Best of
Environment

1988

Permaculture: A Designers' Manual


Bill Mollison - 1988
    It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order. Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material, and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all its forms. The philosophy behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against, nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions rather than asking only one yield of them; and of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions.

The Fool's Progress


Edward Abbey - 1988
    When his third wife abandons him in Tucson, boozing, misanthropic anarchist Henry Holyoak Lightcap shoots his refrigerator and sets off in a battered pick-up truck for his ancestral home in West Virginia. Accompanied only by his dying dog and his memories, the irascible warhorse (a stand-in for the "real" Abbey) begins a bizarre cross-country odyssey--determined to make peace with his past--and to wage one last war against the ravages of "progress.""A profane, wildly funny, brash, overbearing, exquisite tour de force." -- The Chicago Tribune

The Flight of the Iguana: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature


David Quammen - 1988
    From tales of vegetarian piranha fish and voiceless dogs to the scientific search for the genes that threaten to destroy the cheetah, Quammen captures the natural world with precision. A distinguished natural science essayist, Quammen’s reporting is masterful and thought provoking and his curiosity and fascination with the world of living things is infectious.

Biodiversity


Edward O. Wilson - 1988
    Based on a major conference sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution, Biodiversity creates a systematic framework for analyzing the problem and searching for possible solutions.

Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development


Vandana Shiva - 1988
    In Staying Alive she defines the links between ecological crises, colonialism, and the oppression of women. It is a scholarly and polemical plea for the rediscovery of the ‘feminine principle’ in human interaction with the natural world, not as a gender-based quality, rather an organizing principle, a way of seeing the world.” —the Guardian In this pioneering work, Vandana Shiva looks at the history of development and progress, stripping away the neutral language of science to reveal third-world development policy as the global twin of the industrial revolution. As Shiva makes clear, the way this development paradigm is being implemented—through violence against nature and women—threatens survival itself. She focuses on how rural Indian women experience and perceive the causes and effects of ecological destruction, and how they conceive of and initiate processes to stop the destruction and begin regeneration. As the world continues to follow destructive paths of development, Shiva’s Staying Alive is a fiercely relevant book that positions women not solely as survivors of the crisis, but as the source of crucial insights and visions to guide our struggle. Vandana Shiva is the author of many books, including Staying Alive, Earth Democracy, and Soil Not Oil. She is a leader in the International Forum on Globalization (IFG) and the Slow Food movement.

The Best of Edward Abbey


Edward Abbey - 1988
    Scattered throughout are the author’s own petroglyph-style sketches.This new edition adds selections from work that appeared shortly before Abbey’s death: a chapter from Hayduke Lives!, the hilarious sequel to The Monkey Wrench Gang; excerpts from his revealing journals; and examples of his poetry. A new foreword by Doug Peacock—Abbey’s close friend and the model for the flamboyant activist Hayduke—offers a fond appreciation of this larger-than-life figure in American letters.

The Dream of the Earth


Thomas Berry - 1988
    In it, noted cultural historian Thomas Berry provides nothing less than a new intellectual-ethical framework for the human community by positing planetary well-being as the measure of all human activity.Drawing on the wisdom of Western philosophy, Asian thought, and Native American traditions, as well as contemporary physics and evolutionary biology, Berry offers a new perspective that recasts our understanding of science, technology, politics, religion, ecology, and education. He shows us why it is important for us to respond to the Earth’s need for planetary renewal, and what we must do to break free of the “technological trance” that drives a misguided dream of progress. Only then, he suggests, can we foster mutually enhancing human-Earth relationships that can heal our traumatized global biosystem.

Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape


Robert Adrian de Jauralde Hart - 1988
    Robert Hart's book beautifully describes his decades of experience gardening in the Shropshire countryside. The principles of backyard permaculture he has developed can be applied successfully in every temperate zone of North America, helping to transform even a small cottage garden into a diverse and hospitable habitat for songbirds, butterflies, and other wildlife. Blending history, philosophy, anthropology, and seasoned gardening wisdom in a lucid sequence of essays, Forest Gardening examines the pleasure of hands off as well as hands-on gardening. This book offers fresh ways of understanding the relationships between people and growing plants. For gardeners who aspire to create ecological as well as beautiful gardens, Forest Gardening will be an inspiration and a pleasure.

Polar Bears: A Natural History of a Threatened Species


Ian Stirling - 1988
    Dr Ian Stirling, the best known polar bear scientist in the world, compresses the major new discoveries of the last 40 years of research on this iconic mammal into a new easily readable and scientifically comprehensive book about the ecology and natural history of polar bears.  He explains how polar bears evolved, how they were researched, aspects of their behaviour and how the threat of global warming is jeopardizing the survival of this magnificent hunter.

Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings


John Seed - 1988
    It helps us experience our place in the web of life, rather than on the apex of some human-centred pyramid. An important deep ecology educational tool for both groups and personal reflection.

