Environment Books - Page 5

A Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections)

Aldo Leopold

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 75 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac has enthralled generations of nature lovers and conservationists and is indeed revered by everyone seriously interested in protecting the natural world. Hailed for prose that is "full of beauty and vigor and bite" (The New York Times), it is perhaps the finest example of nature writing since Thoreau's Walden.
Now this classic work is available in a completely redesigned and lavishly illustrated gift edition, featuring over one hundred beautiful full-color pictures by Michael Sewell, one of the country's leading nature photographers. Sewell, whose work has graced the pages of Audubon and Sierra magazines, walked Leopold's property in Wisconsin and shot these photographs specifically for this edition, allowing readers to see Sand County as Leopold saw it. The resulting layout is spectacular. But the heart of the book remains Leopold's carefully rendered observations of nature. Here we follow Leopold throughout the year, from January to December, as he walks about the rural Wisconsin landscape, watching a woodcock dance skyward in golden afternoon light, or spying a rough-legged hawk dropping like a feathered bomb on its prey. And perhaps most important are Leopold's trenchant comments throughout the book on our abuse of the land and on what we must do to preserve this invaluable treasure. This edition also includes two of Leopold's most eloquent essays on conservation, "The Land Ethic" and "Marshland Elegy."
With this gift edition of A Sand County Almanac, a new generation of readers can walk beside one of America's most respected naturalists as he conveys the beauty of a marsh before sunrise or the wealth of history to be found in an ancient oak.

The Deniers: The World Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria, Political Persecution, and Fraud**And those who are too fearful to do so

Lawrence Solomon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Wow! Is It A Complete Fabrication? 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book may be judging from the "quotes" the author uses to publicize it.
They are all easy to google, but start with this one. here is his version of David Bromwich:

"It's hard to see a global warming signal from the mainland of Antarctica right now."

Here's what Bromwich actually said:

"It's hard to see a global warming signal from the mainland of Antarctica right now," he said. "Part of the reason is that there is a lot of variability there. It's very hard in these polar latitudes to demonstrate a global warming signal. This is in marked contrast to the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula that is one of the most rapidly warming parts of the Earth."
Uh.....

Putting the sceintists aside, anyone who claims that human activity involving the release of carbon-based energy and CO2 has no role is claiming that there is a cause which has no effect.
You can argue "how much" within a pretty narrow range. But it is not possible to argue "no effect."

Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World

Paul Stamets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

More than a field guide to fungi 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book provides a wonderful look into the world of fungi and their properties. I bought the book after seeing the author in a video, and the book has fully lived up to my expectations.

Mycelium Running 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is an extremely easy read - with great examples on how mushrooms grow and how it can be commercialised. If you have an interest in this area, then this is the book to read. Would highly recommend it.

An amazing book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a book that should be on every gardener's bookshelf. You learn that there is far more to building soil than just adding compost. Inoculate the soil with mushrooms and you can harvest food while you improve your soil and everyone's environment. Get this book and don't just read it. Put it into practice and improve the world.

Editorial Review:

A groundbreaking manual for saving the world through mushroom cultivation! The science goes like this: fine filaments of living cells called mycelium, the fruit of which are mushrooms, already cover large areas of land around the world. As the mycelium grows, it silently breaks down plant and animal debris, recycling carbon, nitrogen and other essential elements in the creation of new soil. Read all about the newest trend in environmental science in Mycelium Running.

How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine

John Jeavons

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

there are better books out there 2 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

while the idea of growing more vegetables is a noble (and highly marketable) title, the actual book didn't have much information that i didn't already read in 'square foot gardening' or 'four-season harvest'. a key difference is that an artificial soil mix isn't used, but rather using organic methods to improve existing soil - is that a new concept? while both books do a comparison of intensive methods, Jeavons recommends a hexagonal inter-planting pattern (similar to the spacing in chicken wire) to plant intensively, vs. the square foot method of rigidly planting only one kind of vegetable in each square. Jeavons also advocates the use companion plants whereever possible to increase yields and reduce pests. however, the sections devoted to double-digging and composting seem to make up a disproportionately large section of the book, and relatively little is said about what exactly increases yields except for treating the soil well (e.g., use good compost, raised beds, add organic matter, etc). for anyone interested in organic gardening, there isn't a lot of unique information in this book that couldn't be found on a good website.

Editorial Review:

For over 30 years, this pioneering work has continued to revolutionize food production around the world. While many people tend to look for big solutions to global concerns such as malnutrition, environmental researcher John Jeavons proves that the answers are often found in our backyards -- that is, in how we grow our food. Written for the individual gardener, "How to Grow More Vegetables" is the bible on Grow Biointensive "RM" mini-farming, a method that produces high yields of food crops in very small spaces while nourishing the soil and reducing the use of chemicals. This newly revised and significantly expanded edition incorporates the latest techniques and methods developed by Jeavons and many others around the world who have adopted this increasingly necessary method of small-scale food production.

Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual

Solar Energy International

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Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Producing electricity from the sun using photovoltaic (PV) systems has become a major industry worldwide. But designing, installing and maintaining such systems requires knowledge and training, and there have been few easily accessible, comprehensive guides to the subject.

