Science and Technology

Your Brain On Nature: The Science of Nature's Influence on Your Health, Happiness and Vitality

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 04:00:11 +0100

Scientific studies have shown that natural environments can have remarkable benefits for human health. Natural environments are more likely to promote positive emotions; and viewing and walking in nature have been associated with heightened physical and mental energy. Nature has also been found to have a positive impact on children who have been diagnosed with impulsivity, hyperactivity, and attention deficit disorder. A powerful wake-up call for our tech-immersed society, Your Brain on Nature ...

Energy: Its Use and the Environment

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:00:11 +0100

What is the impact of such energy issues as global warming, radioactive waste, and municipal solid waste on the individual and society? ENERGY: ITS USE AND THE ENVIRONMENT answers these questions, emphasizing the physical principles behind energy and its effects on our environment, and explaining the basic physical principles behind the use of energy, including the study of mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, and atomic and nuclear physics. ...

Conservation Science: Balancing the Needs of People and Nature

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Conservation Science is the first textbook to teach the scientific foundations of conservation biology while highlighting strategies to better connect its practice with the needs and priorities of a growing human population.

Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis, An Abridgment

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Deforestation—the thinning, changing, and wholesale clearing of forests for fuel, shelter, and agriculture—is among the most important ways humans have transformed the environment. Surveying ten thousand years to trace human-induced deforestation’s effect on economies, societies, and landscapes around the world, Deforesting the Earth is the preeminent history of this process and its consequences. ...

Deforestation and Climate Change

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:00:11 +0100

This report provides basic information on forests and climate change. The first section discusses the linkages between forests and climate. The next three describe the characteristics of the three major forest biomes, with an overview of deforestation causes and impacts. This is followed by an overview of approaches to reducing deforestation. The final section examines issues related to forest and deforestation data. ...

The End of Country: Dispatches from the Frack Zone

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Susquehanna County, in the remote northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, is a community of stoic, low-income dairy farmers and homesteaders seeking haven from suburban sprawl—and the site of the Marcellus Shale, a natural gas deposit worth more than one trillion dollars.

LivinUnder the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes, and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Running from southern West Virginia through eastern Ohio, across central and northeast Pennsylvania, and into New York through the Southern Tier and the Catskills, the Marcellus Shale formation underlies a sparsely populated region that features striking landscapes, critical watersheds, and a struggling economic base. It also contains one of the world's largest supplies of natural gas, a resource that has been dismissed as inaccessible-until recently. ...

Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Re-released on the heels of Al Gores #1 New York Times bestseller, An Inconvenient Truth, comes the paperback edition of his classic bestseller, Earth in the Balance. First published in 1992, it helped place the environment on the national agenda; now, as environmental issues move front-and-center in the public consciousness, the time is right to reflect deeply on the fate of our planet and commit ourselves to its future....

Solar Electricity Handbook - 2012 Edition: A Simple Practical Guide to Solar Energy -

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:00:11 +0100

The Solar Electricity Handbook is a practical and straightforward guide to using electric solar panels. Assuming no previous knowledge of solar panels, the book explains how solar panels work, how they can be used and explains the steps you need to take to successfully design and install a solar electric system from scratch using photovoltaic solar panels. ...

Wind Power, Revised Edition: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, and Business

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Wind energy today is a booming worldwide industry. The technology has truly come of age, with better, more reliable machinery and a greater understanding of how and where wind power makes sense -- from the independent homestead to a grid-connected utility-wide perspective.

Nuclear Energy: What Everyone Needs to Know

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Originally perceived as a cheap and plentiful source of power, the commercial use of nuclear energy has been controversial for decades. Worries about the dangers that nuclear plants and their radioactive waste posed to nearby communities grew over time, and plant construction in the United States virtually died after the early 1980s.

Challenged by Carbon: The Oil Industry and Climate Change

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Forget the conspiracy theorists, which may or may not be on beam with some elements of their thinking, and completely off-beam with others. This book comes right out of the heart of the oil industry

Beyond Smoke and Mirrors

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Subtitled 'Climate Change and Energy in the 21st Century', this book is a fairly academic read, though it is also clear and relatively succinct. In short, as the title says, beyond the smoke and mirrors around the debate, we are facing imminent disaster, simple as that.

