Science Nature Books

Several years ago during one of Mr. Nader's presidential campaigns I looked at his website to see what was happening. It was riddled with typographic and other editing mistakes, so I voted for another candidate. Whatever the merits of his positions might have been, it seemed to me he was unable to run even his own office and therefore unready to head the Executive Branch of the U.S. government.

It pleases me to write that this book is ably edited, and a careful read-through by me turned up zero typos. On the flip side, there also are zero footnotes, and this book contains a lot of assertions which I would like to have checked sources on. There is a useful index if you're looking to relocate something within this book.

An informative list is included for further reading, although the listed periodicals appear to be chosen for their "progressive" stance as opposed to careful thinking and pursuit of the facts. What's missing from the periodical list? For starters, The Christian Science Monitor, which frequently contains content in support of the progressive agenda but without much of the "hate speech" and black-and-white rendering occasionally seen in Crashing the Party -- which, by the way, does quote from a Monitor editorial.

By "hate speech", I am referring to a tendency to resort to generalizations, stereotypes, and preconceived notions. In this book the target of such speech isn't an ethnic group, religion, gender, or sexual preference; instead it's "corporations". Assertions that "corporations" are evil are not as productive as they might appear. For one thing, the term "corporation" is more than overly broad; it's downright inaccurate. Many businesses today are not corporations but in fact are limited liability companies. It's important too that not all businesses -- whether Inc. or LLC -- are evil, but Crashing the Party doesn't concede this until page 146, where Nader writes that "there are many companies of lesser size and greater conscience", and then doesn't concede the point again.

Crashing the Party describes many problems which are very real, yet I believe that these are best tackled without the hate speech. In a similar manner, Mr. Nader describes many unfortunate behaviors which have their root in economic forces and lack of creativity, but are described instead as moral shortcomings and ethical lapses. A coincidental appearance of impropriety should not be interpreted as proof of moral turpitude, as such a leap robs the assumer of all hope for progress.

As long as I am mentioning leaps, several reviewers blame Mr. Nader's 2000 presidential run for the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and associated deaths numbering in at least the tens of thousands. This is foolish reasoning. Mr. Nader's only failing on Iraq is not falling for the extortion inflicted by so many commentators: "a vote for Mr. Nader is a vote for __________ (insert anything which means destruction and anarchy)".

With its weaknesses, this book is nonetheless a constructive read. I couldn't give it five stars, but less than four would mislead. With that said, the book is not a quick read and is not as useful on contemporary topics as his more recent book, The Good Fight : Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap. If you have not read The Good Fight and you value your time, I suggest skipping Crashing the Party in favor of this other book by Mr. Nader with fewer words and more substance (although still no footnotes).

I am impressed by Mr. Nader's astounding personal knowledge of current and recent events, a result of decades of advocacy and tireless public service. Although I will never agree with each of his positions across the board, I find Mr. Nader's writing to be very fresh and rather informative. Concerning the weaknesses in some of his reasoning, perhaps I will find the time to write my own book and set a few things straight. As for Mr. Nader's keener observations? They are absolutely brilliant.

This is a good recount of the inside story of our nation and it's one party political machine. Nader talks about how hard it is for third party (or in my view second party since the first two are basically the same) candidates to make any progress in our political system. It is the democrats who lost 2000 by giving up the recount vote, not Nader. Too bad he decided to go off and do his own thing this time instead of working on forming the Gree Party. But the book is definately a must read for anyone interested in our political system.

This is the ultimate book in understanding the importance of breaking free from the lesser of two-evil mentality. Journey with the Nader 2000 presidential campaign through all the obstacles the two-party duopoly inflicts on third party and independent candidates. It provides critical education about the rigged electoral system the Republicrats have cunningly crafted. This book shows that with courage and optimism one can stand up and fight with the corporate owned two-party system.

