Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before

Book Description

A visual odyssey that will change the way we see our planet, this remarkable book, companion to the acclaimed Discovery Channel/ BBC series, is an enduring and awe-inspiring record of one of the most ambitious natural history projects ever undertaken. Using the latest aerial surveillance, state-of-the-art cameras, and high definition technology, the creators of Planet Earth have assembled more than 400 stunning photographs of wondrous natural landscapes from around the globe, including incredible footage of the rarely spotted, almost mythical creatures that live in these habitats. Many of the images reveal inaccessible places that few have seen and record animal behavior that has never been filmed or photographed before. With the help of this highly advanced technology and the world's premier wildlife photographers, the book takes us on a spectacular journey from the world's greatest rivers and impressive gorges, to its mightiest mountains, hidden caves and caverns, and vast deserts. Planet Earth captures breathtaking sequences of predators and their prey, lush vistas of forests viewed from the tops of towering trees, the oceans and their mysterious creatures viewed from beneath the surface, and much more--in a magnificent adventure that brings unknown wonders of the natural world into our living rooms.
Copub: BBC Worldwide Americas

Customer Reviews:

Planet Earth........2007-08-14

Wow!!! my 8 year old loves this DVD. Very interesting to watch. Does have some parts that my 8 year old has a trouble watching, this is the section of life and death in the food chain. Otherwise highly recommended, in HD DVD is Awesome....

Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before.......2007-08-10

I have not had a chance to even break the seal on this new book as yet. I skimmed this book at a bookstore, and then decided to buy it. If you saw the mini-series on Discovery or Animal Planet, you will be impressed with this book as well. For those with children, this book is a must.

A Great Coffee Table Book.......2007-08-04

A great companion book to the dvd series.

magnificent.......2007-07-30

Amazing photos and wonderous facts regarding everything imaginable to the unusual. Our family has enjoyed this educational and spellbinding photography.

Glorious.......2007-07-27

Beautifully photographed and informational, this book should be on every nature lover's shelf. The "Planet Earth" series, which I watch weekly on Animal Planet, is even more jaw-dropping. I thank the generous and unbelievably courageous people who have the cojones to make this possible!

Julie Townsend
Metairie, LA

Average customer rating:

Excellent beginner book for geology.
As a text book, it's decent!
It is wonderfull !

Earth System History
Steven M. Stanley
Manufacturer: W. H. Freeman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0716739070
Release Date: 2004-10-29

Customer Reviews:

Excellent beginner book for geology........2006-01-19

This book covers general geology and the fundamentals of earth processes and paleontology. From earthquakes to evolution, this book gives at least a superficial and fundamental view of each major topic. The images and diagrams are by far the most impressive part of this book. Full color diagrams, photos and drawings help to illustrate practically every page.

Chapter 1: historical theories in geology as well as the basics of geology from the rock cycle to geologic time.

Chapter 2: minerals, rock properties and types of rocks.

Chapter 3: basic scientific organization of life and fossils.

Chapter 4: environment and its relationship with life.

Chapter 5: sedimentary rocks, soils & environments including glaciers, lakes, deserts, rivers and the ocean.

Chapter 6: geologic time, stratigraphy basics and dating methods.

Chapter 7: evolution basics, concepts of extinction, evolutionary trends.

Chapter 8: plate tectonics - evidence, consequences and general mechanisms.

Chapter 9: orogenesis (mountain building) - processes, introduction to structural geology.

Chapter 10: introduction to geochemistry - chemical cycles, isotopes, atmospheric trends related to weathering rates, climate-related isotopes and mineralogy.

Chapter 11 - Chapter 20 each deal with a major phase in geologic time from the creation of the planet to the movement of the plates to the great ice ages and finally to the modern era.

The CD, while helpful, essentially contains the same information as the book. I personally did not find it any more or less helpful than the book itself.

As a text book, it's decent!.......2005-11-04

Earth System History, Second Edition was my textbook for Geology 1001, and to my surprise I could actually read it without falling asleep. This is not to say that it is a page turner, but the pictures are interesting and Stanley skips a lot of the cheesy textbook speak. I'm not sure I would buy this book if I wasn't required to, but if geology is your thing- it would be great.

It is wonderfull !.......2000-03-20

Everybody that is interested in historical geology and paleontology must have this book. It is clear with a lot of informations, has beautifull pictures and a fantastic CD ROM. One of the best I bought last year !

The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (BK Currents)

Average customer rating:

Hope Restored
The Great Turning
The Ideal of the Bodhisattva
A "Must Read" for Every Lover of Democracy
A MUST-READ

The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (BK Currents)
David C Korten
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1887208070

Book Description

The threat of continued warfare to the future of humanity has become dire. "The Great Turning explores that threat in detail and provides an equally detailed plan for meeting -- and overcoming -- it. Written in the author's trademark clear, compelling style, this timely book uncovers the roots of Empire in ancient Athens and charts the long transition from the institutions of monarchy to those of the global economy as the favored instruments of imperialism. Korten then discusses the promise of early America as a democracy dedicated to spreading liberty and freedom -- and the failure of the "American experiment" through the contemporary takeover of the U.S. government by corporate plutocrats, religious theocrats, and neoconservative militarists in pursuit of naked imperial ambition. Korten draws on sources as varied as evolution, developmental psychology, and the wisdom of religious mystics to make the case for "Earth Community" -- a people-centered, community-based future that is both possible and necessary.

