We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,562,808.31 | Books Available: 796,917 | Members Online: 194

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - The World According To Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth

The World According To Pimm A Scientist Audits the Earth
Author: Stuart Pimm

Ever since the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in the '60s, we've known that human activity has had detrimental effects on the environment. Yet after four decades of growing awareness of environmental problems, we still see passionate disagreement between activists and business interests over what should be done. Much of the impasse... more » stems from the fact that the problems are difficult to quantify. How do we assess the impact of habitat loss on species, when we haven't even counted them all, and we are just beginning to understand how they interact? How do we determine how great a population the ecosystem can bear, when we have yet to quantify the depletion of resources? How do we know if current extinction rates are excessive if we don't know what "normal" extinction rates are? Without scientific, numerical information we cannot make headway on these issues. Working on the front lines of conservation biology since the early '70s, Stuart Pimm is one of the pioneers whose work has put the "science" in environmental science. His research covers the reasons why species become extinct, how fast they do so, the global patterns of habitat loss and species extinction, the role of introduced species in causing extinction and, importantly, the management consequences of this research. In The World According to Pimm, he leads us on a tour of the world and shows us how science can take us deeper into these issues. We see how humans impact has affected Hawaii since its first colonization by the Polynesians; how centuries of persistent agriculture have affected drylands; how forests have feared and how they are likely to fare in the near future; how future population pressures will affect our freshwater supply, of which we already use 50%. We journey across the oceans and discover where their resources lie, and we take a look inside the endangered species ledger, which conservationists are reluctantly filling with "EX"ex, for extinct. Though he never preaches or scolds, Pimm is keeping careful accounts, with hard numbers, of what we are taking from the earth. He is also wonderfully descriptive, full of appreciation for the riches of the planet and the excitement that increasing scientific knowledge always brings, but also urgently hopeful that our growing understanding of our world will enable us to save it.

ISBN-13: 9780071374903
ISBN-10: 0071374906
Publication Date: 7/20/2001
Pages: 304
Rating:

Currently 2/5 Stars.

2 stars, based on 1 rating

Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Science & Math >> Earth Sciences >> Environmental Science
Science & Math >> Earth Sciences >> Geology
Engineering & Transportation >> Professional Science >> Earth Sciences >> Environmental Science
Engineering & Transportation >> Professional Science >> Earth Sciences >> Geology
Outdoors & Nature >> Environment >> Conservation
Outdoors & Nature >> Environment >> Ecology

Back to the Top ↑

Search - The World According To Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth

Loading...