is still open to question and should be studied in order to improve the human condition. The human condition can be improved by studying the previous history of the planet,finding out how the environment changed and adapted through time and various challenges. Tne human condition cannot be improved by adopting some apocalyptic measures thought out at 2 A.M. and not reexamined in the light of day.
Book Description
Singer and Avery present in popular language supported by in-depth scientific evidence the compelling concept that global temperatures have been rising mostly or entirely because of a natural cycle. Unstoppable Global Warming explains why we're warming, why it's not very dangerous, and why we can't stop it anyway.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-10-17
Fred Singer tells it like it is. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for the facts of global warming rather than the hype.
Singer is truly a gem.
Enjoyable Read.......2007-10-16
Back in the late 70's when I was in college, I started out majoring in Environmental Earth Science. Before coming to my senses and switching to something more practical, one of the things I remember (besides those endless field trips measuring pollution levels in streams) was all of the talk about the impending next ice age.
Several pleasant decades of ignorance followed. In the last few years, I started comparing my recollections of those convincing lecturers with the human-powered global warming alarmists, now in fashion.
Funny how similar and tenuous their arguments seem to me.
Now about the book... As a non-scientist with a good grasp of the scientific method as well as physical processes, I found this an enjoyable, disciplined and methodic counterpoint to the Oscar-winning slideshow-think in the popular news outlets.
Unstoppable Global Warming - Singer and Avery .......2007-10-03
This is an excellent book that answers real questions and concerns about global warming. It counters the "sky is falling" syndrome propagated by those who do not know the real facts or insights related to the warming trends. The book focuses on adapting to a common cyclical environmental event versus approaches that are a waste of time trying to stop the warming. Overall the book is well written but is somewhat academic. There is a detailed effort to outline the warming trend with factual information and details. Is well worth the read.
A Must Read.......2007-10-02
Singer and Avery offered a well documented, heavily researched, and easily read analysis of the global warming issue.
Their conclusion: Yes, the earth is currently warming, however so slightly. No, man is not the cause of this warming. Rather, it is dependent upon 1,500 year climate cycles embedded within larger ice-age and non-ice-age shifts (which take millions of years, according to the authors). All of which is dependent upon the amount of the sun's radiance hitting the earth, which in turn varies upon the amount of solar winds intercepting said radiation. (Note: this is the summary of a layman, and is dramatically over simplistic.) This is supported by the analysis of literally hundreds of studies.
Accompanying the scientific support of the 1,500 year cycle and refutation of the greenhouse gas theory, Singer and Avery include a poignant and absolutely necessary look at the implications of acting upon the greenhouse gas theory. Truth in this issue is not a matter of simply proving one's point, of social/political standing, or of a voting platform, but one of life and death importance.
This being a heavily scientific book, perhaps "easily read" was an exaggeration. Rather, "well written" would suitably describe this readable, yet challenging book.
The authors, while being experts in the field of global climate studies, are not devoid of a sense of humor, one at which greenhouse gas theorists would certainly take issue.
The Amazon reviewer Crosslands sums up my personal opinion of this work well:
Pseudoscientists and others with a vested interest in controlling the global economy by use of the global warming hoax will not like this work. However informed readers concerned with human welfare and human progress will find this book invaluable. This book should be read by all Amercians and really by everone else in the world.
Global Warming Evaluation with Documentation.......2007-09-22
I have read this book thoroughly and enjoyed it very much. I was very impressed with the breadth, depth and documentation included with the book and range of topics presented by the authors. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in assessing the true status of the "Global Warming" Hypothesis.
Dr. James F. Howard, Ph.D.
Geo and Environmental Sciences
Product Description
An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
Customer Reviews:
Incedibly Riveting, Powerful Warning!.......2007-10-15
I came here to write a review and was surprised to see some of the negative comments, especially those written in the style of an elementary school student. Al Gore has written an incredibly revealing look into what lies before us if we leave things the the way they are and ignore the majority of reputable scientists who have the same predictions that Gore espouses. Any idiot can see that the pace of damage that we are experiencing now in the environment cannot be equated to any other time in history. The pictures in Gore's book are not fake. He is not the only one who discusses the issue of future loss of land due to the rising waters. The biggest problem for him is that being involved in politics unfortunately invites those who are on the other side of the aisle to criticize him, even when they know he's right. It's an infantile attitude - one that may very well be responsible for the ultimate destruction of our world as we know it. Next, they will be attacking the Nobel Prize Committee for giving their award to Gore. He well deserves it for his hard work and worthy work. Shame on those who find the need to put their childishly damning comments on here. It reveals so much more about them than it does about Gore.