Customer Reviews:

Hope Restored.......2007-08-07

David Korten has restored my hope that humanity can and will survive the upcoming collision with our own short sighted Hubris. Some, perhaps many of us will make it through and will have restored to us in the process a great deal more of our own compassionate humanity. Well researched, well written. A seminal work! Thank you David!

The Great Turning.......2007-06-12

This book should be read by anyone thinking about how to move toward a fair, just society. Korten talks about levels of maturity leading to understanding that enough people and groups have reached a level where a society based on the principle of community rather than that of domination is within reach. It undercuts struggling with all the forms injustice takes in our present society and considers joining with like-minded groups all over the world to form a bottom-up society concerned with the good of all rather than just looking out for what's good for the most powerful among us.

The Ideal of the Bodhisattva.......2007-05-13

The Great Turning masterfully traces the concept of Empire from pre-history to the present and states that the current world situtation has been shaped by the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the few. The motivating actions of governments are to preserve their control over the forces of money and power. The democracies of the Western world are not true democracies as they maintain their control over the many by giving prevledge to the few. Korten goes on to relate various pardighms that our culture buys into and which perpetuate the rule of Empire. one of these views is related in the "Imperial Secular Meaning Story."
"Matter is the only reality. the whole of the cosmos is a product of the orderly playing out of physical forces amenable to description and prediction by mathematical equations. Life is the accidental outcome of material complexity. Consciousness and free will are illusions, nothing more. Because life has no intrinsic meaning, the only rational couse of the intelligent individual is to seek material gratification through the accumulation of wealth and power.
The evolution of the living species occurs through a competitive struggle in which the fittest survive and the less fit perish. Mammalian species, naturally organize themselves into heirarchies of dominance for mutual protection and breeding success.
Human progress likewise depends on competitive struggle in which the most fit triumph and those of second rank serve the most fit. the winners prove their superior worth and therby their contribution to the betterment of the whole by virute of their victory. They have a natural right to the rewards of their victory as their just due. Their is no reason for guilt or for concern for those whom the struggle destroys or leaves behind, as their loss is itself proof that they are the less fit. For the betterment of the whole, we must all accept that this their proper fate."
What makes the Great Turning a landmark book is that it exposes these myths for what they are-propaganda for maintaining control with power and wealth. The actions of governments rather than being for the well being of the people are for the maintaining of the myths which concentrate power and wealth in the hands of the few. Korten goes on to forge the strategy for removal of these myths and replacing them with the reality of a sustainable Earth Community.
The human and Divine potential of the sage, writer, artist, scientist cannot be fully realized without the move away from empire to Earth Community. The Bodhisattva's vow while at the threshold of enlightenment takes on the meaning for all of us to work out our daily lives in harmony with the forces that are attempting to bring about an Earth Community.

A "Must Read" for Every Lover of Democracy.......2007-03-08

This is the most important book I have read in years! There is hope. The people can take back America and truly make it a land of freedom, liberty and justice for all.

A MUST-READ.......2007-02-20

This book has changed the way I think about the world and the challenge we face in avoiding "the great unraveling." After reading it, I want to stand up and start making a difference.

Average customer rating:

5 Stars Indeed
A Breath of Fresh Air
A sublime experience, but not for everyone
The first of its kind, and still the best
Wonderful

A Sand County Almanac
Aldo Leopold
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195007778

Book Description

First published in 1949 and praised in The New York Times Book Review as "a trenchant book, full of vigor and bite," A Sand County Almanac combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America's relationship to the land. Written with an unparalleled understanding of the ways of nature, the book includes a section on the monthly changes of the Wisconsin countryside; another part that gathers informal pieces written by Leopold over a forty-year period as he traveled through the woodlands of Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Sonora, Oregon, Manitoba, and elsewhere; and a final section in which Leopold addresses the philosophical issues involved in wildlife conservation. As the forerunner of such important books as Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire, and Robert Finch's The Primal Place, this classic work remains as relevant today as it was forty years ago.

Customer Reviews:

5 Stars Indeed.......2007-08-20

I knew I would enjoy this book right from the start, when I found the following passages in the Foreward: "There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot..." and "For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television..."

If you can relate to those statements, you will love this book. Guaranteed. Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, but he was so much more. He was a visionary. Read those statements again, and when you realize that he wrote them back in 1948, you might be amazed. But as you read the book, you will come to understand how special he was. Facts or knowledge that we take for granted today (e.g., predators play an important role in a healthy ecosystem), Leopold was talking about them over 50 years ago. Time and again I found myself checking the copyright because I could not believe someone was actually thinking this way so long ago.