Nader is brilliant, decent, and incorruptible.
Nader's high ethical standards and great ideas should be a guiding torch to our government.
Thanks to him, there is some accountability in Washington. His persistence to fight for the public stands strong in defiance of the black out by the media and the dirty smear campaigns by the politicians. If Nader was corrupt he would've been recruited by the elites and could've occupied the White House or other high positions in government and top corporations.
Nader is never for sale and will continue to stand for the little people as an icon of truth and integrity.
I would highly recommend his book for every citizen that has concerns for his country, and for every person that values ethics in business, government, and life in general....

This is an excellent book on the issues that face American politics today, the views of Ralph Nader and his story relating to the 2000 election year and his campaign trail.

The book raises awareness to the issues of corporate welfare practiced by both the Republican and Democratic parties, how the Democrats have morphed into a pseudo-Republican party, under the heavy influence of corporate lobbyists, ceasing to represent the working class and masses as Roosevelt and other great Democrats have done in the past.

And the results are ecological damages, social injustices which have removed equal opportunities, centralization of power, corporate owned business which has eliminated much of the community based revenues, a disrespect for diversity and citizen participation and the monetary interests of plutocrat - the corporate elites - removing personal and global responsibilities. Inflation has risen, workers make less, poverty has increased, minimum wage is lower today in relation to inflation. Americans work longer hours for the same pay. Farmers have been devastated by large corporate industry, public works and schools have been given less and less funding and are crumbling, corporate welfare programs that take our tax dollars amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars ever year continue to rise with government giveaways of taxpayer assets including public forests, minerals and new medicines. Affordable housing are at record low levels, while the large corporate banks show record profits. Consumer debt is at a al-time high. Personal bankruptcies are at a record level. Personal savings are dropping to record lows and personal assets are extremely low. Corporate welfare dominates while small inadequate budgets provide the publics health and safety issues. Environmental regulations are removed for corporate interests. Wealth inequality is greater than at any time since World War II. The top 1 percent of the wealthiest people have more financial wealth than the bottom 90 percent of Americans combined, the worst inequality among large Western nations. And with all this, the corporate lobbyists continue to receive more privileges and immunities for their wrongdoing, while the workers, the labor parties, the populists - farmers, the environmentalists, the feminists, those that work towards civil rights - all are diminishing in great degrees.

The argument against Nader is his pulling of votes away from the Democrats, resulting in Republican elections. Yet this argument is a lame duck when you put Socratic inquiry to the Democratic party and see the morphing there of into another Republican party. The two party duopoly has been called the DemRep party and the corporate control, the plutocrats, are buying the government which can result in an aristocracy and totalitarian system, this time base on radical privatization instead of state owned communism, however the end results are the same. The third party, the Greens, offer an alternative, a vote against big-money politics as usual. The duopoly offers a politics of fear - the lesser of two corrupt parties, while the third party offers a politics of home and democratic renewal And even if not the elected party, if offers itself as a constant watchdog of the Democratic party to make necessary changes.

I think Nader gives a good account of the media, the third party partisan bias in American politics, the problem with the corporate directed Commission on Presidential Debates - the CPD, his campaign trail, his opposition, party funders, party loyalists and etc.

On page 289 take from the New York Times: "The Green Party recognizes that every major social-justice movement in our history was made possible by a shift of more power to the people, away from the power that the few control. And it's way past time for a shift of power today from big business to the people. When slavery was abolished, shift of power from the plantations. Women's right to vote installed, that was a shift of power. Freedom to form trade unions by workers, shift of power form the industrialists to the workers. When the farmers started the progressive political movement, shift of power from the banks and the railroads to the farm areas and gave us political reforms for all Americans to enjoy to this day 100 years later. Power is the central contention of politics; that's what it's all about. If we don't have a more equitable destitution of power, there is no equitable distribution of wealth or income. And people who work hard will not get their just rewards. And the main way to shift power, if you had to have one reform is with public funding of public elections. Clean money, clean elections. Clean money and clean elections to stop the nullification of your votes by special interest money. Just thing about it; you go down to vote, you expect it to count, and the votes are cut off at the pass by fancy fund-raising dinners all over the country where fat cats pay off politicians for present and future favors and the politicians shake down the fat cats in a kind of combined symbiosis of legalized bribery and legalized extortion."