All fluff, no content.......2007-10-14
There is a great deal of fluff and hysteria, accompanied by lots of heatstring-jerking pictures, in this book. Unfortunately, there is no useful/factual content: the only relevant graph amounts to a prime example for the book "How To Lie With Statistics".
Essential facts which Gore ignores and which destroys his case: (1) the long-term change feared is just one degree per _century_, (2) carbon dioxide is plant food, and (3) climate changes - cope.
SO..... what caused the Mini-ice-age of 1250-1850?.......2007-10-14
Between the years 1250-1850, the earth experienced a Mini Ice Age that froze-over rivers, destroyed England's wine industry, and nearly starved Europe (until they discovered how to use potatoes for nourishment). Al Gore admits in this book, "I don't know."
And that's the fundamental problem.
How can scientists claim, "We can predict future weather", when they don't even know how to explain the past weather events? They know there was a Mini Ice Age, they know the effects it had on humanity, but they don't know WHY it happened. The scientists don't know.
Until scientists learn to explain past Climate Changes,
they shouldn't be making guesses about the future.
One more example of religious fundamentalism and its not Christian or Muslim.......2007-10-14
Wind farms covering the great plains, how many birds do you want to kill, oh come on already! More corn farming driving up food prices. Solar cells that produce more toxic waste in manufacture than the petroleum products they deplore. And the only solution, nuclear power, buried in the fine print. Truly these people are loony , there are conspiracies everywhere, and I have to buy a rowboat now so I can get to Wall Street in few years. Please, 500 years ago the Thames was frozen over. Get a grip, give Al a pill, and remainder this nonsense.
An Incoherent Crock.......2007-10-13
What is important to remember above all else is that Al Gore is a politician and a journalist. He is decidedly NOT a scientist. In short, he is not even remotely qualified to be discussing the science behind global warming. Well, I suppose he's qualified to give a lecture to the average 3rd grade class, but that's about it.
So how do we explain the fact that so many gushing, starry-eyed brethren embrace Gore as some kind of prophet of global warming? More than anything, I suspect it is a reflection of just how incredibly ignorant and naive the American people are. Remember, a British court has ruled that his book is riddled with factual errors (and it is likely worse than the court's ruling). It is a real life manifestation of P.T. Barnum's famous dictum that "A sucker is born every minute."
Our society needs to stop equating fame with expertise. Gore is a famous politician, and his true expertise is as a con man. The scientific arena is the last place he either understands or belongs.
I suspect that in 25 years time the expression "the sky is falling" will pass out of vogue, to be replaced by "that's an inconvenient truth."
I wish I could have rated this piece of scat zero stars.
Amazon.com
Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process. Cradle to Cradle is a refreshing change from the intractable environmental conflicts that dominate headlines. It's a handbook for 21st-century innovation and should be required reading for business hotshots and environmental activists. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
A manifesto for a radically different philosophy and practice of manufacture and environmentalism
"Reduce, reuse, recycle" urge environmentalists; in other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. As William McDonough and Michael Braungart argue in their provocative, visionary book, however, this approach perpetuates a one-way, "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that dates to the Industrial Revolution and casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. Why not challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably damage the natural world, they ask.
In fact, why not take nature itself as our model? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we do not consider its abundance wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly effective; hence, "waste equals food" is the first principle the book sets forth. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new-either as "biological nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles, without being "downcycled" into low-grade uses (as most "recyclables" now are).
Elaborating their principles from experience (re)designing everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, the authors make an exciting and viable case for change.
Customer Reviews:
Required reading.......2007-10-11
This book should be required reading by all CEOs, and all engineering, architecture and design students. (I read it as a class assignment in Sustainable Interior Design). The author dismisses the idea that "ecological" has to equal "sacrifice" and points out that our problems will require more than band-aid type fixes. He proposes a radical rethinking of the way we approach design and manufacturing and backs it up with rational thought and real world examples. Despite its heft (literally, it weighs a ton because of the unusual paper stock), it's not a "heavy" read. It's very engaging and thought provoking. Highly recommended.
Additional recommendations: watch the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car"
Great bookI.......2007-10-09
I'm a student so it's really hard for me to find time to read books that aren't required for a class. No time! Anyway, great book, easy to read and compelling ideas. Definitely recommended.
