Ecology
A Pocket Guide
$12.95, £7.95 paperback
978-0-520-21463-7
Available Now
176 pages, 4-1/2 x 7-1/4 inches, 6 line illustrations.
November 1998, Available worldwide
Categories: Ecology, Evolution, Environment; Ecology; Natural History; Organismal Biology
November 1998, Available worldwide
Categories: Ecology, Evolution, Environment; Ecology; Natural History; Organismal Biology
"An elegant and extremely accessible entrée into contemporary ecological thought. . . . [Callenbach] gives us the basics to participate intelligently in the current debates about how to save the planet."—Tikkun
"A graceful, lucid, and judicious book that belongs in the back pocket of every planetary citizen."—Evan Eisenberg, author of The Ecology of Eden
"For you readers who hate science and never read it, Ecology: A Pocket Guide excites your understanding and gently shows you what you have been missing. For the rest of us, this book confirms our love for and respect for scientific insight as a major way of knowing."—Lynn Margulis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
"For you readers who hate science and never read it, Ecology: A Pocket Guide excites your understanding and gently shows you what you have been missing. For the rest of us, this book confirms our love for and respect for scientific insight as a major way of knowing."—Lynn Margulis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Three out of four Americans now think of themselves as environmentalists. Millions of children are busy with projects to save the Earth. But we all would be more effective at resolving today's pressing environmental issues if we had a clearer understanding of the ecological principles behind them. With this lively guide to the essentials of ecology, Ernest Callenbach provides a pocket-sized introduction to the wonderful complexity of life on Earth—and our part in it.
Callenbach uses everyday, nontechnical language to explain sixty basic ecological concepts. These brief, information-packed entries are arranged alphabetically and amply cross-referenced. Thus the reader can move freely around a dynamic network of ideas, gaining easy access to the new thinking that scientists, environmentalists, politicians, government officials, business people, and concerned citizens everywhere are using to seek a sustainable future for humanity.
As timely as today's news, Ecology includes current findings on the microscopic beings that first made plant and animal life possible and now regulate global temperature and oxygen levels—a dramatic new story of the intricate interconnections of all life on Earth. Finally we have a book that equips us to take informed personal and political action with the ecological wisdom needed for the twenty-first century.
Callenbach uses everyday, nontechnical language to explain sixty basic ecological concepts. These brief, information-packed entries are arranged alphabetically and amply cross-referenced. Thus the reader can move freely around a dynamic network of ideas, gaining easy access to the new thinking that scientists, environmentalists, politicians, government officials, business people, and concerned citizens everywhere are using to seek a sustainable future for humanity.
As timely as today's news, Ecology includes current findings on the microscopic beings that first made plant and animal life possible and now regulate global temperature and oxygen levels—a dramatic new story of the intricate interconnections of all life on Earth. Finally we have a book that equips us to take informed personal and political action with the ecological wisdom needed for the twenty-first century.
From the book:
ENERGY
"It feels good to turn your face to the sun. And no wonder. We and all other living beings are powered by energy captured from sunlight, which flows through humans and other organisms and then disperses out into space, never to come our way again. We and all other inhabitants of Earth live suspended in the great stream of solar energy. So ECOLOGY operates by the inescapable laws of energy. . . ."
XERISCAPE
"All over the world, landscape paintings traditionally depicted scenes containing lakes, streams, and seasides. Humans delight in well-watered places, and landscaped gardens have often featured fountains or fishponds. But in those large and expanding parts of the United States (and the planet) where desert or semi-desert conditions prevail and water supplies are overstretched, we must now think in terms of xeriscapes—dry landscapes. . . ."
ENERGY
"It feels good to turn your face to the sun. And no wonder. We and all other living beings are powered by energy captured from sunlight, which flows through humans and other organisms and then disperses out into space, never to come our way again. We and all other inhabitants of Earth live suspended in the great stream of solar energy. So ECOLOGY operates by the inescapable laws of energy. . . ."
XERISCAPE
"All over the world, landscape paintings traditionally depicted scenes containing lakes, streams, and seasides. Humans delight in well-watered places, and landscaped gardens have often featured fountains or fishponds. But in those large and expanding parts of the United States (and the planet) where desert or semi-desert conditions prevail and water supplies are overstretched, we must now think in terms of xeriscapes—dry landscapes. . . ."
Bring Back the Buffalo!, by Ernest Callenbach
Ecology: A Pocket Guide, Revised and Expanded, by Ernest Callenbach
The Ecological World View, by Charles Krebs
Ecology: A Pocket Guide, Revised and Expanded, by Ernest Callenbach
The Ecological World View, by Charles Krebs