BLUE GOLD: World Water Wars

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Dramatically, the cover of this excellent DVD has a hook line that runs: 'The war over your water is about to begin'. For once, such language is not sensationalist. Water is our most vital commodity, if indeed it is a commodity and not a shared, mutually-owned and inalienable right....

How to save the world - One Man, one Cow, One Planet

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 04:00:11 +0100

his is a multi-award winning documentary film about practical "closed loop" thinking. But what does that mean? In a closed loop system there is no such thing as waste. All the outputs from the system go back into the system, waste from one part of the system is food for another part. But no Waste... that's impossible! Are there any examples of this working anywhere? Plenty, and all around us. This is how nature has been working for the last 3.5 billion year...

THE CLIMATE CRISIS: AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:00:11 +0100

Barack Obama said: 'Few challenges facing the world are more urgent than combatingclimate change. The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear.' And yetAmerica still lags behind the rest of the developed world in showing the way to agreener way of doing business that does not doom us, our children and our grandchildren (should we even get that far) to a worldever-more hostile to not only our way of life but even of our lives themselves. Why? Because denial isn't just a big rive...

TOO SMART FOR OUR OWN GOOD

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:00:11 +0100

this book draws on a wide spectrum of academic understanding, from
evolutionary theory, biology, anthropology, archeology, economics
and environmental science to history to argue the case that
ecologically disruptive behaviour is deeply rooted in who and what
we are as a species.

CLIMATE CAPITALISM

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:00:11 +0100

These are the key questions that this book and its authors ask: 'Can
capitalism effectively respond to climate change? Do we need a
different type of capitalism that is able to deliver growth but on a lowcarbon
basis? If so, how do we get there?'

THE GREEN LINE

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:00:11 +0100

Subtitled, 'A South African Guide To Green Living', this one is meant for the sort of person who would buy Simply Green magazine –
which is to say you, the reader.

Eco: An Essential Sourcebook for Environmentally Friendly Design and Decoration

Tue, 10 May 2011 04:00:11 +0100

Eco demonstrates how everyone can make a difference to the planet by incorporating environmental design, decoration, and strategies for living into their home. Whether you are considering a new build, an addition to your existing home, or simply hold an interest in Eco friendly design.

SCIENCE: The Definitive Guide

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:00:11 +0100

This is not merely another coffee-table book; it’s almost the coffee-table book. That’s not just because it’s huge, measuring well over 37cm by 31cm, and is vast in its scope, but because it has been so beautifully done. Each page is filled with gorgeous pictures and/or illustrations, which are used to full effect in this very large format, and there are excellent info boxes, graphics and, where necessary, are tightly edited by fairly thorough explanations...

Who Turned Out the Lights?

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 04:00:11 +0100

From the editors of PublicAgenda.org, an entertaining, irreverent, and absolutely essential nonpartisan guide to the energy crisis Energy: It's a problem that never goes away (despite our best efforts as a nation to ignore it). Why has there been so much talk and so little action? In Who Turned Out the Lights? Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson offer a much-needed reality check: The "Drill, Baby, Drill" versus "Every Day Is Earth Day" battle is not solving our problems, and the finger-poi...

SCIENCE: The Definitive Guide

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 04:00:11 +0100

Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:00:11 +0100

In this follow up to his previous book on Hubbert's Peak/Peak Oil, Deffeyes gives us some engrossing info on such subjects as the Alberta tar sands, the Green River oil shale and nuclear power. Out of all the peak oil books I've read so far, this one is the only one that gives a very concise and knowledgable summary on these and other "alternatives" to cheap oil. Most other peak oil writers aren't old school geologists with hydrocarbon strings pumping in their veins instead of blood, so y...

The Long Emergency:

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 04:00:11 +0100

Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century The depletion of nonrenewable fossil fuels is about to radically change life much sooner than anticipated. The Long Emergency describes what to expect after the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing readers for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale. By: James Howard HunstlerPublisher: Grove PressISBN: 978-0802142498...