A pleasant read.......2007-09-24
Definitely would recommend this to anyone who would like to learn about how societies will/should change to conform to the processes of nature. Significant change need to occur to shape a planet where humans can survive for a longer duration (than the current forecast). This means alleviating environmental threats that were initially caused by our own doing.
A must for anyone developing products.......2007-09-19
This book put a new light on the manufacturing process. I am currently studying to be an engineer, and upon reading this book, I feel I have gained important insight into how to ethically create products. The focus of the book is to show that being "less bad", as the current way of thinking promotes, is not the right mentality to have. Instead the book proposes that products need to be looked at in a renewable sense, that is, how can it be completely reused to make something new when its useful life has been spent (hence Cradle to Cradle and not Cradle to Grave). I found the book to be very inspirational and look forward to applying its ideas in my career.
2107: "You People Lived in Filth!" - A sort of book review of Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart's Cradle to Cradle.......2007-08-18
One hundred years isn't a long time. Yet, in the last one hundred years we can account for radical changes in the expectations that we - in the West at least - have concerning the standards of the food we eat and the conditions that we live in. We readily expect that our waste will neatly leave our homes, our malls, our schools, workplaces, and public spots en route to some place where it disappears from sight and smell forever. In fact, we rarely think about whether our waste ends up burnt, buried, or recycled, nor whether the food we dine on is thoroughly inspected and safe. We can think back to 1907 as a period in which there was nothing in the way of food safety standards (though a movement in that direction was initiated as a result of Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle, which was published that same year). Nor was there any notion of labor rights, environmental protection, and many of the sanitation procedures that we often take for granted nowadays.
Looking back through history ever further, to the crowded city streets of Paris, London, or Rome in the 17th and 18th century, reveals a more distasteful reality of how people lived. The blood of slaughtered animals, along with human excrement and other waste flowed through the sewers of these magnificent cities. "How did people live like this?" we might wonder. We shutter to think about living in such conditions, which allowed for the rapid spread of pestilence and sickness, not to mention unthinkable stench. While this may still be the experience of too many in the developing world, a signal of the progress and greatness of the modernized West has been our ability to escape the condition of living in our own waste.
Yet I've wondered recently how those living in 2107 will look upon the collective condition of the world as it stands today? Will they think that we live in filth? Despite the fact that we can split atoms, fly space crafts around the solar system, cure many illnesses, make electricity from the sun's rays, and communicate with each other in a myriad of digital ways, I wonder if they will ask why we still chose to live in our waste? I think that they will find it extremely perplexing that a society as developed as ours, who has the self awareness and knowledge about the harm that we inflict on ourselves and for posterity - not to mention the multitude of living systems that we are embedded in - refused to develop a different course for humanity.
When I say that we live in filth I mean that we continue to choke on unsafe air from the cars we drive and the outdated and dangerous ways that we engage in mass industrialization. I mean that we continue to produce millions and millions of consumable products made from an array of unsafe chemicals that we know little about and which we simply burn or bury after we use them one or two times. I find it so perplexing that industry continues to spends so much time and energy developing products that will only be used for a small fraction of time by consumers, yet will spend hundreds of years in landfills (I'm thinking especially of the enormous amount of plastic packaging that most products come in, only to be discarded immediately).
We dump many of the items that we have no more use for into ever expanding landfills that are getting closer and closer to the places we live and the sources of water we eventually come to drink. We are, in effect, living in our own waste. We put zero amount of effort into thinking of ways to design the same products that we rely on daily so that they are not harmful for humans or the environments in which we live. Scratch that, we have the technology and the know how for making safer and better products, however we lack leaders (both political & business) with the will, courage, and vision to bring humanity into the next industrial revolution. The first industrial revolution centered on extracting resources from the Earth (with little thought of replacing them) and putting these resources through production processes that have amounted to harming both human and non-human life for many years to come. The next industrial revolution will be about reengineering the production of consumer goods so that the stuff we make is in accordance with our natural environment. It will be about plastics that are biodegradable and the eradication of materials that are not. It will be about more intelligent approaches to designing buildings, which will utilize natural light, wind patterns, and the surrounding ecosphere to produce happier places to work and live, and which no longer rely on burning fossil fuels for cooling, heating, and sanitation. It will be about re-conceptualizing how we design, plan, and imagine the cities that most of humanity has come to chose to live in.