However, it's not just the ideas of Leopold that made him special. The way he wrote was special, too. His talent drew you in, even though he was writing about something that, by the sound of it, might be kind of dry. For example, in a section called "Good Oak," he connects the passage of years to the rings of a fallen tree that he is cutting for firewood. Starting with the 1940s he relates one environmental tidbit after another for decades or years: "Now our saw bites into the 1890s...when the last passenger pigeon collided with a charge of shot near Babcock." By the time Leopold is done cutting the fallen tree, the reader has received a fascinating and sobering account of what had transpired to the environment in the area of this oak tree for the previous 80 years. The way he used the backdrop of cutting the tree rings as "markers" of environmental mishaps was masterful. It is Leopold at his best, but fortunately, the book is full of writing like this.

It is divided into three sections. The first one follows a calendar year on his farm in Wisconsin, with Leopold relating little vignettes about chickadees, skunks, flowers, or whatever else he comes across. It is probably the most charming part of the book. Part two ("Sketches Here and There") contains short remembrances of Leopold's travels to different parts of North America. Unfortunately, the story usually has a "bad" ending - at least, for the environment or for a species (like the now-extinct passenger pigeon). But Leopold had a reason for that. He moves to part three, "The Upshot," where he spells out his ideas for saving the land and the wild things that live there. It is too much to discuss here, but Leopold again hits the mark. His goal was to try and change how Americans think about the use (and abuse) of our environment. Pehaps his biggest lament then, and mine now, is that not enough people care about what we are doing to the land.

That's why this book was published. The hope of this book was to change the hearts of the average American. It still is. Over fifty years later, it's still in print, and it's still relevant.

Five stars. Absolutely the best nature/environment book I've ever read.

A Breath of Fresh Air.......2007-02-20

Life got you down? Live in a big city? Take a refreshing break and escape to the Wisconsin countryside in this beautifully written little book about the land and the plants and animals that live and grow there. Aldo Leopold's writing is more compelling than John Muir's,and more knowledgeable than Thoreau's. In a series of short sketches you follow the cycle of the land from January to December. Along the way you learn about history, meet amazing plants and animals, and experience the drama of both the destruction and the rebirth of our land.

A sublime experience, but not for everyone.......2004-12-21

I keep this book on my nightstand and read an essay or two after my pj's are on and before going to bed. My bookmark is a pencil for making notes in the margin when particularly wonderful passages are encountered. The margins are very full.

Aldo opens our eyes to worlds in our own backyards which have always existed but which have remained undiscovered due to our own dull-sightedness. I considered myself an avid nature-watcher, but the extent to which Mr. Leopold carries this hobby is humbling. He inspires any true fan to learn the names and habits of every tree, shrub, weed, thistle, bird, insect, and critter native to one's home county, and to hone one's journaling skills and master the talent of imagery and metaphor.

But, this book is not for everyone. I've read favorite passages to friends only to watch their eyes glaze with disinterest. If you're the outgoing, life-of-the-party, must-always-be the-center-of-attention type, then perhaps The DaVinci Code would be of interest. But if you enjoy solitary walks in the woods, canoe paddles on distant foggy lakes, or reading prose with your pj's on, then this is required reading.

The first of its kind, and still the best.......2004-09-05

"Thus always does history, whether of marsh or market place, end in paradox. The ultimate value in these marshes is wildness, and the crane is wildness incarnate. But all conservation of wildness is self-defeating, for to cherish we must see and fondle, and when enough have seen and fondled, there is no wilderness left to cherish." (from "Marshland Elegy")

"It must be poor life that achieves freedom from fear." This, from reflections on being caught on horseback during a lightning storm, is a comment on the "civilized" mindset that wanted all to be safe, and so feared and destroyed wildness.

These essays were written mostly in the 1940's, although some of them are about earlier times in the author's life. In a way, reading Aldo Leopold is like watching Humphrey Bogart in those old movies, with his smoking and tough-guy sexism. We understand these as disreputable today, but can put them in context. Likewise, Aldo Leopold was in many ways a typical countryman of his time and place. He loved to hunt and fish, and even reflexively shot wolves, like everyone else. He came to regret that, and in fact to realize that in the new era, where hunting and fishing have become mass recreations, that the old ways just don't work anymore. But they did in his day, and he does not retrospectively apologize for having been, in a sense, just another predator.

But he was also a college professor, and an expert naturalist and ecologist. In this book he is a poetic writer about nature and a loving reporter of all things wild. No matter where I lived I would love this book, but having lived not too far from his sand counties and walked his restored prairies makes it the sweeter.

Wonderful.......2004-03-25

Read Walden, then read Sand County Almanac. They might just change the way you think about the world.

Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of Modern Civilization

Average customer rating:

My 100-word book review
A truly fascinating history
Looking for a catstrophe?
FORCED CONCLUSIONS?
Interesting, relevant, but sometimes a bit stretched.

Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of Modern Civilization
David Keys
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0345408764
Release Date: 2000-02-01

Amazon.com

Everybody knows the Dark Ages weren't really dark, right? Not so fast, counters archaeological journalist David Keys, maybe it's more than just a slightly judgmental metaphor. His book Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World, based on years of careful research spanning five continents, argues that sometime in A.D. 535, a worldwide disaster struck and uprooted nearly every culture then extant. Given contemporary reports of the sun being blotted out or weakened for nearly a year and a half, followed by famine, drought, and plague, it's hard not to think that so many reports from all over the world must be related.

