You have arrived at an Earthchild webpage. Author: Choon Ming Tan.
Bibliography
http://members.lycos.co.uk/earthchild77/biblio.htm
Last updated 5th Jun 2002
Over the years as an environmental science student at the University of Salford, I have come to use and know a number of books from a range of disciplines. Beginning in year 1, I recorded down on paper, books that I have read for my studies. Through the years and into my final year, I have always thought that this list will come in useful some day. Now that I have come to the end of my BSc (Hons) course, the process of organising and converting this bibliography into what you are seeing here has helped to serve as a refresher for me.
I have by no means read from cover to cover every book that is listed here - it would have neither been productive nor made me any wiser. For some books, I skipped and hopped through the pages; for some, at least a chapter or two; for some, more than a few chapters; and for the well written ones, many chapters. What is most important though is whether the impression lasts; for the books which impressions linger with me, their titles appear below in dark green. Authors such as Botkin and Keller, Glasson, Mason, O'Neill, Primack and Wilson will probably remain lodged in my mind for some time to come.
Having read a book does not mean that one is capable of using what he/she has read. It is only when one can draw relations with his/her life and work that he/she then move beyond the book to make the words, ideas, theory, concepts become that of his/her own. Is this described as insight, intuition, acumen, perception or gut feel? If I might have left out an important literature that comes under any of the following headings, can the reader please recommend the text to me so that I may broaden my bibliography's scope. Thank you.
ECOLOGY /
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
In
environmental studies, it is not difficult to hijack the entire
syllabus and focus on only ecology and biological conservation.
Alterations in environmental physico-chemical conditions, in
particular those situations that are due to anthropogenic causes,
frequently lead to changes in wildlife that inhabit the affected
sites; changes may be at the individual, population or community
levels. While fluctuations in physico-chemical parameters are
often not easily observed per se, overt effects that manifest in
flora and fauna seldom escapes the eye. Moreover, I would think
that charismatic living things stir human emotions much more than
would copper or PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) concentrations.
Also, it is usually the case that only when pollutants in the
environment reach such thresholds so as to affect the well-being
of wildlife or our legitimate use of the environment that we then
realise the consequences and only then categorise the situation
as pollution prompting our reaction to a problem that is
otherwise avoidable. While subtle releases of pollutants may
cause gradual ecological changes over time, drastic environmental
changes such as habitat destruction lays plain for all to see the
impacts of mindless human actions on nature. In the following
list, Wilson (1992), Primack (1998), Soule (1986) and Mason
(2002) have been extremely useful to me. The Daisy World concept
explained by Lovelock (1995) should be studied with interest.
Bagenal T (ed), (1978), IBP Handbook No 3: Methods for Assessment of Fish Production in Fresh Waters (3ed), Blackwell Scientific Publications Ltd, Oxford.
Begon M, Harper JL and Townsend CR, (1996), Ecology: Individuals, Populations and Communities (3ed), Blackwell Science, London.
Begon M, Harper JL and Townsend CR, (2000), Essentials of Ecology, Blackwell Science, London.
Carr S, Lane A and Tait J, (1988), Practical Conservation: Site Assessment and Management Planning, The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Carroll CR and Meffe GK, (1997), Principles of Conservation Biology (2ed), Sinauer Associates, Sunderland.
Chapman JL and Reiss MJ, (1999), Ecology: Principles and Applications (2ed), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Colinvaux P, (1993), Ecology 2, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, Chichester.
Cox CB and Moore PD, (1993), Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach (5ed), Blackwell, Oxford.
Freedman B, (1995), Environmental Ecology: The Ecological Effects of Pollution, Disturbance and Other Stresses, Academic Press Limited, London.
Huggett RJ, (1998), Fundamentals of Biogeography, Routledge, London.
Hunter Jr ML, (1996), Fundamentals of Conservation Biology, Blackwell Science, Cambridge.
Jenik J and Longman KA, (1987), Tropical Forest and its Environment (2ed), Longman, Harlow.
Lovelock J, (1995), The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth (2ed), Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Mason CF, (2002), Biology of Freshwater Pollution (4ed), Prentice Hall, Harlow.
Moss B, (1998), Ecology of Fresh Waters: Man and Medium, Past to Future (3ed), Blackwell Science, Oxford.