"Civilization as if people are first is not just about opportunities; it is about limits and boundaries around antisocial, criminogenic behavior whose limitless logic eventually would spell omnicide for this very limited home we call Mother Earth." page 315

We've used the Bob books, Diego phonics, Curious George phonics and by far this is the best "set" of books for my 4 year old boy. Each book focuses on a different phrase, so the repetition of certain words builds confidence.

The stickers have been a great reward system, for us. Generally I am selective about when using rewards - I'd prefer my son learn to read simply for the enjoyment of reading, and not for the sticker - but I have to say that stickers work! I volunteer for 1st & 2nd graders who are "behind" their classmates (something I really don't agree with in our public schools) and stickers motivate them to read, even at that age. It also becomes a quick way for them to see how many books they've read.

I commend the teacher who started this set, and hope more educators are able to put their real-life expertise out for parents like me!

We tried the BOB books in addition to tons of other early reading books and we were always disappointed! They were too hard or easy and not progressive. The stories were boring.

We started this series of Books while my daughter was in Kindergarten. She loved them!!! Earning a sticker every time she correctly read a story was a HUGE incentive because after 3 stickers she moved on to the next story! The repetition was incredibly helpful with word recognition and the comprehension questions are a great tool that we now do with every story we read! We read this series all summer long and now my daughter is in an advanced reading group in first grade! I recommend them to anyone who has a child with a basic sight word list.

My daughter who turned 3 in April loves this book; she received it as a gift last Christmas. It's 10 little books that pull out of clear plastic sleeves. She likes to pretend to read,and the way these stories are written and illustrated, it is very easy for her to do so. I just bought a couple more in the series; I hope they're as good.

I recommend this book to anyone with a child ready to read. It is a step by step phonics based system. Other books I've looked at have black and white pictures or boring stories. The colorful pictures add to the story and I often hear my son laughing while he reads even the simplest books. I have both sets that are in Level One, and both sets for Level two. I'm sure I will be purchasing Level Three.

My daughter LOVED this series!!! One comment though, the description has preschol readers as the reading level.. but actually the INDEPENDENT level is about a second grade level book. Nice pictures, easy text, graduated vocabulary, and high interest topics. I only wish they had MORE on the independent level than they do.

I'm using this book for some ESOL students who are 8th graders and have a lack of prior education. I'm teaching them map skills and helping them learn about the world. The Oceans are a concept they need to learn for history and Earth Science.

My 5 yr old has been riveted by this book since he got it at the age of 3.....we have given it as gifts to 4-5yr olds and always got a call or email commenting on how great the book is. The story is imaginative and well written, with interesting details, it is actually educational but mostly fun. The pictures are what take your breath away. It is a great birthday gift for boys and girls!

My 5 year old has so much fun with this book. It is written in a way that makes the child feel as if they are traveling to the moon. It talks about what it would be like. The pictures are my son's favorite part of the book. Highly recommended.

This is a beautiful book that my 3 year old loves, but, despite being appropriate for a 3 year old, it is a pleasure to read to him, because it is full of provocative ideas that adults enjoy. I suspect we will both continue to enjoy it for years to come. It is a great companion to 'On the Moon' by Anna Milbourne and Benji Davies, which is essentially a re-telling of the Apollo mission for kids, whereas this book is a re-imagining of the Apollo mission. It follows an imaginary modern journey to the Moon, where, among other things, the young astronaut finds the flag left by the Apollo astronauts blown over by their blast off, and re-erects it. It ends by comparing the richness of life on Earth, made possible by air and water, to the desolation of the Moon. It is also beautifully illustrated.