Keys shows a keen grasp of both the written historical record from Asia, Africa, and Europe and the archaeological evidence from the Americas, and tells many tales of great havoc destroying old empires and laying the ground for new ones. Rome may have fallen, but Spain, England, and France rose in its place, while farther east, Japan and China each unified and gained strength after the chaos. Could an enormous volcanic eruption have had such influence on the world as a whole, and could the same thing happen tomorrow? Catastrophe makes no predictions, but leaves the reader with a new sense of history, nature, and destiny. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

It was a catastrophe without precedent in recorded history: for months on end, starting in A.D. 535, a strange, dusky haze robbed much of the earth of normal sunlight. Crops failed in Asia and the Middle East as global weather patterns radically altered. Bubonic plague, exploding out of Africa, wiped out entire populations in Europe. Flood and drought brought ancient cultures to the brink of collapse. In a matter of decades, the old order died and a new world—essentially the modern world as we know it today—began to emerge.

In this fascinating, groundbreaking, totally accessible book, archaeological journalist David Keys dramatically reconstructs the global chain of revolutions that began in the catastrophe of A.D. 535, then offers a definitive explanation of how and why this cataclysm occurred on that momentous day centuries ago.

The Roman Empire, the greatest power in Europe and the Middle East for centuries, lost half its territory in the century following the catastrophe. During the exact same period, the ancient southern Chinese state, weakened by economic turmoil, succumbed to invaders from the north, and a single unified China was born. Meanwhile, as restless tribes swept down from the central Asian steppes, a new religion known as Islam spread through the Middle East. As Keys demonstrates with compelling originality and authoritative research, these were not isolated upheavals but linked events arising from the same cause and rippling around the world like an enormous tidal wave.

Keys's narrative circles the globe as he identifies the eerie fallout from the months of darkness: unprecedented drought in Central America, a strange yellow dust drifting like snow over eastern Asia, prolonged famine, and the hideous pandemic of the bubonic plague. With a superb command of ancient literatures and historical records, Keys makes hitherto unrecognized connections between the "wasteland" that overspread the British countryside and the fall of the great pyramid-building Teotihuacan civilization in Mexico, between a little-known "Jewish empire" in Eastern Europe and the rise of the Japanese nation-state, between storms in France and pestilence in Ireland.

In the book's final chapters, Keys delves into the mystery at the heart of this global catastrophe: Why did it happen? The answer, at once surprising and definitive, holds chilling implications for our own precarious geopolitical future. Wide-ranging in its scholarship, written with flair and passion, filled with original insights, Catastrophe is a superb synthesis of history, science, and cultural interpretation.

Download Description

In A.D. 535-536, a climatic catastrophe occurred. It was of such mammoth proportions, it blotted out much of the heat and light of the sun for eighteen months and resulted -- directly or indirectly -- in climatic chaos, famine, migration, war, and massive political change on every continent. In other words, it altered history.

In this breakthrough examination, British archaeological journalist David Keys traces the identity and roots of this catastrophe -- continent by continent and virtually country by country -- showing how it is directly linked to the development of our modern world. The Plague, the rise of Islam, the fall of the Roman Empire, the movement of Asiatic tribes, the beginnings of the great South American empires -- Keys connects all these events that have previously been considered separate and shows us the far-reaching effects of incidents that first appear only localized. He makes us see history in holistic terms, as an integrated, planet-wide phenomenon.

In this fascinating, impeccably researched, and accessible book, Keys's innovative conclusions demonstrate how closely entwined global events truly are, and prove we must change the way we look at our past -- and thus, our future.

Customer Reviews:

My 100-word book review.......2007-03-28

In Catastrophe, author David Keys builds a convincing case for sudden climate change having occurred in the early 6th century, an abrupt dip in worldwide temperatures that would have had massive long-term consequences for civilisations all over the globe. Results could have included the weakening of the Byzantines, the downfall of Teotihuacan and the rise of Islam. This is a fascinating book, and the author's identification of a super volcano as the culprit is highly plausible. However, I think Keys possibly over-estimates this event as a shaper of our modern world, given the existence of so many other important factors.

A truly fascinating history.......2006-12-14

This is truly one of the most fascinating theories in ancient history. A volcano that shaped the modern world by forcing the migration of the huns, the crop failures in the Middle East that led to the rise of Islam and the start of the barbarian migrations towards Rome. It is almost too hard to summarize but if you believe that climate can change history than this is the book that will provide excellent evidence on that idea. Truly a masterpiece of an idea.