I'm currently drinking a soda out of a plastic bottle made from polymers derived from petroleum. This bottle, which not only is derived from the most contested resource of our time (though clean water is quickly taking its place) will be intact for those living in 2107 to view and touch as an artifact of an era which may be known in the future as one of reckless disregard, ignorance, and waste. Even the popular notion of recycling many of the products that we use only serves to slow down the rate in which we are harming ourselves. Recycling for many products is really a process of downcycling - a term coined by Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart in their book Cradle to Cradle. The process of recycling a product essentially causes it to loose its quality each time it is put through the recycling process (assuming that individuals keep recycling each new plastic reincarnate). Even though I will recycle this bottle, and it will become another plastic product again, it will eventually have to be disregarded after going through a few recycles. Alas, we are really just slowing down the rate by which synthetics eventually reach our waste graveyards or incinerators. In addition, while it is thought to be a socially responsible activity, the process of recycling releases into the atmosphere dangerous toxins emitted by the burning of plastics during the recycling process.
What is radically different about the world from 1907, or 17th century European cities, is that we fully understand the consequences of continuing down the path we are on. Furthermore, we have the knowledge and creative ideas of how to alter that path. What we lack, sadly, is the will to cause massive social change in how we consume and live. McDonough and Braungart's text urges product designers, city planners, and architects to approach their designs with the future of humanity in mind. Interestingly, they are not saying that we need to save the planet, for the planet will still be here long after homo sapiens has expired. Their message is that we need to save ourselves from the harm we are inflicting on ourselves. Their cradle-to-cradle philosophy urges designers to make products that can easily be disassembled after their use and put back into the production cycle as something else. In this sense, products should have an immense shelf life, being able to become that same product again or easily transformed into some other consumer product. The idea is to rid ourselves of the current approach to production which is based on a cradle-to-grave approach: extract resources from the Earth to make consumer products which are then discarded (thrown away) into landfills or burnt up in incinerators, expelling unknown synthetic chemicals into the ecosphere which we rely on for life.
It's time for us to recognize that the approach to mass production and living brought on by the industrial revolution is antiquated. If anything, it's insulting that humanity has yet to update itself from what seems to be such an archaic paradigm of not only how we make things, but what are relationship ought to be with the multitude of living systems that we are embedded in. All other living species exist in an interdependent cyclical system in which their "wastes equals food" for some other set of beings. It's high time that we apply this age old and ubiquitous principle to how we manufacture and produce all the things that we need to live as well.
Average customer rating:
- Workbook - Environmental Science
- Highly disappointing
- Interestign articles with a thick political spin
- One of the Best
- Making environmental science relevant
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Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future (9th Edition)
Richard T. Wright
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ASIN: 0131442007 |
Book Description
This classic book explores the interactions of humans within the natural environment and probes issues thoroughly, examining their scientific basis, history, and society's response. Strong science, sustainability, and stewardship of Earth remain the underlying themes. Accompanies each copy of the book with the new Global City CD, built around the concepts of a large city that shows many of the environmental problems presented in the book. Includes an extensively revised layout and design. Keeps readers abreast of the latest developments or most pressing issues in the field, such as Global Climate Change. Offers "Environment on the Web" exercises that help readers access additional information on the Internet; important Web references are keyed to each chapter. An interesting reference for anyone interested in learning more about today's crucial environmental issues.
Customer Reviews:
Workbook - Environmental Science.......2007-08-21
It is a workbook and not what I was attempting to order. I expected a reading/learning media. This is only for use in classroom setting.
Highly disappointing.......2006-08-05
While the class I took that used this textbook was informative, this book was full of what seemed to be the authors' personal opinons. Like another person said here in the reviews about blame on the Bush administration, and lack of references aside from photo credits, this book seemed to be geared more towards giving you the biased outlook of the author than an unbiased view of environmental science.
I agree that this book is not fit for a college textbook, or any other type of education.
Interestign articles with a thick political spin.......2006-04-27
This revision must have been specially produced just to include all the anti-Bush rhetoric. In nearly every chapter, responsibility for the current state of the environment is laid squarly on President Bush's administration.
In addition, there are no references given for any of the information presented in the book. As a student, we are expected to take this author's word for it that everything he has presented is true and accurate, and that he is simply a repository for all of this accurate information. In fact, the lack of references is absolutely striking when you consider this is a textbook that is supposedly presenting facts. The only references given are those for photo credits.