Now, with Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual, a world-class solar energy training and education provider-Solar Energy International (SEI)-has made available the critical information to successfully design, install and maintain PV systems. The book contains an overview of photovoltaic electricity and a detailed description of PV system components, including PV modules, batteries, controllers and inverters. It also includes chapters on sizing photovoltaic systems, analyzing sites and installing PV systems, as well as detailed appendices on PV system maintenance, troubleshooting and solar insolation data for over 300 sites around the world. Used worldwide as the textbook in SEI's PV Design & Installation workshops, topics covered include:

The basics of solar electricity
PV applications and system components
Solar site analysis and mounting
Stand-alone and PV/generator hybrid system sizing
Utility-interactive PV systems
Component specification, system costs and economics
Case studies and safety issues

Photovoltaics guarantees that those wanting to learn the skills of tapping the sun's energy can do so with confidence.

Solar Energy International (SEI) has the nonprofit mission to respond to the need for renewable energy education. Based in Carbondale, Colorado, and active around the world, SEI is a link between people and renewable energy resources, providing information, education and training to people who want to shape a sustainable future. SEI is recognized by the National Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) as dedicated independent provider of PV training programs that may be used toward attaining PV certification. Also, SEI is recognized as an Accredited Institution to offer PV training by the Institute for Sustainable Power (ISP).

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century

Alex Steffen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Worldchanging is packed with information, resources, reviews, and ideas that give readers access to the tools they need to build a better future. Written by a diverse collaborative of innovators, Worldchanging demonstrates that the means for making a difference lie all around us.

This team of top-notch writers, brought together by Worldchanging.com founder Alex Steffen, includes Cameron Sinclair, founder of Architecture for Humanity, Geekcore founder Ethan Zuckerman, and sustainable food expert Anne Lappé, among many others.

Each chapter offers practical answers to important questions, such as: Why does buying locally produced food make sense? What steps can we take to influence our workplace toward sustainability? How can we travel, live, work, and learn in world-changing ways? How, in short, can we participate in building a better future locally and globally?

Worldchanging proves that a life that is sustainably prosperous, thoughtful and democratic, dynamic and peaceful, is not just possible, it’s here.

The Necessary Revolution: How individuals and organizations are working together to create a sustainable world.

Peter M. Senge, Bryan Smith, Sara Schley, Joe Laur, Nina Kruschwitz

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Imagine a world in which the excess energy from one business would be used to heat another. Where buildings need less and less energy around the world, and where “regenerative” commercial buildings – ones that create more energy than they use – are being designed. A world in which environmentally sound products and processes would be more cost-effective than wasteful ones. A world in which corporations such as Costco, Nike, BP, and countless others are forming partnerships with environmental and social justice organizations to ensure better stewardship of the earth and better livelihoods in the developing world. Now, stop imagining – that world is already emerging.

A revolution is underway in today’s organizations. As Peter Senge and his co-authors reveal in The Necessary Revolution, companies around the world are boldly leading the change from dead-end “business as usual” tactics to transformative strategies that are essential for creating a flourishing, sustainable world. There is a long way to go, but the era of denial has ended. Today’s most innovative leaders are recognizing that for the sake of our companies and our world, we must implement revolutionary—not just incremental—changes in the way we live and work.

Brimming with inspiring stories from individuals and organizations tackling social and environmental problems around the globe, THE NECESSARY REVOLUTION reveals how ordinary people at every level are transforming their businesses and communities. By working collaboratively across boundaries, they are exploring and putting into place unprecedented solutions that move beyond just being “less bad” to creating pathways that will enable us to flourish in an increasingly interdependent world. Among the stories in these pages are the evolution of Sweden’s “Green Zone,” Alcoa’s water use reduction goals, GE’s ecoimagination initiative, and Seventh Generation’s decision to shift some of their advertising to youth-led social change programs.

At its heart, THE NECESSARY REVOLUTION contains a wealth of strategies that individuals and organizations can use — specific tools and ways of thinking — to help us build the confidence and competence to respond effectively to the greatest challenge of our time. It is an essential guidebook for all of us who recognize the need to act and work together—now—to create a sustainable world, both for ourselves and for the generations to follow.

Dark Water: Flood and Redemption in the City of Masterpieces

Robert Clark

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This dramatic, beautifully written account of the flood that ravaged Florence, Italy, in 1966 weaves heartbreaking tales of the disaster and stories of the heroic global efforts to save the city’s treasures against the historic background of Florence’s glorious art.