Looking for a catstrophe?.......2006-09-12

How much of human history has been shaped by catastrophic events? This exhaustively researched document seems like a natural place to find the answer. Unfortunately, the author's fascination with lurid details of human torture and dismemberment caused me to put the book down after just 60 blood-soaked pages. It's pretty clear that Mr. Key's interests in history do not run parallel to my own. I also found myself wondering about Key's qualifications as "Archaeological Journalist." I guess there are plenty of people who like reading tabloid-style history, and good luck to them, but I much prefer a calmer and scientific perspective of Derek Ager, in his book "The New Catastrophism, The Importance of the Rare Event in Geological History." -- Auralgo

FORCED CONCLUSIONS?.......2006-03-12

Mr. Key's authoritative research created a unique and new approach to the writing of history. His synthesis of science, culture and history was informative and entertaining. He identifies the volcanic eruption between Sumatra and Java in 535 that led to a climatic disaster that he believes helped create the modern world. He did convince this reader that the "Dark Ages were more literal than figurative." However, many of his historical conclusions were overstated. Chapters 19-29 lacked a depth of evidence and were too speculative. His constant use of words like "undoubtedly" made the reader question if he truly beleived his entire thesis? I concluded that he was at most one third correct, but ended in disagreeing that climate changes "alone" caused the birth of the modern world. I give it 4 stars for effort, but only 3 in its totality.

Interesting, relevant, but sometimes a bit stretched........2005-06-28

For the most part I found this book to be enjoyable, but it seems that Keys attempted in some areas to force his conclusion. Also, the same arguement seemed to be repeated far too often. Although I liked that the evidence of climate change was presented for essentially the entire planet, the conclusions at the end of each civilization were repetitive, simply restating the same thing (although, I suppose that was the point). I began to lose patience about 1/3 way through the book, but was able to persist through the conclusion. Perhaps it would have been better had Keys not spent so much time on minutae of Roman history and decline and had moved through the evidence quicker. The latter chapters on Asian and American experience were a little faster reading, likely due to the lack of minutae, largely due to the lack of records from which Keys could draw on. The final arguement on the causes of so much misfortune was compelling, but also left me feeling like our participation in the environment may all be for naught, since the Yellowstone caldera could explode at any moment, wiping us all out. I could not determine if this book wanted to be a book about climate change, history, or science.

With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change

Average customer rating:

The most important book I've ever read
When scientists admit they are very afraid
For those who want one good book on the topic, this is it!
A must read for all humans on this planet!
A bit scattered but makes significant points

With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change
Fred Pearce
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0807085766

Book Description

Fred Pearce has been writing about climate change for eighteen years, and the more he learns, the worse things look. Where once scientists were concerned about gradual climate change, now more and more of them fear we will soon be dealing with abrupt change resulting from triggering hidden tipping points. Even President Bush's top climate modeler, Jim Hansen, warned in 2005 that "we are on the precipice of climate system tipping points beyond which there is no redemption."

As Pearce began working on this book, normally cautious scientists beat a path to his door to tell him about their fears and their latest findings. With Speed and Violence tells the stories of these scientists and their work—from the implications of melting permafrost in Siberia and the huge river systems of meltwater beneath the icecaps of Greenland and Antarctica to the effects of the "ocean conveyor" and a rare molecule that runs virtually the entire cleanup system for the planet.

Above all, the scientists told him what they're now learning about the speed and violence of past natural climate change—and what it portends for our future. With Speed and Violence is the most up-to-date and readable book yet about the growing evidence for global warming and the large climatic effects it may unleash.

"Nature is fragile, environmentalists often tell us. But the lesson of this book is that that it is not so. The truth is far more worrying. She is strong and packs a serious counter-punch. Global warming will very probably unleash unstoppable planetary forces. And they will not be gradual. The history of our planet's climate shows that it does not do gradual change. Under pressure, whether from sunspots or orbital wobbles or the depredations of humans, it lurches – virtually overnight."—from the Introduction

"If you want to quickly get up to date on climate change and its consequences, I recommend With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change. If you can read only one book on climate change, this is it."
—Lester Brown, president, Earth Policy Institute

"Pearce's survey of abrupt climate change science is a compelling and terrifying read." —In Brief (newsletter for Earth Justice)

"You must read this book." —The Cost of Energy website

Praise for When the Rivers Run Dry

"An enriching and farsighted work."
—Jai Singh, San Francisco Chronicle

"The one-word review of Pearce's book is: Terrifying. Whether he's writing about the Indian peasant farmers who draw from poisoned wells every day, the oblivious Arizonans who run fountains in the desert, or the apocalyptic moonscape that is the Aral Sea (once a thriving fishery, now a toxic cesspool), Pearce manages to convey the immense wreckage human activity is making of our lifeblood."
—John McGrath, Grist

"Pearce provides a compelling compendium of place-based water stories that reveal just how ground-shifting the world's water predicament will be."
—Sandra L. Postel, Science

"In a highly readable style, Pearce makes the case for a new water ethos."
—Todd Neale, Audubon

"Pearce cogently presents the alarming ways in which this ecological emergency is affecting population centers, human health, food production, wildlife habitats, and species viability. Having crisscrossed the globe to research the economic, scientific, cultural, and political causes and ramifications of this under publicized tragedy, Pearce's powerful imagery, penetrating analyses, and passionate advocacy make this required reading for environmental proponents and civic leaders everywhere."
—Booklist

"He uses up-to-date science, explains difficult concepts in accurate, entertaining ways and includes a scientific glossary. The result is a gripping, highly readable book—perhaps the best discussion of climate change for lay readers."—American Magazine

Customer Reviews:

The most important book I've ever read.......2007-09-20

This is the most important book I've ever read. Each chapter is about a climate scientist's work and thinking, covering about 25 researchers. The climatic record in glacial ice cores, sea floor sediment cores, rocks and tree rings shows that climate has changed drastically in very short time periods in the past. Humans are perturbing the system beyond anything that has happened for millions of years. No one knows what the climate system will do, but many possible scenarios are cataclysmic and could happen soon. This book is authoritative and fully believable; it's about Nobel Prize winners and top-flight scientists, not politicians and hacks. Before I had read half of this book I went and bought a Toyota Prius, switched my home to a green electric utility, installed 100% compact florescent bulbs in my home and bought the most efficient laundry appliances available. If you like science, it's also a fascinating read.