Unfit as a college textbook.
One of the Best.......2005-08-16
This is one of the most readable environmental texts I've seen.
It is very comprehnsive and the coverage of the newest scientific results in the science of resource conservation is simply excellent. The content is oriented around a group of themes and applied to the concept of ecosystems and their management. Is almost as if the author has takrn the first halting steps toward a unified environmental theory.
Two negative points though. Coverage of forest resources is a little thin, and like most textbooks, the price is way too high.
Making environmental science relevant.......2004-11-28
Professor Richard Wright has succeeded where so many others have failed, by creating a textbook that makes the subject of environmental science relevant. After all, most students taking a course that uses this book are doing so because it's required, rather than as an elective.
As an adjunct professor of environmental science at Endicott College, I have reviewed many textbooks for possible use in introductory courses. This one is a standout, and based on feedback from students over the past four years, they, too, agree.
The text is easy to read, and enhanced by many graphs, charts and photographs.
David Liscio, adjunct professor, Endicott College, Beverly, MA
Customer Reviews:
Great Environmental Chem Text.......2000-06-20
I took a web-based environmental chem course, and this book was used in lieu of lectures. The author does an outstanding job of presentation and the text is very well-organized. Includes a lot of current information. The problems within the text are very challenging and reflect real world issues (i.e., PCB concentrations in the Great Lakes) My only criticism is that the chapters are sometimes overly long. Other than that, this is one of the best E-chem texts I've come up against, and I certainly learned more from it than I would have from listening to a prof lecturing for a term. Recommended highly!
Good presentation of a broad topic........1999-01-07
I am also a chemistry student and I found the book to be rather easy, but that is because the text is very clearly written with good presentation and concise wording. It is certainly a good place to start in trying to understand an environmental problem, especially if the readers background in chemistry is only on a general and limited organic level.
Informative, easy to understand.......1998-08-24
Environmetal chemistry is a very helpful book for studensts in environmental chemistry studies. But as a pure chemistry student i find some parts of the book too easy, even boring at times, specially the chapters on organic environmental chemistry.On the other hand the chapters on physical environmental chemistry are very good and contain challenging problems.
Book Description
Worldchanging is poised to be the Whole Earth Catalog for this millennium. Written by leading new thinkers who believe that the means for building a better future lie all around us, Worldchanging is packed with the information, resources, reviews, and ideas that give readers the tools they need to make a difference. Brought together by Alex Steffen, co-founder of the popular and award-winning web site Worldchanging.com, this team of top-notch writers includes Cameron Sinclair, founder of Architecture for Humanity, Geekcorps founder Ethan Zuckerman, sustainable food expert Anna Lappé, and many others. Renowned designer Stefan Sagmeister brings his extraordinary talents to Worldchanging, resulting in a book that will challenge readers to personally redefine the conversation about the future.
Each chapter offers readers new answers to key questions, such as:
Why does buying locally produced food make sense?
What steps can I take to influence my workplace toward sustainability?
How do I volunteer, advocate, and give more effectively?
From eco-building to responsible shopping, political action to humanitarian relief, Worldchanging
puts the power to solve problems into the readerÂ's hands.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting but not what I expected.......2007-09-14
This is more like an encyclopedia than "a users guide for the 21st century". The hefty volume includes hundreds of short topical articles on lots of different things but doesn't go into a lot of detail on any. I was hoping for more practical examples of things I could do to survive in a changing world but was disappointed. For example, there is a section on Green Rooftops. You would think that a "users guide" might give you practical advice on creating one. Instead it talks about how they are great for saving energy and creating gardens. Okay... I get that and I agree but maybe a little more info please?
All and all the writing is good and it does cover a lot of topics I just think that the description when buying it leads one to believe there is a bit more depth than there actually is.
This book could change your world.......2007-08-29
This publication is worth it's weight in something quite valuable. It provides a mass of information on all sorts of subjects relating to changing your outlook and how to live within the planets available resources. It has some surprisingly useful tips on things like how to make a small apartment look and feel big by using great space saving ideas; how to use less of the planets scarce resources in many ways.
My only beef is that it looks like a self published volume and so lacks gravitas somehow. For example it does not have any information on the inner fly page about the book, such as year of publication, publisher, ISBN Number, and other essential info. Another problem I found was actually finding some of the reference works in the text. Not enough info to enable the reader to trace sources adequately.