This book arrived at our library last week, and I was immediately blown away by it! Faith McNulty and Steven Kellogg have done a great job of showing and telling children what a trip to the moon would really be like.

One thing that is great about this book is the way experiences and things that are familiar to children are used to describe extraordinarily UN-familiar experiences and ideas. The book is written in the second person point of view -- directly addressing the reader. I thought it was brilliant the way McNulty captures what a child's (or anyone's) feelings might be as they hurtle through the dark expanse of space, far away from the comfort of Earth and home. ("Up here in space you may feel very alone. Don't look back at the Earth. It would make you even lonelier.")

Kellogg illustrates a variety of moods, experiences and concepts from eye-catching perspectives. There is whimsy: an astronaut floats weightlessly around inside the capsule amidst a swarm of playing cards, and, later in the book an unexpected herd of hypothetical moon cows makes an appearance! There is quite a lot of loneliness in Kellogg's space: A lone astronaut hops around and explores the strange, barren, black and grey moonscape for several pages. In a compelling two-page spread, Kellogg depicts a lone astronaut, standing on the Moon under a lonely black sky -- the scene is printed with the darkest jet black ink I have EVER seen printed in any picture book. At the end of the journey, the astronaut returns to an exuberant fold out frieze of Earth's magnificently varied biodiversity, under a shining sun and clear sky with children swimming in fresh, clear water -- the essential element that makes our planet habitable. I was especially pleased to see this book, since another excellent children's book about the Moon, E.C. and Robin Krupp's book, The Moon and You, is not readily available anymore. I highly recommend this book for any elementary school library, or for the book collections of Kindergarteners to second graders. I also would not be surprised if it wins some children's book awards in the months to come.

If you have a child like mine who loves scientific minutia then this is the book for you. It is technical and not appropriate for younger preschoolers.

A galaxy of stars! Dirt is unique, unlike any other book I've read. (Bill Logan tends to write books like that -- his new one, Oak: The Frame of Civilization, is also unlike anything I've read, including Dirt.) The essay format works well. Logan's writing is cogent, witty, at times poignant; his imagination is fantastic. Rousing and satisfying my curiosity, he asks intriguing questions, and in seeking answers follows paths I would not have thought of but am glad to be led down by such a brilliant, quirky, earthy guide. Technicalities of soil science and geology are illuminated by personal experience and reflection on spirituality, childhood dreams Ilike digging to China), and encounters with masters of human achievement. This book may be ten years old but it's still exciting and provocative. I'm pleased to hear it is to be the subject of a documentary film; I hope that will lead to a reprint of this book, which is long overdue.

I feel in love with this book. Bought it as a gift and had much trouble giving it up. What a beautiful testimony to the earthly process of life and death in which we all participate. Logan's cross-disciplinary commentary was heartfelt and informative. I have told everyone I know to read it. It is magnificent.

Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by William Bryant Logan is an enlightening and heartening read for anyone who studies the earth in science or daily living. Although a few of the factoids are not quite correct (watch that logarithmic scale!), this book is full of fascinating science of the soil, surrounded by heartfelt prose. Logan makes earth-centered philosophy accessible to anyone who has ever had a gut feeling that the land is good. The religion of the soil he presents is unobtrusive, yet all-pervading. Read it and feel good.

A well-written and researched tribute to the mysterious medium that provides the foundation for life on earth. A series of short stories that paint a colorful picture of how soil evolved with the earth.

certainly not "DOWN AND DIRTY". highly recommended, very informative

and it makes one appreciative of the earth (dirt)...

good book, quick read. explains the problems of peak oil and the implications it has for the future of the energy industry.

This is another superb contribution on Peak Oil that I had the pleasure of reading by Richard Heinberg. By and large and once again, I would also classify this text as a classic. Other reviews do a wonderful job of summarizing the nuts and bolts of this book. I will not belabor such points.

