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The natural world is ordered in a number of ways, described by the fields of chemistry, physics, astronomy, biology, and so on. Social systems are also orderly, as described in psychology, politics, government, and business. In this ambitious book, Ali (geography and spatial science, Univ. of Delaware) tries to synthesize the natural and political worlds, and bridge the gap between natural and social systems, doing so in particular with a systems view of environmental problem solving. In putting the book together, iAli was motivated by the need for a handbook that could be used by the ordered sciences as a tool for sustainable development in the face of what can only be described as a planetary crisis. The arguments Ali presents are pitched to be accessible to the public, i.e., those who are and will be charged with the task of avoiding an environmental crisis. At the same time, this is not a dumbed-down version of academic texts on science, politics, and the environment. In making his arguments Ali draws from the work of Nobel prize-winning scientists and his own deep knowledge of philosophy and history. Anyone anxious about the future of the planet will benefit from Ali's carefully considered, well-argued insights.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.

Coal has become somewhat of a dirty word in recent years, given current environmental concerns including global warming, air/water quality, and disposal of residual waste (ash). Nonetheless, coal has been critical to the development of modern civilization and remains a significant part of our energy and chemical stock mix. This comprehensive, enjoyable book provides a complete overview of this substance, including a view to its possible future. The 18 chapters are logically arranged, covering everything from the origin of coal (coalification process), its structure and mineral composition, and how it is mined, prepared and used, to what problems it brings and how those problems can be dealt with. Schobert (emer., Pennsylvania State Univ.) has extensive scientific experience in the industry, which serves him well here, as the text bespeaks impressive command of the many facets of the topic, and the narrative unwinds in a balanced, thoughtful, and readable way. Schobert gives all due consideration to the many environmental concerns. The book is lightly but usefully illustrated. Valuable references are listed at the end each chapter, and the comprehensive index and glossary are helpful. An engaging and fascinating read on a timely topic.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

The philosophy of technology has concentrated the sharpest minds of every epoch, from Karl Marx, Lewis Mumford, and Martin Heidegger to Herbert Marcuse. In this text, Hornborg carved out an innovative path to reconceptualize technology as socioenvironmental metabolism. Hornborg rejects prevalent assumptions about technology being a product of human ingenuity, politically neutral, an autonomous agent, and emancipatory. He focuses on the "physical constitution of technology" and envisions embodied nature transferred from colonies to the metropole. He then casts his critical gaze on the "social constitution of technology" and sees embodied labor and even time and space shifted from economic peripheries to the capitalist core. Hornborg attributes such transfer of nature, labor, and time and space to unequal ecological exchange (i.e., trade) relations. He blames technology fetishization for deflecting attention from its physical and social constitution. He demonstrates that technology continues to be an instrument of enslavement, replacing traditional slavery with wage labor. Surveillance capitalism and Foucauldian disciplinary regimes drive workers to accept servitude as wage laborers. This work, dense in scholarship, grounded in high theory, and rich in empirics, is destined to become a classic. It should be in graduate collections covering environmental anthropology, environmental theory, history, Marxism, engineering, and science and technology studies.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. General readers.

The subtitle of this book is more telling than its main title: readers may be forgiven for asking what is meant by "timescape." Muller (Univ. of Augsburg) and Nielsen (Univ. of Agder) edit contributed chapters from 15 well-published authors who provide a highly interdisciplinary and international perspective on the premise that "toxic environments challenge Western notions of space and time." The construct of "toxic commons" reflects ongoing discoveries of how toxic chemicals intrude on all aspects of modern life, an approach described as combining environmental humanities, history, and environmental justice. Chapters reach outside the "toxicology box" of sources, exposure, risks, and remediation. Contributors recount case studies about poisons: life and death stories incorporating industrial history, toxicology, chemicals used in war, environmental injustice, and time and again the terrroism of colonialism. These stories convey lessons that may point to new approaches for evaluating past exposures and preventing future ones. Ecosystem disruption, multigenerational effects, hormone disruption, and nuclear wastes figure among the topics. Main take-home: environmental toxicology, exposure, and risk cannot be meaningfully analyzed simply as unfortunate situations or events in isolation from the neocolonialism and complex sociocultural contexts that initiate and perpetuate them. This book is rich in detail, sobering in perspective, and for the most part pleasingly free of jargon.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.