The Book Shelf

Autumn: A Season of Change by Peter Marchand, University Press of New England, 2000

Recommended by David W. Baker, Director at Large -  Marchand, visiting professor of conservation biology at Colorado College, deftly synthesizes the latest scientific research on migrations, the ecology of ponds and lakes, seed-dispersal  strategies, the fool-hoarding habits of squirrels, foxes, and birds.  As counterpoint to his detailed text, he includes excerpts from the meticulous yet lushly lyrical writings of early naturalists such as Thoreau, Martha McCulloch Williams, Charles Abbott and John Burroughs.

---Publishers Weekly

Life in the Cold: An Introduction to Winter Ecology, by Peter Marchand, University Press of New England, 1996

Recommended by David W. Baker, Director at Large  - "An ideal entry to winter ecology.  It provides basic information, in a clear manner, about snowpack, plant and animal mechanisms of winter survival on land and in fresh water, plant-animal interactions in the cold, and human reactions to the cold.......Should be in all undergraduate and public libraries where people encounter snow and ice"

---Choice

Eye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival by Carl Safina, Henry Holt and Company, 2002

Recommended by David W. Baker, Director at Large - "In this beautifully written book, Safina blends history and science to offer, in a seamlessly telescoped style, first an ecosystem, then a species and finally one bird, the last as compellingly drawn as the protagonist of a novel.  The general reader cannot fail to be pulled deeply into natural history by reading it."

--- Edward O. Wilson, Author of The Future of Life

Sand County Almanac , by Aldo Leopold, Oxford University Press, 1989

Recommended by David W. Baker, Director at Large - "Outdoor prose writing at its best....A trenchant book, full of beauty and vigor and bite....All through it is [Leopold's] deep love for a healthy land."
--- New York Times Book Review

The Future of Life, by Edward O. Wilson, Alfred A. Knoff, 2003

Recommended by David W. Baker, Director at Large - "Astonishing....Wilson's description of our ecological plight, and his heartfelt plea for understanding and urgent action, are written with such authority, clarity, and passion that I have read nothing to touch them.  The [book] also provides the strongest evidence yet for Wilson as a successful visionary."

---Paul Harvey, "Nature"

Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey, Touchstone Press, 1968

Recommended by David W. Baker, Director at Large - "This is a rare quest to experience nature in its purest form --- the silence, the struggle, the overwhelming beauty.  But this is also the gripping anguished cry of a man of character who challenges the growing exploitation of the wilderness by oil and mining interests as well as the tourist industry"

---Editor's cover notes

Seasonal Guide to the Natural Year: A month by month guide to natural events, (New York-New England Edition), by Scott Weidensaul, FulEcrum Publishing, 1993 - Recommended by David W. Baker, Director at Large
  "If you are wise enough to carry this wonderful guide, you will be able to find that union of time, place, and biological circumstance so delicate it takes one's breath away."

--- National Geographic Traveler

Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900 - 1900, by A. W. Crosby, Cambridge Univ Press, 1993

Recommended by Rick Beal, SAR - Central Section - "The people of European descent form the bulk of the population in most of the temperate zones of the world--North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The military successes of European imperialism are easy to explain; in many cases they were a matter of firearms against spears. But as Alfred Crosby explains in this highly original and fascinating book, the Europeans' displacement and replacement of the native peoples in the temperate zones was more a matter of biology than of military conquest."

---Editorial Review, Amazon.com

Energy and Ecological Economics of Sustainablility, by John Peet, Island Press, 1992

Recommended by Rick Beal, SAR - Central Section - "This book examines the roots of the present environmental crisis in the neoclassical economics upon which modern industrial society is based. The author explains that only when we view ourselves in the larger context of the global ecosystem and accept the physical limits to what is possible can sustainability be achieved."

---Editorial Review, Amazon.com

Ravens in Winter, by Bernd Heinrich, Vintage Books, 1991

Recommended by Mike Mallon, SAR - Southeastern Section - "Why should ravens--which are usually solitary birds--share valuable food in the dead of winter? How clever are these birds? Do they have a language? These are some of the riddles that noted sociobiologist Bernd Heinrich, author of Bumblebee Economics and winner of the John Burroughs Medal, explores in this intriguing book."

---Amazon.com description

Swampwalkers Journal, by David Carroll , Mariner Books, 2001

Recommended by Mike Mallon, SAR - Southeastern Section - "Braving mosquito bites and the wrath of bears, he embarks on a journey through these mysterious, underappreciated ecosystems and records their ups and downs faithfully, complete with exquisite illustrations. You feel almost as if you're reading his field journals, the writing is so immediate and full of detail."

--- Editorial Review, Amazon.com

Changes in the Land, by William Cronon, Hill and Wang Publishing, 2003

Recommended by Mike - "Changes in the Land, provides a brilliant inter-disciplinary interpretation of how land and people influence one another. With its chilling closing line, "The people of plenty were a people of waste," Cronon's enduring and thought-provoking book is ethno-ecological history at its best."

---Amazon.com description

Resource Scarcities, Energy Use, and Environmental Impact: A Case Study of  the New Bedford, Massachusetts  Fisheries, by C. Mitchell and C.J.  Cleaveland.  "Environmental Management", Vol 17, No. 3,: 305-317
  Recommended by Rick Beal, SAR - Central Section

From Mark Phillips:
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

Coming Soon.......Suggested Text books from our SARS and teachers of Environmental Science