When scientists admit they are very afraid.......2007-09-18

My favorite quote from the book: "Hansen says the world, or more particularly Greenland, is on a slippery slope to hell."
Scientists, if you remember the archetypal Spock on Star Trek, generally don't go around making pronouncements or admitting to emotions; rather, they hedge, cautiously state facts, and keep their moods to themselves because they are "subjective", the cardinal weakness in the ethos of science. They don't want to be laughing stocks, lose their grant money or get blacklisted from their elite journals. Their careers and name are very important to them. So it is very impressive when great numbers of these types from the world over admit to a profound "unease" ranging to "terror"- and say they are kept awake at night by current findings regarding climate tipping points. We should be afraid, if they are.
This is a great book to make us afraid. Other reviewers here have laid out in detail what is in the book; I just say, read it and pass it on. It is "an easy read" too, even entertaining, for those who don't like getting bogged down in dry science writing. And if you like to have the hair stand up on the back of your neck. In particular, see: "Chimneys" ,"Amazon Jungle", and "Methane from Melting Permafrost".
Lesley Thomas, author of arctic eco-novel Flight of the Goose

For those who want one good book on the topic, this is it!.......2007-09-10

I've just finished reading With Speed and Violence, and I was so impressed with it that I decided to post my first Amazon review to show my appreciation. I do a lot of reading about global warming and climate change--academic papers, magazine and news articles, and probably more than two dozen books by now. I found Pearce's book to be a thorough yet concise overview of all the main topics in the science, as well as including a few interesting areas that are not given a lot of coverage. But what makes this book stand apart is the way the author covers each topic in a separate, brief chapter that centers around an interesting anecdote with terrific writing that makes challenging science clear and compelling. I'm sorry if I sound like a commercial, but I do highly recommend this book, especially to anyone who only wants to read one book on the subject. And if you think global warming is scary, take a look at this author's other book, When the Rivers Run Dry, for an equally wonderful but eye-opening read.

A must read for all humans on this planet!.......2007-08-28

This book should be required reading in every High School and for anybody that has an opinion on Global Warming. I recommend reading the Appendix before finishing the book so you don't get too depressed or give up before the end. It is a shame though, that we have to get to the point of fear of survival before we do anything about our destructive behavior. Having a clean and healthy planet is not enough of an incentive to counter our materialistic consumerism economies.

A bit scattered but makes significant points.......2007-08-06

The idea of a tipping point in climate change comes from chaos theory in which a system may change in a way that is not only not predictable, but brings about a situation very different than what existed before. A tipping point can be compared to a phase transition in physics in which, for example, liquid water becomes something strikingly different when heated to the boiling point, or lowered to the freezing point. Steam and ice are very different from liquid water in many important ways. So it might be with the earth's climate. If too much fresh water melts and pours into the North Atlantic to join the once warm water from the Gulf Stream, the composition of the water may have too little salt in it to prevent freezing and instead of sinking to return in convey belt fashion to the tropics, it may just sit there as ice. That will stop the great ocean conveyer and make much of Europe nearly as cold as Siberia.

A tipping point of great magnitude can be reached through a feedback mechanism. For example as the planet warms, ice melts. Ice is white and reflects light away from the planet. But if the ice is now darker water it will tend to absorb the radiation and heat the planet further. This will lead to more ice melting which will lead to more heat being absorbed which will lead to more ice melting, etc., which will lead to we know not where.

Science journalist Fred Pearce's intent in this book is to look at a number of these natural climate mechanisms to see if they are in danger of reaching some kind of tipping point, and what the consequences of reaching that point might be. One of the consequences may be a point of no return, such as a runaway greenhouse effect in which the worse case scenario is the earth gets as hot as Venus.

What he finds out is that climate mechanisms are interrelated and enormously complex, which is one of the reasons there is so much controversy about global warming. Is this warming a result of natural cyclic processes about which we can do little or nothing, or is something unprecedented going on because we are burning vast quantities of fossil fuels? That is one of the most important questions of our times and one of the most difficult to answer. Most scientists believe that we are contributing significantly to climate change, but there are others that think differently. See Singer, S. Fred and Dennis T. Avery Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years (2007) for a contrarian point of view.

As Pearce implies in the title, "With Speed and Violence," we may not have the luxury of a leisurely investigation into the factors that are leading to climate change because something catastrophic may happen a lot faster than was previously believed. Not only that but the change may be irreversible. What is particularly scary is that we may already be past the point of no return and not know it, or we may cross that line sometime in the near future.