I found it very difficult for example to find the publisher of one work I was interested in. Google hadn't even heard of the publisher. I did find them and the book eventually but had to try very hard and boy, was it obscure.
Even though the jacket and outer are quite attractive, they reek of self-publishing. This is not good for the image of a book on such an important subject.
Sorry chaps, only 6 out of 10 from me.
Good reference.......2007-07-15
Some info is out of date and biased, ie article on Vancouver (my home town). Lots is covered, not in much depth but there are lots of references for further reading. Would be a great addition to everyone's reference section.
brilliant!.......2007-07-12
For a "users guide" I actually expected something more "portable"... its brilliant in its content and design!!
A smart and inclusive book, really recommendable! .......2007-07-03
The book contains small articles about everything between heaven and earth all within the envionmental scope of interest. You find your self reading it, flipping through the pages wanting more info...A fun concept between an excellent encyclopedia, interesting facts book and a nice coffee table book. Only con might be the size, making it a bit bulky to read for more than a short while...
Book Description
Biology: Concepts and Connections invites readers into the world of biology with a new revision of this best-selling text. It is known for scientific accuracy and currency; a modular presentation that helps readers to focus on the main concepts; and art that teaches better than any other book.
Biology: Exploring Life, THE LIFE OF THE CELL, The Chemical Basis of Life, The Molecules of Cells, A Tour of the Cell, The Working Cell, How Cells Harvest Chemical Energy, Photosynthesis: Using Light to Make Food, CELLULAR REPRODUCTION AND GENETICS, The Cellular Basis of Reproduction and Inheritance, Patterns of Inheritance, Molecular Biology of the Gene, The Control of Gene Expression, DNA Technology and Genomics, CONCEPTS OF EVOLUTION, How Populations Evolve, The Origin of Species, Tracing Evolutionary History, THE EVOLUTION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, The Origin and Evolution of Microbial Life: Prokaryotes and Protists, Plants, Fungi, and the Colonization of Land, The Evolution of Animal Diversity, Human Evolution, ANIMALS: FORM AND FUNCTION, Unifying Concepts of Animal Structure and Function, Nutrition and Digestion, Gas Exchange, Circulation, The Immune System, Control of the Internal Environment, Chemical Regulation, Reproduction and Embryonic Development, Nervous Systems, The Senses, How Animals Move, PLANTS: FORM AND FUNCTION, Plant Structure, Reproduction, and Development, Plant Nutrition and Transport, Control Systems in Plants, ECOLOGY, The Biosphere: An Introduction to Earth's Diverse Environments, Behavioral Adaptations to the Environment, Population Dynamics, Communities and Ecosystems, Conservation Biology
For all readers interested in the world of biology.
Customer Reviews:
Good introductory biology text.......2007-08-24
This is a great text for anyone taking an introductory college-level biology course. The writing style is simple and easy to understand, unlike many other science textbooks. Despite being very easy to read, it contains a good amount of information.
Biology: concepts and connections with student cm-rom 5th.......2007-02-11
Excellent service and perfect condition, bought brand new. Will buy again and again...
Above and Beyond Other Textbooks.......2007-01-17
This is a fabulous textbook. The descriptions are clear and there is always a picture following in case you are a visual learner. The greatest thing about this book is that it provides so many ways to study. The book has a website and a CD rom, where you can read the book, do very helpful activities, hear MP3 tutor sessions with the author and more. If you don't understand something, there are so many ways to study it, that it won't take long before you will.
What a Savings!!!.......2006-11-23
When I first purchased this book from my school bookstore, I gulped after looking at their price tag over $130. After returning it and purchansing a used copy from Amazon, I couldn't believe the condition that it was in. It was "like new" just the way my seller claimed it to be.
I feel educated every time I use this book..........2006-03-11
This is a great book!! I'm an English Lit. major and wanted to focus a bit on science and got myself this book. It's so wonderfully written! It explains very clearly and it has a CD-rom with excercises. Even if you're not taking an intro-biology course this book is useful and easy to use for self study. The book is devided into theme chapters and covers about everything you can think of in the natural world. It's no doubt a very good introduction to further study in biology. I feel educated every time I use this book!
I'd give more than 5 stars if that was possible.
Book Description
Continuing its proud heritage, this Tenth Edition provides thorough coverage of the latest in the theory and practice of environmental control system design. This bestselling book encompasses mechanical and electrical systems for buildings of all sizes, featuring design guidelines and detailed design procedures for every topic covered and supported by more than 2,200 illustrations—over 225 new to this edition!