Suffice it to say that this book is a well done addition to The Party's Over. It forces one to consider in even greater detail, the implications of the Peak Oil in the realm of economics, alternatives (and the latest developments), and some suggested courses of action to deal with the coming changes. Much like his previous books, it is indeed well written and oddly enjoyable (again, given the subject matter). I appreciate how he treats the entire political spectrum in the same manner, i.e. Democrats and Republicans alike, in how all have contributed and sustain the current course of events in one way or another. Heinberg shines in this effort.

[...]

Power Down is a powerful analysis of human modern civilization. The key element that boosted technology, medical advancement, world population and globalization is oil. This cheap source of energy is as Richard Heinberg says a "free ride" that will soon come to an end.
Oil have defined the boundaries of modern civilization and its inevitable depletion is gonna change the course of it, and its gonna happen soon.
Power Down, is a scientific and insightful and analysis of energy, it traces the multiple consequences of oil depletion and the possible solutions to an energetic solution for humanity.
However most importantly, this book rather than describing in depth the critical situation we are facing, it raises awareness of the great value energy has and it makes us think more about saving, having a more moderate lifestyle, and living more in harmony with nature and its valuable resources.

As with "The Long Emergency" I won't go into too much detail since there are already many excellent reviews of this book. However, I do feel it is important to add my voice since all the evidence points to the fact that what Heinberg and the other "peak oil" folks are saying is reality...

Heinberg has done a remarkable job of presenting the overall picture of the main issue: our reliance on cheap oil as the basis for civilization and how we are now at the time when cheap oil is about to disappear. He presents the facts in a very quick way since his other book, "The Party's Over" goes into much more detail on the subject.

He then presents the reader with four possible scenarios to deal with the problem. Unfortunately, the first one ("last man standing") is basically a great die-off due to resource wars and appears to be our present choice. The second one, "power down", involves massive global reductions in consumption. It makes the most sense but, of course, is beyond any political level to implement. The next one is some sort of new-age "technology will save us" way to sleepwalk into a die-off. And finally there is the individual and, potentially, community-level life-boat building solution.

To be honest, the prospects even for the last solution are daunting. However, I must say that Heinberg gives all possibilities equal presentation and stays remarkably calm and neutral as he develops all possibilities. The choice is up to the reader...

The writing style is engaging and his sidebar "stories" are excellent. This is a quick and interesting read.

This book is really just a simplistic view of "Limits to Growth" and Jantsch's seminal "The Self-Organizing Universe: Scientific and Human Implications of the Emerging Paradigm of Evolution" where these projections were made a long time ago. Too bad the baby-boomers didn't read and learn back then...

The first 85 pages (of a 186 page book) are dedicated to verbosely enumerating the arguments from his previous book (without effectively arguing his reasoning). He also spends quite a bit of space to describing his opinions of the current U.S. administration. While I might agree with his political opinions, I believe that he undermines the thesis of this book in the minds of a lot more people. It is this reason why I would categorize this book is really nothing more than a "preaching to the choir" book.

The heart of the book is a 28 page chapter named "Powerdown" which provides some suggestions, but is mostly fluff. Probably the most important page in the chapter is the list of books that actually do discuss the powerdown scenario.

The third chapter is about how technology is unlikely to save us from dwindling energy.

The fourth chapter is about how people would react to the coming situation. He spends quite a while rehashing Gibbon's arguments on Rome and Diamond's arguments about ecological collapse. If you've read those two books you'll quickly notice that Heinberg and these two authors are on completely different planes of scholarship.

I was excited that he discussed, however briefly, how we might save information from the coming Dark Ages. Though, it was for only two pages.

Overall I thought that the author's arguments were weak and there really wasn't much that I got out of this book. I hope that other (and future) books in this genre will describe and defend the thesis better, and they should give more suggestions of what to do.

I love Seymour Simon's books and his series on the body is no exception. I do guided reading and independent reading in my ESOL class and have a Bosnian student who is going to go nuts about this book. She loves non-fiction.