One thing is clear. It's getting hotter. Whether human activities are contributing significantly to this rise in temperature, and whether that is good or bad news is uncertain. Because the stakes are so high, I believe that we must err on the side of caution and put an end to the pollution of the atmosphere with all deliberate speed. Of course that is not going to happen.

Pearce knows this, and so he advocates a more realistic goal. He begins by noting that at the start of the Industrial Revolution, there were 660 billion tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. After a couple of centuries of burning fossil fuels we have 880 billion tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. To prevent triggering some kind of "dangerous" climate change, he estimates we need to keep the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere below one trillion tons. He believes it is "a tough call" as to whether we will make it or not (from the "Appendix: The Trillion-Ton Challenge").

Some of the 37 chapters in the book deal with other greenhouse gases, such as methane; and some of the chapters deal with the effect the shrinking Amazon forest is having on climate change, and other chapters deal with the history of various climate mechanisms. There are chapters on smoke in the air, the effect the Sahara Desert has on the Amazon jungle (it fertilizes it!), the danger in melting bogs which will release methane gas, the effect of the sun's cycles, etc. One of the problems with this book is that Pearce considers so many factors and looks at climate change from so many different perspectives, that the reader may very well come away lost in the jungle. I had the sense that Pearce himself bit off more than he could chew and ended up with a book of 278 pages that really needed to be a much larger volume or, better yet, several different volumes that he might write after further digestion of the material.

Let's faced it the climate is enormously complex and we are only beginning to make some kind of sense of it, at least in terms of being able to forecast the changes to come. Each of Pearce's chapters represents perhaps a topic for further research.

A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History

Average customer rating:

Great Historical/ Environmental Read
This book is fantastic for third graders!
This is one of the greatest books ever written.
Scenic AND educational!

A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History
Lynne Cherry
Manufacturer: Voyager Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0152163727

Book Description

From the author of the beloved classic The Great Kapok Tree, A River Ran Wild tells a story of restoration and renewal. Learn how the modern-day descendants of the Nashua Indians and European settlers were able to combat pollution and restore the beauty of the Nashua River in Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews:

Great Historical/ Environmental Read.......2007-03-21

Ages 10+
Follows the life of a river from Native American time through present and details the story of human destruction of a river and the human renewal of the resource. Definitely a read for grades 5+ due to the "urgency" of environmental destruction*we don't want to scare the kids to help them appreciate the resource*

This book is fantastic for third graders!.......1998-08-23

I used this book with my third grade class when they were studying the effects of water pollution on a large body of water. They had already studied Native Americans in second grade and this book just blended the two subjects together. The step by step portrayal of man's harm to the Nashua River helped my children learn about how they were harming the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Lynne Cherry is a fantastic author and presents two great subjects that are highly interesting to children. Any teacher that teaches either Native Americans or water pollution should include this book in their lessons!

This is one of the greatest books ever written........1997-12-24

This book was given to me at age 12. I am now 17 and it is still my favorite. I will never outgrow the beautiful pictures, or the very important lesson it teaches. Every page is expertly laid out, with exquisite paintings depicting the river and the era being discussed. The message of environmental conservation and protection is inspiring. Lynne Cherry makes this vital part of our existence understandable to young children, and even adults, often the harder group to reach. I highly reccommend this book for anyone who wants their children to appreciate the world around them and learn that they can, and should, do their best to save it.

Scenic AND educational!.......1997-03-16

This is a beautiful book! The illustrations are breathtaking and it follows an almost "illuminated" type of text structure, similar to that found in "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. Each page is bordered by illustrations of items pertaining to the period in history that the page is depicting - the implements used by Native peoples, animals that live by the river, inventions of the Industrial Revolution, etc. There is much more to talk about on each page than just the environmental theme of the book. This book would fit well in units about Native people, progress/inventions, ecology, water habitats, etc. A must-have for classrooms, homes, and teachers

Average customer rating:

Rocas Alijos (Monographiae Biologicae)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0792340566

Book Description

This is the first comprehensive description of the site, which is the top of a remnant oceanic volcano 180 nautical miles off Baja California. The book presents extensive details on the observations made during two major expeditions in 1990 and 1993, including the history, rocks, water, soil, and biota. The site is highly significant for biogeographical studies, lying at the boundary between major provinces. It also provides ready access to dating the vulcanism of the region. As a case study, this volume is extremely rich in detail, integrating the various observations into a single picture of the site. The book will be indispensable to researchers concerned with the Eastern Pacific, and to persons involved in the planning of expeditions, resource management, or long-term trends in environmental conditions.

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Essential reading
The demise of soil
What you never knew about history
Unsuitable title - otherwise fine
An Amazing Book!

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations
David R. Montgomery
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0520248708

Book Description

Dirt, soil, call it what you want--it's everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out of dirt, and it's no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that we are--and have long been--using up Earth's soil. Once bare of protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils erode bit by bit, slowly enough to be ignored in a single lifetime but fast enough over centuries to limit the lifespan of civilizations. A rich mix of history, archaeology and geology, Dirt traces the role of soil use and abuse in the history of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and the American push westward. We see how soil has shaped us and we have shaped soil--as society after society has risen, prospered, and plowed through a natural endowment of fertile dirt. David R. Montgomery sees in the recent rise of organic and no-till farming the hope for a new agricultural revolution that might help us avoid the fate of previous civilizations.