Customer Reviews:
Informative.......2007-04-08
This book was used as a text for two of my classes in my third year of architecture schooling. It is extremely useful, with lots of descriptions and helps you to understand more than just the structure of the building. Lighting, plumbing, all the different systems, etc. It has been very useful and I recommend it as a great reference.
Very very very thick - but truly worth owning !.......2007-01-31
I came across this book preparing Architectural Registration Exam (ARE).
I have to say that this book is an essential for architects
who are preparing MEP (Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing)section of the ARE.
The book is divided into basically nine sections.
1. design context
2. thermal comfort
3. illumination
4. acoustics
5. water/waste
6. fire protection
7. electricity
8. signal equipment
9. transportation
It describes various systems of each section with pretty
accessible narrative.
Abundance in graphics and diagrams is very helpful.
The book is extremely helpful in understanding where each
kit of parts fit into the overall building systems.
For instance, I heard about AHUs/ cooling towers/ refrigeration
cycle/ boilers/ duct systems/ etc. , but I never knew how
they fit and interconnect to one and another. The book, being
encyclopedic in its contents, really helps to overcome that.
The book also pays particular attention to the "sustainable"
agendas and strategies.
Mechanical and Electrical Systems/ Buildings.......2007-01-04
I was searching for a good general description of central plants. The impending installation of 1000 ton chillers, cooling towers, electrical conversion to primary service, multiple emergency generators, paralleling gear, etc. This book didn't fit the bill. The 9 pages on central plants for HVAC were a disappointment. From the title , I expected more on MEP and didn't expect the book to be more about illumination, color,acoustics etc. My fault, not the book.
Weighty tome shows how engineering intersects architecture.......2006-07-16
This almost 1800 page treatise on mechanical and electrical design as it relates to architecture is one of a kind. It is not an artistic book on the subject, although some artistic ability is always needed in any aspect of building design. Instead it is a very technical book that shows how the architect must be part electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, electrician, physicist, plumber, safety specialist, and transportation engineer in order to design the modern building. And to top it all off, you need to be knowledgable of current mechanical and electrical equipment - their specifications and their costs.
The book has plenty of examples with step by step instructions on how to perform various subtasks. Many of these examples contain numerical calculations, so it will help if you have had freshman engineering physics, especially in the sections on illumination, acoustics, and electricity where calculations, tables, and equations abound.
The book is broken into nine parts encompassing nearly every technical decision involved in designing a modern building. The first section is an introductory one on the context of design. That is followed by sections on thermal control, illumination, acoustics, water and waste, fire protection, electricity, signal systems, and finally in-building transportation. A lengthy appendix contains a great deal of supplemental information, including climate data for various parts of the United States, solar geometry, sound transmission data, and a listing of software that can be helpful in performing the tasks discussed in this book, and how that software can be obtained.
I highly recommend this book to aspiring architects and also to civil engineers that are interested in the construction of modern buildings. It's been the flagship book on the subject for seventy years in its various editions, and probably will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.
Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings.......2006-07-04
Excellent. The best book I have seen on the subject.
Amazon.com
Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is the glass-half-empty follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. While Guns, Germs, and Steel explained the geographic and environmental reasons why some human populations have flourished, Collapse uses the same factors to examine why ancient societies, including the Anasazi of the American Southwest and the Viking colonies of Greenland, as well as modern ones such as Rwanda, have fallen apart. Not every collapse has an environmental origin, but an eco-meltdown is often the main catalyst, he argues, particularly when combined with society's response to (or disregard for) the coming disaster. Still, right from the outset of Collapse, the author makes clear that this is not a mere environmentalist's diatribe. He begins by setting the book's main question in the small communities of present-day Montana as they face a decline in living standards and a depletion of natural resources. Once-vital mines now leak toxins into the soil, while prion diseases infect some deer and elk and older hydroelectric dams have become decrepit. On all these issues, and particularly with the hot-button topic of logging and wildfires, Diamond writes with equanimity.