On November 4, 1966, Florence, one of the world’s most historic cities and the repository of perhaps its greatest art, was struck by a monumental calamity. A low-pressure system had been stalled over Italy for six weeks and on the previous day it had begun to rain again. Nineteen inches fell in twenty-four hours, more than half of the annual total. By two o’clock in the morning twenty-thousand cubic feet of water per second was moving towards Florence. Soon manhole covers in Santa Croce were exploding into the air as jets of water began shooting out of the now overwhelmed sewer system. Cellars, vaults, and strong-rooms were filling with water. Night watchmen on the Ponte Vecchio alerted the bridge’s jewelers and goldsmiths to come quickly to rescue their wares. By then the water was moving at forty miles per hour at a height of twenty-four feet. At 7:26 a.m. all of Florence’s electric civic clocks came to a stop. The Piazza Santa Croce was under twenty-two feet of water. Beneath the surface, twelve feet of mud, sewage, debris, and oil sludge were starting to ooze and settle into the cellars and crypts and room after room above them. Six-hundred-thousand tons of it would smother, clot, and encrust the city. 
Dark Water brings the flood and its aftermath to life through the voices of witnesses past and present. Two young American artists wade heedlessly through the inundated city carrying their baby in order to witness its devastated beauty: the Ponte Vecchio buried in debris and Ghiberti’s panels from the doors of the Florence Baptistery, lying heaped in yard-deep mud; the swamped Uffizi Gallery; and, in the city libraries, one billion pages of Renaissance and antique books, soaked in mire. A Life magazine photographer, stowing away on an army helicopter, arrives to capture a drama that, he felt, “could only be told by Dante” amid the flooded tombs of Machiavelli and Michelangelo in Giotto and Vasari’s Santa Croce. A British student, one of thousands of “mud angels” who rushed to Florence to save its art, spends a month scraping mud and mold from Cimabue’s magnificent and neglected Crocifisso as intrigues and infighting among international art experts and connoisseurs swirl around him. And during the fortieth anniversary commemorations of 2006 the author asks himself why art matters so very much to us, and how beauty seems to somehow save the world even in the face of overwhelming disaster.

The Home Energy Diet: How to Save Money by Making Your House Energy-Smart (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)

Paul Scheckel

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Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With rising energy costs, homeowners are beginning to examine the energy efficiency of their own homes, asking questions about where energy comes from and how much it costs, how to choose new appliances and what options exist for renewable energy.

The Home Energy Diet answers all these questions and more while helping readers take control of their personal energy use and costs so they can save money, live more comfortably and help the environment. Energy auditor Paul Scheckel first explores energy literacy, and then describes how your home uses-and loses-energy you pay for via:

Electricity
Hot water
Heating and air conditioning
Windows, walls and insulation

The Home Energy Diet involves readers in learning about their own homes by: measuring, metering, investigating and considering habits related to household energy use; learning how to quantify energy consumption and cost and making informed decisions about cost-effective improvements and upgrades. The book explores the misunderstood concept of efficiency versus cost by comparing fuel costs and equipment choices, including the possibility of using renewable energy for meeting home energy needs. This authoritative guide makes efficiency fun through personal anecdotes and humorous "tales-from-the-basement" energy misadventures.

Since energy efficiency is an investment that offers returns greater than Wall Street, readers can earn several hundred dollars every year just by following the advice in this book. As a bonus, many of the energy-saving strategies described can make for improved indoor air quality and healthier, more comfortable homes.

Paul Scheckel is an energy auditor who has visited thousands of homes, educating people about energy efficiency, cost-effective improvements and indoor air quality. With a passion for efficiency and renewables, he walks the talk by living in a solar-powered house and driving a car powered by vegetable oil in his home state of Vermont.

Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior

Temple Grandin, Catherine Johnson

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Total reviews: 158 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation speaks in the clear voice of a woman who emerged from the other side of autism, bringing with her an extraordinary message about how animals think and feel.

Temple's professional training as an animal scientist and her history as a person with autism have given her a perspective like that of no other expert in the field. Standing at the intersection of autism and animals, she offers unparalleled observations and groundbreaking ideas about both.

Autistic people can often think the way animals think -- in fact, Grandin and co-author Catherine Johnson see autism as a kind of way station on the road from animals to humans -- putting autistic people in the perfect position to translate "animal talk." Temple is a faithful guide into their world, exploring animal pain, fear, aggression, love, friendship, communication, learning, and, yes, even animal genius. Not only are animals much smarter than anyone ever imagined, in some cases animals are out-and-out brilliant.

The sweep of Animals in Translation is immense, merging an animal scientist's thirty years of study with her keen perceptions as a person with autism -- Temple sees what others cannot.

Among its provocative ideas, the book:

• argues that language is not a requirement for consciousness -- and that animals do have consciousness

• applies the autism theory of "hyper-specificity" to animals, showing that animals and autistic people are so sensitive to detail that they "can't see the forest for the trees" -- a talent as well as a "deficit"

• explores the "interpreter" in the normal human brain that filters out detail, leaving people blind to much of the reality that surrounds them -- a reality animals and autistic people see, sometimes all too clearly

• explains how animals have "superhuman" skills: animals have animal genius

• compares animals to autistic savants, declaring that animals may in fact be autistic savants, with special forms of genius that normal people do not possess and sometimes cannot even see

• examines how humans and animals use their emotions to think, to decide, and even to predict the future

• reveals the remarkable abilities of handicapped people and animals

• maintains that the single worst thing you can do to an animal is to make it feel afraid

Temple Grandin is like no other author on the subject of animals because of her training and because of her autism: understanding animals is in her blood and in her bones.