The Hydrogen Economy

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 04:00:11 +0100

In The Hydrogen Economy, Jeremy Rifkin envisions a new economy powered by hydrogen that will fundamentally change the nature of our market, political, and social institutions. Because hydrogen is so plentiful and exists everywhere on earth, Rifkin says, a hydrogen economy would make possible a vast redistribution of power. Today's centralized, top-down flow of energy, controlled by global oil companies and utilities would become obsolete. In t...

TOMORROW'S ENERGY

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 04:00:11 +0100

Hydrogen, an invisible, tasteless gas, is the most abundant element in the universe. It is the fuel of stars and an essential raw material in many biological and chemical processes. In Tomorrow's Energy Peter Hoffmann presents the history of hydrogen energy and discusses using hydrogen fuel as an alternative to hydrocarbon fuels. Hydrogen is not an energy source but a carrier that, like electricity, must be manufactured. Today hydrogen is manufactured by "de...

ENERGY AT THE CROSSROADS

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 04:00:11 +0100

In Energy at the Crossroads Vaclav Smil considers how to reconcile the modern world’s unceasing demand for energy with the absolute necessity to preserve the integrity of the biosphere. The fundamental message of the book is that our dependence on fossil fuels must be reduced not because of any imminent resource shortages but because the widespread burning of oil, coal, and natural gas damages the biosphere and presents increasing economic a...

ENERGIES

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 04:00:11 +0100

This book presents a comprehensive and integrated survey of all the forms of energy that shape our world, from the sun to the human body, from bread to microchips. Written in a scientifically sophisticated yet accessible style, Energies consists of eighty-two short essays organized under six headings: Sun and Earth, Plants and Animals, People and Food, Preindustrial Societies, Fossil-Fueled Civilization, and Transportation and Information. Eac...

COUNTER CURRENTS: Experiments in Sustainability in the Cape Town Region

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:00:11 +0100

Cape Town is the focus of this book, possibly because it is one of the world's chosen destinations and has such spectacular natural beauty. However, these assets form a stark contrast with the challenges and problems facing the Mother City as it enters its second decade of the 21st century.

TOO SMART FOR OUR OWN GOOD

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:00:11 +0100

The only problem with this book is that it's no light-weight, bed-time read. Firstly, it's substantial and runs to over 400 pages, with few illustrations. Secondly, the subject matter is likely to give one nightmares rather than good thoughts just before nodding off. Beyond these comments, however, it should be said that this book is a vital co-traveller with any other information source that allows us an insight into what's happening to our planet...

THE ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:00:11 +0100

.This is a weighty tome, both figuratively and literally, which sets out to make a very serious, studious assessment of the economics that lie behind climate change (and by extension, is also an assessment of data supporting the evidence for climate change as a phenomenon in itself). This book is a nearcurrent and very thorough analysis of what climate change will mean for the economies of the globe...

Taking action on climate change

Sun, 02 May 2010 04:00:11 +0100

In 2005 the South African Climate change Conference, representing national, regional and local government, as well as leading researchers, academics and field investigators, plus a diverse selection of other environmental, social, economic and political stakeholders, decided to set South Africa on a course towards asocially and economically just, lowcarbon society that by 2050 must emit less carbon than it does today. Anything else, it was realised by those involved, would amount to nothing les...

Ecological design

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 04:43:57 +0100

This is a great little mini-coffee table book filled with a compilation of images of smart and eco-design products across the full lifestyle range, from concept cars to every household furnishing and décor add-on, from fashion and accessories to trikes, with two wheels in front where you can carry your groceries from the local organic shop, along with baby, while keeping an eye on both....

How to Save the World in Your Spare Time

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:00:11 +0100

A provocative, intelligent, non-nonsense primer to everything you need to know about getting involved in the issues you are passionate about - including how to organize a successful petition, get your issue into the news, and tailoring and targeting your message for maximum effect. DescriptionWhoever said you cant fight city hall, never had access to a book like this. An invaluable guide and fascinating glimpse into the life of a tireless campaigner for the planet, How to Save the World In You...