Primack RB, (1998), Essentials of Conservation Biology (2ed), Sinauer Associates, Sunderland.
Smith RL, (1992), Elements of Ecology, HarperCollins Publishers Limited, New York.
Soule ME (ed), (1986), Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity and Diversity, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland.
Wilson EO, (1992), The Diversity of Life, Penguin Books, London.
Peck S, (1998), Planning for Biodiversity, Island Press, Washington.
Vink APA, (1983), Landscape Ecology and Landuse, Longman, Harlow.
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT / ORGANIC AGRICULTURE / TOURISM / ENERGY
Sustainable
development (SD) calls for us, the present generation, to manage
and use our environment wisely so that future generations can
continue to benefit from Earth's resources. So as not to lapse
into a protracted discussion, 2 important points need be raised
here. It appears that regardless of how one mulls over the SD
debate, the matter of too many people will soon surface:
overpopulation, unequal distribution and the tax on Earth's
carrying capacity. Put it simply, if I have the entire world to
myself and without the technology, no matter what I do, natural
changes notwithstanding, the world will always remain a beautiful
place! The second point pertaining to SD is recycling. At the
individual level, one can contribute to the sustainability cause
by adjusting one's living standards and attitudes to minimise
one's footprint on Earth: reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink.
Overpopulation and recycling aside, especially for me, the
North-South issue butts at me repeatedly as forcefully as the
matter on the sensibility in which our conventional demand/supply
economy operates. Elliott (1994) is a small but informative book
on SD. Earthscan publications on SD are a good
read. Agriculture interests me because even though farmers are
the ones who grow the greens that we consume, we blame them for
destroying the soil and polluting surface waters. Tompkins and
Bird (1998) give organic farming a spiritual touch. Whereas
farming is best learnt by working the soil, literature on it is
not few; in here, I mention Fenzau and Walters (1996), and
Jeavons (1995). Eco-tourism may bridge the gap between nature
preservation and economic development, but could it also lead to
an over dependence on tourists' money? As for energy resources,
Boyle (1996) is an indispensable textbook on renewables.
Binns T (ed), (1995), People and Environment in Africa, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.
Bockman OC, Laegreid M and Kaarstad O, (1999), Agriculture, Fertilizers and the Environment, CABI Publishing, Wallingford.
Boyle G (ed), (1996), Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford, and The Open University, Milton Keynes.
DeFries RS and Silver CS, (1990), One Earth, One Future: Our Changing Global Environment, National Academy Press, Washington.
Elliott JA, (1994), An Introduction to Sustainable Development: The Developing World, Routledge, London.
Fenzau CJ and Walters C, (1996), Eco-Farm (2ed), Acres U.S.A., Metairie (Louisiana).
France L (ed), (1997), The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Tourism, Earthscan, London.
Glasbergen P and Blowers A (eds), (1995), Environmental Policy in an International Context: Perspectives, Arnold, London.
Hall CM and Lew AA (eds), (1998), Sustainable Tourism: A geographical Perspective, Longman, Harlow.
Jeavons J, (1995), How to Grow More Vegetables (5ed), Ten Speed Press, Berkeley.
Kirkby J, OKeefe P and Timberlake L (eds), (1995), The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Development, Earthscan, London.
Redclift M and Sage C, (1994), Strategies for Sustainable Development: Local Agendas for the Southern Hemisphere, John Wiley and Sons Limited, Chichester.
Starkey R and Welford R (eds), (2001), The Earthscan Reader in Business and Sustainable Development, Earthscan, London.
Timberlake L, (1985), Africa in Crisis: the Causes, the Cures of Environmental Bankruptcy, International Institute for Environment and Development, London.
Tompkins P and Bird C, (1998), Secrets of the Soil: New Solutions for Restoring Our Planet, Earthpulse Press, Anchorage.
GEOLOGY /
HYDROLOGY / METEOROLOGY / ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
Pollutants
are transported through environmental pathways. It is not enough
to know only the chemistry (nature) of a pollutant. In order to
predict the pollutant's behaviour in the environment, we must
know the environmental context equally well. Water is a universal
solvent; it is a transport agent for heavy metals and organic
compounds. Water also plays an important role in the
physico-chemical processes of weathering, erosion and deposition
that go on continuously on the Earth's surface. Except where
tamed by concrete, the natural landscape is in diverse states of
change. In order to read soil erosion, river processes, wind
erosion, slope failures and coastal processes, we need to
understand the varied forces that act upon the ground on which we
stand, determined to an equal extent by the ground's geology.