Because he's addressing such significant issues within a vast span of time, Diamond can occasionally speak too briefly and assume too much, and at times his shorthand remarks may cause careful readers to raise an eyebrow. But in general, Diamond provides fine and well-reasoned historical examples, making the case that many times, economic and environmental concerns are one and the same. With Collapse, Diamond hopes to jog our collective memory to keep us from falling for false analogies or forgetting prior experiences, and thereby save us from potential devastations to come. While it might seem a stretch to use medieval Greenland and the Maya to convince a skeptic about the seriousness of global warming, it's exactly this type of cross-referencing that makes Collapse so compelling. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Book Description
In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond brilliantly examined the circumstances that allowed Western civilizations to dominate much of the world. Now he probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to fall into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from Easter Island and the Maya to Viking Greenland and modern Montana, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of environmental catastrophe—one whose warning signs can be seen in our modern world and that we ignore at our peril. Blending the most recent scientific advances into a narrative that is impossible to put down, Collapse exposes the deepest mysteries of the past even as it offers hope for the future.
“DiamondÂ's most influential gift may be his ability to write about geopolitical and environmental systems in ways that donÂ't just educate and provoke, but entertain.” —The Seattle Times
“Extremely persuasive . . . replete with fascinating stories, a treasure trove of historical anecdotes [and] haunting statistics.” —The Boston Globe
“Extraordinary in erudition and originality, compelling in [its] ability to relate the digitized pandemonium of the present to the hushed agrarian sunrises of the far past.” —The New York Times Book Review
Customer Reviews:
Collapse.......2007-10-17
The author did research into the ancient societies to come up with some lessons for our own future. Very interesting reading.
A Life-Changing Book.......2007-10-13
This extraordinary book will change the way you look at life and man's fate. Unlike Al Gore, Diamond deliberately under-argues his case, which makes it all the more compelling. And unlike Gore, he does not open himself to easy and cheap criticism by focusing on just one factor like climactic warming. He clearly believes in global warming from man-made effects. But what he demonstrates is the full range of our environmental quandary.
Putting aside global warming, how do we deal with the inherent limits on absolutely vital commodities -- sunlight, fossil fuels, fresh water,building materials, clean air, clean water, good land, the productive value of agricultural land? Then he shows the pressure of and irreversible momentum of population growth and the ambition of third world peoples to achieve the standard of living of first world peoples. Then he shows how even the first world cannot continue to sustain that standard.
Combined with this are the examples of past civlizations that failed by not solving their environmental problems. Most chilling is how those societies could remain in denial and do nothing until too late.
Diamond does include examples of successful societies that managed their environmental challenges. And he professes to be an optimist. But I find myself increasingly pessimistic about man's fate after reading this book. The Earth is a jealous mistress, and we cannot afford to take her for granted and to ignore the fragility of the environment and resources on which we depend.
The book is also extraordinary for its exploration of political and cultural issues. One of the most interesting chapters is his comparison of the Dominican Republic and Haiti -- two very different societies on two halves of the same island. He argues quite convincingly that the very different fates of the two societies are attributable to political, historical, and cultural developments. Though there are some differences between each half of the island, each is blessed with the same essential environment. Hence this is a great test case for proving or disproving environmental determinism -- and Diamond comes out against determinism.
Similarly compelling is the Rwanda chapter, which demonstrates that while the small differences and petty resentments between races can be the spark for genocidal conflict, race really doesn't explain the conflict. What explains the conflict is political manipulation of race and the great pressure asserted by declining wealth and resource limitations.
Diamond predicts that wars may well become more common in the new century given the competition for resources. This is a depressing observation for those who hoped that the lessons of the Twentieth Century would make wars far less common.
This is a terrific book and a must-read.
Brilliant. Engaging. Informative.........2007-10-01
Amazing book. He manages to hold my interest while providing a wealth of facts.
Mostly on the mark.......2007-09-28
Diamond hits pretty much on the mark all the way across the board. Weakness: for the most part ignores or minimizes the effect of marketing/advertising/propaganda on human consumption patterns. Strengths: one of the few books on this broad subject that actually deals with over-population; indeed, had he concentrated more on this one most important issue, I would have given "Collapse" 5 stars.
I would strongly recommend this book for anyone concerned with the future of the human race.
Collapse review.......2007-09-24
Another excellent book. I realized when I bought this book that I own and have enjoyed all of Jared Diamond's books. His topics and hypostheses are fascinating and compelling.
Books:
- The Smoke Jumper
- The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise
- The Year in Trees: Superb Woody Plants for Four-Season Gardens
- Track of the Cat
- Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope--and How to Find Them
- Walking Home: A Woman's Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail
- Wetlands
- Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
- Wildlife Study Design
- YOU: The Owner's Manual: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger
Books Index
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