Book Reviews News

Primates of the World: An Illustrated Guide is stunning. There is simply no better way I can think of to gain an appreciation of the primate family than to peruse…

In the new book, On Gaia: A Critical Investigation of the Relationship between Life and Earth, Dr. Toby Tyrrell analyzes 40-years of data for and against the Gaia hypothesis. Dr.…

Novel Ecosystems: Intervening in the New Ecological World Order is a recent textbook published by Wiley-Blackwell edited by Richard J. Hobbs, Eric S. Higgs, and Carol M. Hall that describes…

Gary Schmelz, in a Journey to the Edge of Eden, takes us through a wonderful personal account of the conservation history of Southwest Florida. Journey to the Edge of Eden…

China is home to greater than 10% of the Earth's mammals. In the Mammals of China, Andrew T. Smith, PhD and Yan Xie, PhD have produced a comprehensive easy-to-read pocket…

Written by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle, with illustrations by Catherine Hamilton, The Warbler Guide by Princeton University Press is the "go-to" guide for identifying the 56 species of warblers…

The World's Rarest Birds is an extraordinary bird book. 590 different bird species are classified as Endangered or Critically Endangered, with many species only existing in captivity. A new book,…

In Climate Myths: The Campaign Against Climate Science, Dr. John J. Berger deconstructs the climate change denialists' myths in simple, easy-to-read terms. According to the Pew Research Center: "Nearly seven-in-ten…

Richard Crossley, Jerry Liguori, and Brian Sullivan have produced a unique and much needed bird book in The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors. The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors is a book…

Brian McFarland has published a concise, yet comprehensive, DōShort book titled REDD+ and Business Sustainability. REDD+ and Business Sustainability provides a detailed overview of REDD+ business case studies and industry…

Carbon Management in the Built Environment, written by Rohinton Emmanuel and Keith Baker, is the complete introductory textbook covering low carbon management for the built environment. Carbon Management in the…

Carbon markets or climate finance? This is the question posed by Carbon Markets or Climate Finance, edited by Axel Michaelowa. First of all, let’s define climate finance as the financial…

The Role of Science for Conservation, edited by Matthias Wolff and Mark Gardner, celebrates Charles Darwin’s Bicentennial and 50 years of research by the Charles Darwin Foundation in The Galápagos,…

Solar Photovoltaic Projects: In the Mainstream Power Market, written by renewables energy pioneer Philip Wolfe, is an excellent introduction to the solar photovoltaic project development and power markets sector. Mr.…

Edward B. Barbier and Anil Markandya, contributing authors to 1989 classic Blueprint for a Green Economyy, have revisited the theme to implement a green economy and published A New Blueprint…

Full Product Transparency: Cutting the Fluff Out of Sustainability, by Ramon Arratia, Sustainability Director, Interface, provides us with a clear, concise challenge. The challenge is this: can we integrate full…

Sometimes a book leaves you breathless. Simply breathless. In The Unfeathered Bird, Katrina van Grouw exquisitely combines creative and intellectual curiosity and produces a wonderful book. The Unfeathered Bird simply…

Lean Design Management is a design management process that is applied most often within the construction sector. Its applicability to natural resources management is evident through the similarities between construction…

Energizing Sustainable Cities: Assessing Urban Energy, edited by Arnulf Grubler and David Fisk, is a very well written book describing challenges and opportunities to define, analyze, and implement sustainable energy…

by Adam Scott Kennedy, is the first dedicated bird book to the Masai Mara region. This handy guidebook, covering over 200 species of birds, on purpose avoids any unnecessary ornithological…

The problems of Good Derivatives begin with the title: the book does not discuss derivatives at length, nor is there a coherent thesis proposing that they are "good." Equally misleading…

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Local and Regional Policy, edited by Heidi Wittmar and Haripriya Gundimeda, provides thoughtful and actionable approaches to integrate nature’s benefits into decision-making frameworks…

From Intelligent to Smart Cities brings together recent and leading research on transitioning to smart cities from intelligent cities. Intelligent cities are multi-layered systems that focus on integrating institutional capacities…

Spotted hyena in the Masai Mara. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Animals of the Masai Mara is the first illustrated guidebook to the Masai Mara region along the Kenya and…

Guesstimation 2.0 Solving Today's Problems on the Back of a Napkin succeeds where most popular science literature so often fails. This is because it provides its readers with a scientific…

Stuart K. Allison, PhD’s excellent book Ecological Restoration and Environmental Change: Renewing Damaged Ecosystems clearly explains the current state of affairs regarding ecological restoration. He addresses key issues and challenges…

Professor Sheila Jasanoff’s superb treatise Science and Public Reason, part of Earthscan’s Science in Society Series, is a wonderful book describing, through a collection of her essays and articles from…

Hurricane Sandy last night over Georgia and Florida. Photo by: NASA. Mr. Jeremy Grantham, co-chair of the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and co-founder and chief investment…

In Good Derivatives: A Story of Financial and Environmental Innovation, Richard Sandor, PhD has written a rich compelling first-person narrative of the development of financial futures and environmental markets over…

A book review of: William F. Hyde's The Global Economics of Forestry Jungle in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Environmental economics is similar to other expanding fields, it…