Excellent health/well being book with a great step by step introduction to the brain, its parts, how it works and the memory. The pictures are the best part. Contains excellent color illustrations and will be of interest to students from the 4th grade through the 9th grade. It's also a recommended read for the teachers.

This is a very good introduction to the brain and its functions. The book has numerous high quality photos of the brain, CT/MRI,spinal cord/nerves and more. Neuroscience is made fun for both kids and adults!

Traditional psychology posits a strict distinction between me, in here, and everything else, out there. While such a paradigm has a long history, it was Freud who established such duality as dogma and insisted that a theory of human behavior must be based on scientific observation. Good idea, Sig. But science marches on. Now that physicists believe that experimental results depend as much on the observer as the observed, the old "in here/out there" dichotomy is falling on hard times. Further, evolutionary theory has embraced the idea that ecosystems evolve as much as individual species, and psychology continues to reveal the constant interplay between who we are and where we exist. Enter "Ecopsychology," a framework for rethinking the causes of environmental despoliation and its impact on personal growth. The growing field includes ecofeminists and deep ecologists, Buddhist and Native American psychologists, Harvard Psychiatry professors and architects. Why are we, as a specie, so willing to foul our own nests? How does that effect us? We evolved as widely dispersed hunter-gatherers intimately connected to the natural world and now often live in close proximity to thousands of other humans largely insulated from the living system that supports us. Who can reasonably claim that this would NOT have profound impacts on the psyche? Along the way, ecopsychologists surmise that there still exists a deep connection to nature that environmentalism would do well to tap. They suggest that joyful celebration of our interdependence will touch hearts turned off by scare tactics that constantly iterate impending doom. This book is an excellent overview of a new direction for psychology and the exciting convergence of post-Darwinian, post-Einsteinian, post-Heisenbergian, post-Toastian (isn't this fun?) thought.

Assembled here are some of the leading lights of ecopsychology, with papers and excerpts from the books they've written: Roszak himself, Aizenstat, Hillman, Gomes, Glendinning, and on and on. A rare collection of important voices.

The idea of ecopsychology is to open up awareness to the unheard voice of the Earth. "Animism" is a 19th century assumption that assumes the world lives only to the degree we project into it. The authors here realize that animism is a reductionistic and outdated concept that only serves to justify the ongoing rape and dematerialization of the natural world--a world that in fact projects her presence into those of us who can learn to hear her.

This is not a back-to-nature project but a necessity if we are to preserve what's left of the Earth from our greed, haste, and the global warming of the psyche endemic to a society of rapacious and immature consumers too bent on private advantage to do what our ancestors did for a million years of history and prehistory: recognize and respect her personhood. And today, we can do so with all our critical faculties intact and a bit of help from green technics.

This book contains essays from a variety of sources. It does not tell you what ecopsychology is but tells you why it makes sence.
It quotes many psychologists, even Freud, and analises the real issues of today. Excellent material for a college thesus, but no real info on the techniques used/

This is a highly informative book. It tells about people's different points of view on the highly volatile and up-and-coming field of ecopsychology. This book is a great source of information and knowledge of the field as well as it's a pretty easy read. I used this book as a jumping off point for research for my undergraduate thesis. If you are interested in environmental issues and psychology, read this book.

To those who are environmental activists, this explains much of what the lay person thinks. This book I don't feel was meant to be a textbook of sorts, but it helps people who are trying to open up the minds and hearts of the human race to realize that we each as an individual can control how much and in what way we impact mother earth. Fact upon fact have been given out to try to convince people of the terrible acts we commit against Mother Earth and yet some people still don't feel they are responsible. I enjoyed reading the book. Honestly, I didn't rad the book to critique what the authors believe or rate their knowledge or intelligence, I read it for information on how to help! I feel it will help me to present my views to people in ways that they may understand and I will understand more of how people perceive them.