Bookshelf

Biodiversity Change and Human Health: From Ecosystem Services to Spread of Disease
In Biodiversity Change and Human Health: From Ecosystem Services to Spread of Disease, 32 experts from a wide range of disciplines, including Stephen Kellert, Tweedy Ordway Professor of Social Ecology at F&ES, examine the interaction between nature and human health. Organized into five parts, the book investigates the impact of changes in biodiversity not only on human physical well-being, but on quality of life, the spread of infectious diseases, the delivery of ecosystem services and the availability of resources for medicine. The book is published by Island Press. To purchase a copy, visit www.islandpress.com.

The Green Bride Guide: How to Create an Earth-Friendly Wedding on Any Budget
In The Green Bride Guide: How to Create an Earth-Friendly Wedding on Any Budget, Kate Harrison ’09 offers a guide to marrying, green-style, from engagement to honeymoon. A crucial part of a green wedding, says the author, “is thinking about who you are, what your values are and what kind of wedding you would want.” Based on the experience of planning her own eco-conscious wedding, Harrison provides tips on products, services, destinations and creative solutions that make sustainability the top priority. For example, Harrison recommends a “wedding co-op,” in which a group of like-minded brides pools resources to buy generic items that can be reused at multiple weddings, reducing both costs and the events’ ecological footprint. The book is published by Sourcebooks Casablanca. To purchase a copy, visit www.amazon.com.

Green Intelligence: Creating Environments That Protect Human Health
In Green Intelligence: Creating Environments That Protect Human Health, John Wargo, professor of environmental policy, political science and risk analysis at F&ES, warns of the extra-ordinary pervasiveness of chemicals in our environment (see story, page 12). Dubbed “a 21st-century Silent Spring” by Thomas Lovejoy, biodiversity chair at the Heinz Center, the book explores the health dangers wrought by some of the best-known chemicals, such as DDT, mercury and strontium-90. The presence of dangerous chemicals in the environment, Wargo argues, may help explain the rise in obesity, dementia, diabetes, asthma, developmental abnormalities in children, reproductive failure and more. The book is published by Yale University Press. To purchase a copy, visit yalepress.yale.edu. 

Green Recovery: Get Lean, Get Smart, and Emerge From the Downturn on Top
In Green Recovery: Get Lean, Get Smart, and Emerge From the Downturn on Top, Andrew Winston ’03 offers a guide for business executives and managers who are looking for ideas about and a deeper understanding of sustainability. He argues that the same strategies used to address environmental issues can help companies not only survive current hard economic times, but thrive when the economy improves. The book is published by Harvard Business Press. To purchase a copy, visit www.andrewwinston.com/books. 

Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice
In Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice, Alissa Hamilton ’03, Ph.D. ’06, offers a brief on the consumer’s right to know how food is produced. Contrary to its image as a natural Florida product, says the author, “orange juice is highly processed and heavily engineered.” Chemists play an important role in the “fresh” flavor of this traditional breakfast drink, and the “Florida” juice is actually shipped from Brazil, where land is cheaper and few environmental regulations exist. Hamilton also reveals the nega-tive agricultural ramifications for Florida growers of orange juice production. The book is published by Yale University Press. To purchase a copy, visit yalepress.yale.edu.

The Sustainable Learning Community: One University’s Journey to the Future
In The Sustainable Learning Community: One University’s Journey to the Future, editors John Aber ’73, Ph.D. ’76, Tom Kelly and Bruce Mallory chronicle the University of New Hampshire’s systemwide shift to sustainability. The book comprises 36 case studies offered by faculty, administrators, consultants and community members and is organized into four areas—teaching, research, operations and engagement. The editors hope to demonstrate the interconnectivity of the university’s multiple initiatives and their argument that sustainability demands community involvement. The book is published by the University of New Hampshire Press. To purchase a copy, visit www.upne.com.

Ten Commitments: Reshaping the Lucky Country’s Environment
In Ten Commitments: Reshaping the Lucky Country’s Environment, more than 40 of Australia’s leading environmental thinkers address their country’s most urgent environmental issues. With attention given to multiple ecosystems and commercial sectors and the environmental themes that cross the boundaries of both, the book focuses each essay with a list of 10 key urgent issues. Edited by David Lindenmayer, Stephen Dovers, Molly Harriss Olson ’85 and Steve Morton, the book is published by CSIRO Publishing. To purchase a copy, visit publish.csiro.au.

Treasures of the Earth: Need, Greed, and a Sustainable Future
In Treasures of the Earth: Need, Greed, and a Sustainable Future, Saleem Ali ’96 argues that we must seek a new environmental paradigm that not only incorporates the need to conserve, but accommodates the human propensity to consume natural resources for cultural and developmental reasons. After providing a natural history of consumption and materialism, with ample scientific detail and humanistic insight, Ali discusses the risks and benefits of mineral extraction and proposes seven questions that must be clearly addressed before any development project should proceed. The book is published by Yale University Press. To purchase a copy, visit yalepress.yale.edu.

The Christian Future and the Fate of Earth
In The Christian Future and the Fate of Earth, celebrated author and “geologian” Thomas Berry, who died in June, reflects on Christianity and the environmental crisis of our times. In powerful and poetic language, he presents a compelling vision of the sacredness of the universe and the interrelatedness of the Earth community. Drawing on Thomas Aquinas and Teilhard de Chardin, Berry brings the Christian tradition into a cosmology of care for the whole of Creation. The book, edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, co-founders of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale, is published by Orbis Books. To purchase a copy, visit www.orbisbooks.com.

The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-First Century
In The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Berry makes a persuasive case for an interreligious dialogue that can confront the environmental problems of the 21st century. These erudite essays represent Berry’s best work, covering such issues as human beings’ modern alienation from nature and the possibilities of future, regenerative forms of religious experience. Edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker, a founder with John Grim of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale, the book is published by Columbia University Press. To purchase a copy, visit cup.columbia.edu.