Human interferences (to satisfy socio-economic demands) and our
refusal to acknowledge and allow for natural processes expose us
to greater environmental risks. "Maktoub" is an Arabic
word for "the way of the river" - rather than managing
and subduing, respect and let the river flow its course. Most of
the following texts will serve the environmental student well.
Wicander and Monroe (2002) is still a favourite starting (and
finishing) point, moving subsequently onto Cooke and Doornkamp
(1990), Shaw (1994), Craig et al.
(2001) and others. Musk's (1988) book on meteorology should be
treasured.
Cooke RU and Doornkamp JC, (1990), Geomorphology in Environmental Management: A New Introduction (2ed), Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Craig JR, Skinner BJ and Vaughan DJ, (2001), Resources of the Earth: Origin, Use and Environmental Impact (3ed), Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.
Goudie A, Anderson M, Burt T, Lewin J, Richards K, Whalley B and Worsley P, (1990), Geomorphological Techniques (2ed), Routledge, London.
Kiely G, (1997), Environmental Engineering, McGraw-Hill, Boston.
Mannion AM, (1997), Global Environmental Change (2ed), Longman, Harlow.
Murck BW, Porter SC and Skinner BJ, (1996), Environmental Geology, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, Chichester.
Musk LF, (1988), Weather Systems, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Price M, (1996), Introducing Groundwater (2ed), Chapman and Hall, London.
Shaw EM, (1994), Hydrology in Practice, Chapman and Hall, London.
Wicander R and Monroe JS, (2002), Essentials of Geology (3ed), Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove (California).
Williams MAJ, Dunkerley DL, De Deckker P, Kershaw AP and Stokes T, (1993), Quaternary Environments, Edward Arnold, London.
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT ASSESSMENT / ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
When I
first started the environmental science course at Salford
University, I was left hanging as to what I should address and
how I should go about to assess a specific environment. I came to
know of EIA through Gilpin (1995). The predicted negative effects
of a proposed project on the development site and its surrounding
areas will necessitate evaluation, mitigation and/or
compensation. Determination of the environmental baseline
(including regulations and consents) is critical because it is
against this reference that the effects of the proposal are
measured. When weighed together with socio-economic needs and
demands, ecologically unfavourable impacts arising from the
proposal may instead be regarded as acceptable. The environment
is compartmentalised to systematise assessment. Interactions
between the different compartments, which may be illustrated with
a network diagram, are also taken into account. EIA is an
important and invaluable tool; a firm grounding in it, from an
industrial application standpoint, can help provide a framework
from within which to learn about the various disciplines of
environmental science. Glasson et al.
(1999) deliver the theory behind EIA with authority. Internet
resources on EIA should be harnessed, for example the Australian EIA Network and The Netherlands
Commission for EIA.
Barrow CJ, (1997), Environmental and Social Impact Assessment: An Introduction, Arnold, London.
Gilpin A, (1995), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): Cutting Edge for the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Glasson J, Therivel R and Chadwick A, (1999), Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment (2ed), UCL Press, London.
Morris P and Therivel R (eds), (1995), Methods of Environmental Impact Assessment, UCL Press, London.
Pearson B, Little BFP and Brieney MJ, (1992), Using Environmental Management Systems to Improve Profits, Kluwer Law International, London.
SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry), (1991), A Technical Framework for Life-Cycle Assessment, Pensacola (Florida).
Sheldon C (ed), (1997), ISO 14001 and Beyond: Environmental Management Systems in the Real World, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield.
Wathern P (ed), (1988), Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and Practice, Routledge, London.
