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List Price: £32.95
Our Price: £14.64
Author:
AY Zhuravlev
By Columbia University Press
 Not for the faint hearted, 2008-07-22
This is not a book for the general reader in the way that "The Rise if Animals" is (which covers some of the same period in palaeontology). This is hard science and as an educated amateur I find it at the limit of my capacity. I am not qualified to comment on the standard of scholarship though it looks impressive and, with its wealth of references, the book will doubtless provide an important source to the post graduate student. It is very well produced with excellent diagrams.
Author:
William McDonough, Michael Braungart
By Tantor Media, Inc
 A manifesto for new consumer...., 2008-03-16
Cradle to Cradle is a manifesto for the new consumer - a mall-nirvana of non toxic products, endlessly `up-cycled' and replaceable; sustainability without the need to change our consuming habits.
Shrugging off alternative strategies as too dour and depressing, the authors put their faith in the belief that we can design our way out of the current predicament of toxic and crude products and create a virtuous circle of product creation, use and "up-cycling" to preserve precious resources and reduce our impact on the planet.
This is an appealing vision and one has to admire the work of co-authors Bill and Michael over many years in developing and testing their theory. But I was left more than a little disappointed as I realised not just the practical limits of their approach but also the philosophy that seemed to underlie their proposition.
This is a manifesto for accelerated consumerism, an evolutionary attempt to overcome the problems we have created through ignorance and myopia. At no point do the authors seem to question the wisdom of consumerism in a shrinking world or its instant appeal and ramifications for a global population of almost 7billion today and maybe 9 billion by 2050.
Maybe I was expecting too much, but even if every product complied with the cradle-to-cradle philosophy we would still be an awfully long way from a sustainable, let alone just world. I can't help but feel that even if the Cradle-to-Cradle philosophy was able to generate the abundance of endlessly re-cycled products it proposes, we will still require a more fundamental appraisal of why we want so much `stuff' we do not need in the first place, regardless of how it is designed and produced.
I am reminded of the Irish farmer's response to the request for directions from a lost tourist, "Well, if I was you, I wouldn't be starting out from here." Making existing product's more eco-friendly and efficient sounds a very worthy goal but maybe the first question we should be asking is, "Do we really need them in the first place?"
List Price: £37.00
Our Price: £78.96
Author:
J. L. Chapman, M. J. Reiss
By Cambridge University Press
A great introduction to ecology, 2002-12-13
This is an excellent introduction to the subject of ecology. Easy to read without being oversimplified, it provides a detailed overview of the principles of ecology. It's main strength is the constant use of examples and case studies to illustrate the points.
It looks at the functioning of individuals and species within environments, environmental factors, interactions within ecosystems, biomes, and behavioural and genetic factors, as well as distribution and conservation.
Ecological terms are explained as they are encountered, making it easier for those new to the subject. Scientific studies are described which inform the principles described, and conflicting theories explained.
Some understanding of biology is presupposed, and the mathematical content assumes some knowledge of equations, logarithms and scientific notation: although the case studies are so well explained in the text, that the principle of each one can be understood even if the mathematics remain a mystery!There is also an emphasis on the application of ecology to conservation, and two chapters at the end concentrate specifically on conservation.
As someone new to the subject but with an interest in conservation and how ecosystems work, I found this a fascinating, informative book.
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