Whale Nation


Heathcote Williams - 1988
    Will he speak soft words unto thee?' Job 41 Whale Nation is a hymn to the beauty, intelligence and majesty of the largest mammal on earth. A 'green classic' read with natural resonance by its author, it rarely fails to strike a chord in the heart of those concerned with the abuse of our planet. It is joined by additional content devoted to a fascinating account of whale history.Music: Mendelssohn, Holst, Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Debussy, Ciurlionis, The Song of the Humpback Whale

Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River


Marjory Stoneman Douglas - 1988
    -- Story of an influential life told in a unique and spirited voice-- Nationally known as the first lady of conservation, the woman who "saved" the Florida Everglades-- Founder of the Friends of the Everglades, a feminist, a fighter for racial justice, and always a writer-- Her intelligence, wit, and insight mirror an indomitable spirit-- A must-have for anyone interested in conservation, the environment, or biographies of fascinating people-- Now in its 7th printing

Mezcal


Charles Bowden - 1988
    The author of "Blue Desert" meditates upon the emotional, spiritual, and political shambles of the late 1960s and early 1970s and upon the strength of the land, particularly the desert Southwest, and its ability to prevail despite modern efforts to exploit it.

Field Collecting Gemstones and Minerals


John Sinkankas - 1988
    Invaluable guide which includes step-by-step instructions on how to extract, trim, preserve, store, and exhibit specimens.

Holistic Resource Management


Allan Savory - 1988
    Holistic Management Handbook offers a detailed explanation of the planning procedures presented in those books and gives step-by-step guidance for implementing holistic management on a ranch or farm. Holistic Management and Holistic Management Handbook are essential reading for anyone involved with land management and stewardship, and together represent an indispensable guide for individuals interested in making better decisions within their organizations or in and aspect of their personal or professional lives. Jody Butterfield is a former journalist specializing in agriculture and the environment and cofounder of Holistic Management International. Sam Bingham is a Holistic Management Certified Educator and the author of five books and numerous articles. Allan Savory is a former wildlife biologist, farmer, and politician who left an international consulting practice to found Holistic Management International in 1984.

The Wilderness Coast


Jack Rudloe - 1988
    But the pursuit of the unusual sea creatures and the answers to puzzling biological questions take biologists Jack and Anne Rudloe elsewhere, too. They have travelled to Surinam to catch giant toadfish for the New York Aquarium, to the Florida Keys to study immature spiny lobsters, and to Port Canaveral's ship channel to rescue endangered sea turtles from the crushing jaws of the dredge. They have plumbed the depths of the Gulf of Mexico to find prehistoric-looking giant sea roaches, and explored the life histories--and mysteries--of electric rays, octopuses, horseshoe crabs, and other fascinating marine animals in the course of their daily business. Like any profession, specimen collecting has its attendant hazards: for instance, being slashed by a sawfish, zapped by an electric ray, nipped by a sawfish, zapped by an electric ray, nipped by an annoyed sea turtle, or attacked by an alligator. More perilous yet is being caught offshore in violent storm in a less-than-seaworthy boat. Jack Rudloe's knowledge of marine biology and ability to tell a good story have made this entertaining and informative book a natural history classic.

Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy


Philip L. Fradkin - 1988
    Fradkin covers the story of one court trail and the US govenrment's coverup.

Mawson's Antarctic Diaries


Fred Jacka - 1988
    He traveled south in 1907 with Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition; in 1911 as leader of the Australasian Antarctic expedition; and twice between 1929 and 1931 as leader of the British, Australian, and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition. Gathered here are Mawson’s diaries from each of these four trips, volumes which provide an intimate perspective on the stress and conflicts inherent to each journey, their achievements and failures, joys and tragedies. Gripping and unrestrained, this is a revealing look at one of history’s most daring adventurers.

The Lost Crops Of The Incas: Little Known Plants Of The Andes With Promise For Worldwide Cultivation


National Research Council - 1988
    This fascinating, readable volume is filled with enticing, detailed information about more than thirty different Incan crops that promise to become important contributors to the world's food supply. The New York Times Book Review calls Lost Crops of the Incas a book that will ..". inspire those with an interest in agriculture and an entrepreneurial spirit to experiment with these obscure plants of the Inca Empire."

Words From The Land: Encounters With Natural History Writing


Stephen Trimble - 1988
    A new preface brings Trimble's critical commentary up to date.Contributors:Edward Abbey , Wendell Berry, Annie Dillard, Gretel Ehrlich. Robert Finch, Linda Hasselstrom, John Hay, Edward Hoagland, Sue Hubbell, Barry Lopez, John Madson, Peter Matthiessen, John McPhee, Gary Paul Nabhan, Richard Nelson, Robert Michael Pyle, David Quammen, Stephen Trimble, Terry Tempest Williams, and Ann Zwinger.

The Dolphin Doctor


Sam Ridgway - 1988