SATELLITE REMOTE
SENSING / GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Remote
sensing (RS) from space offers a new way of viewing the Earth. By
detecting EMR wavelengths in the visible, NIR, MIR and TIR bands,
spectral response properties (absorption, transmission and
reflectance) of ground, water and atmosphere are employed to
enable both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Earth's
surface. Active RS using the all-weather capability of radar is
particularly useful in the tropics. In RS, a few types of data
resolutions will require careful considerations in order that the
RS data purchased can yield the appropriate information to
satisfy specific project objectives. The resolutions are:
spatial, temporal, spectral, geometric and radiometric. While RS
is state-of-the-art technology, as with any form of work dealing
with the environment, RS appears to be influenced by numerous
interacting variables. Just as a topographical map tells an
incomplete story about the lie of the land, the interpretation of
RS images in all their confusing colour composites demand both
art and science - data handling skills as well as sound knowledge
of the environment and RS technology. Lillesand and Kiefer (1994)
turns up frequently in the reference sections of journal
articles. The art and science of RS are constantly evolving.
While Lillesand and Kiefer have produced a 4th edition of their
book, journals are good reading material to get up to speed on
the subject.
Barrett EC and Curtis LF, (1999), Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing (4ed), Stanley Thornes, Cheltenham.
Curran PJ, (1985), Principles of Remote Sensing, Longman, London.
Lillesand TM and Kiefer RW, (1994), Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation (3ed), John Wiley and Sons, Inc, Chichester.
Pickles J (ed), (1995), Ground Truth: The Social Implications of Geographic Information Systems, The Guilford Press, London.
(RS journal references that I compiled when studying for the module "Environmental Remote Sensing" at Salford University.)
POLLUTION /
GENERAL / BIOLOGY / CHEMISTRY / MISCELLANEOUS
The
physico-chemical aspects of pollution should be studied first to
understand their nature and behaviour before a student move on to
study the effects of environmental physico-chemical alterations
on wildlife. In order to eliminate pollution symptoms manifested
in flora and fauna, we will need to tackle the problem source by
addressing the physico-chemical factors, i.e. the pollutants. I
feel that I have overlooked this side of the coin in my 4 years
at Salford University, which is why my bibliography under this
heading is so short. The basics of pollution (brown) science is
within my understanding but there is more with respects to
physico-chemistry that I need to take under my belt before I can
manage brown problems with ease. Hardman et
al. (1993) and O'Neill (1998) are the first
few books that I picked up, which I subsequently put aside, in
year 1. Peter O'Neill wrote Environmental
Chemistry in 1985 and the book is into its
3rd edition. It is a small book; it is well written. The chapter
on radioactivity should be embraced. I shall like to start all
over again with Hardman et al.
(1993). The team at the University of
East Anglia
has put together a volume (O'Riordan, 2000) that bears out the
interdisciplinary hallmark of environmental science. Lester Brown
and researchers at the Worldwatch
Institute
publishes annually the State of the World,
with which one can rely on to come abreast with contemporary
environmental issues. Brown (2001) has written a new book Eco-Economy.
It can be viewed at the Earth
Policy Institute's website.
Botkin DB and Keller EA, (1998), Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet (2ed), John Wiley and Sons, Inc, Chichester.
Brown LR and Flavin C, (1999), Special Millennium Edition: State of the World 1999, Earthscan, London.
Brown LR, (2001), Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth, W. W. Norton and Company Limited, London.
Duck R, Jones A, Reed R and Weyers J, (2000), Practical Skills in Environmental Science, Prentice Hall, Harlow.
Farmer A, (1997), Managing Environmental Pollution, Routledge, London.
FOE (Friends of the Earth), (1994), Crude Operator, FOE, London.
Hardman DJ, McEldowney S and Waite S, (1993), Pollution: Ecology and Biotreatment, Longman, Harlow.
ONeill P, (1998), Environmental Chemistry (3ed), Blackie Academic and Professional, London.
ORiordan T (ed), (2000), Environmental Science for Environmental Management (2ed), Prentice Hall, Harlow.
Pearsall WH, (1969), Lake District National Park Guide No. 6, HMSO, London.
Pepper IL, Gerba CP and Brusseau ML (eds), (1996), Pollution Science, Academic Press, San Diego.
RCEP (Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution), (1981), Eighth Report: Oil Pollution of the Sea, HMSO, London.
Soper R, Green NPO, Stout GW and Taylor DJ, (1997a), Biological Science 1: Organisms, Energy and Environment (3ed), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Soper R, Green NPO, Stout GW and Taylor DJ, (1997b), Biological Science 2: Systems, Maintenance and Change (3ed), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.