Customer Reviews:

Essential reading.......2007-09-15

This should be essential reading for any resource planner, all levels of elected policy makers and anyone that has read Jared Diamond, i. e. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

The demise of soil.......2007-09-13

Policy makers at all levels as well as concerned citizens should take Dave's lessons to heart. In addition, this is THE book for the layman wondering anything about dirt's role in human history and its fate.

With unrelenting precision, Dave builds the case-by-case history of civilizations misusing the dirt to their ultimate misfortune. As a top-flight scientist and admirable philosopher, he lays bare the storyline of people first using dirt modestly, then disturbing and losing their topsoil in dozens of cases spanning the globe and ranging from pre-history to the present.

The progression of dirt degradation becomes very familiar by the end - one wonders how many more times and on what grand scale the failures will again become apparent.

A caveat - Dave is a colleague of mine, as well as an entertaining pop-folk guitar, who leads with guitar and vocals the local band "Big Dirt".

What you never knew about history.......2007-08-28

While David R. Montgomery goes on a bit long and repetitively about how and why and where and how fast soils erode, the more interesting part of the book is the new look at history--why the Romans sought new lands to conquer, how Thomas Jefferson tried and failed to get widespread adoption of contour plowing, how the depletion of the southeast's agricultural soils provided yet more impetus for the Civil War, how even in ancient times writers urged soil husbandry, yet were largely ignored as they still are today, how monoculture, slavery and now industrialized agriculture speed up the process by which land will become unable to sustain growing human populations. It's a sobering message that we ignore at our children's peril.

Unsuitable title - otherwise fine.......2007-08-01

The story of past soil erosion is not glamorous - but why title the book DIRT ? Why not TERRA MATER (mother earth) which is the true topic of this historical story. It is well told though not in a chronological sequence while passing smoothly from one civilization to another; well researched with some 300 references, but these are not cited in the text; with many of the author's direct observation from his trips as a geomorphologist. Revised edition needed. The chapters on North American events are best,

An Amazing Book!.......2007-06-12

Read this book. It will change the way that you relate to civilization as we know it. David Montgomery has put together an emensly interesting, highly readable factual tale of the doom wrought when humans take dirt for granted.

Average customer rating:

Very good, gets a little technical towards the end

Venice Against the Sea: A City Besieged
John Keahey
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312265948

Amazon.com

"Venice is in trouble," writes John Keahey. The city is sinking into the sea. It has lost six feet over the last millennium and soon will lose more. The problem has become so bad that hotel concierges routinely distribute rubber boots to guests, and tourists cross historic squares on elevated boardwalks. Long-time residents flee not only the rising water, but also the rising cost-of- living and the rising industrial pollution. Venice, according to Keahey, "is evolving into a crumbling museum." Once, of course, it was an economic powerhouse with global reach; later it became the repository of some of the finest art and architecture in the world. Now it's sinking, largely due to the remorseless facts of geography, but also because the city's residents have abused their underground water resources. In Venice Against the Sea, Keahey offers a detailed description of what's gone wrong--and explores how the city might be saved, at least temporarily, through innovative engineering. This is a book anybody who has fallen in love with Venice will want to read, yet it issues a stark warning for people in coastal cities all over the world. If sea levels continue to rise, Venice's bleak fate may also be their own. --John Miller

Book Description

Venice is sinking - six feet over the past 1,000 years.The reasons for this are many.Although there is a natural geologic tendency for some sinking, humans have exacerbated the problem by exploiting on a massive scale underground water resources for industrial purposes.Coupled with these events - and perhaps most significant - are climatic changes all over the globe.The heating of the atmosphere after the last ice age, dramatically speeded up by humans, has led to a steady, continuing rise in sea level.This global warming is likely to persist beyond human control for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.Venetians, other Italians, and many in the world community are locked in debate over Venice's plight. Venice Against the Sea explains how the city and its 177 canals were built and what has led up to this long-foreseen crisis.It explores the various options currently being considered for "solving" this problem and chronicles the ongoing debate among scientists, engineers, and politicians about the pros and cons of each potential solution.Through extensive research and interviews, award-winning journalist John Keahey has written the definitive book on this fascinating problem. No matter what the experts decide to do, one thing is for certain - Venice's art, its buildings, and its history are too important to the planet's cultural identity to let it slip beneath the rising waters of the Adriatic.AUTHORBIO: John Keahey, a veteran newspaper journalist, is an Idaho native raised in Nampa, Idaho. He has degrees from the University of Utah, and lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, book designer Connie Disney.He is also the author of A Sweet and Glorious Land.

Customer Reviews:

Very good, gets a little technical towards the end.......2002-07-24

The first three-quarters+ of the book is excellent. It provides a good overview of Venetian history and explains how/why the city is essentially sinking. The author then gets into a TREMENDOUS amount of depth (no pun intended) concerning funding for a proposed gate project, various changes of Italian government, etc.-- probably more than you need to know, certainly more than I needed. Overall, though, the book was very good, even for someone who knows Venice as well as I do.

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