Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet

by Daniel B. Botkin, Edward A. Keller

Written by active scientists, this timely book helps readers understand how to think about the environment—not what to think. Incorporates five integrating a global perspective, human population, sustainability, the urban world and values, knowledge and social justice. Each chapter begins with a case study that illustrates the topics discussed.

Genres: Science, Environment, Geology, Reference, Textbooks, School

720 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Daniel Botkin is a scientist, biologist, ecologist, physicist, professor, author and journalist. Renowned for his scientific contributions in ecology and environment, he has also worked as a professional journalist and has degrees in physics, biology, and literature. He is best known for the development of the first successful computer simulation in ecology, a computer model of forest growth that has developed into a sub-discipline in this field, with more than 50 versions in use worldwide. Botkin has also been a pioneer in the study of ecosystems and wilderness and the application of advanced technology to ecology. He has helped develop major national programs in ecology, including the National Science Foundation’s Long-term Ecological Research Program and NASA’s Mission to Earth. He has directed research on wilderness and natural parks around the world and is a leader in the application of environmental sciences to solve complex environmental problems.

Botkin has been a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara since 1979. Currently, he is Professor Emeritus, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara. He has been President and Founder of The Center for the Study of the Environment, a non-profit research and educational corporation. He serves on the board of the Environmental Literacy Council, the Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has also been a fellow at the Rockefeller Bellagio Institute in Italy and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Among his awards are the The 2012 The Honorable John C. Pritzlaff Conservation Award; Astor Lectureship, Oxford University; The 2004 Tex and Academic Authors Association Texty Award for best textbook of 2003; The Fernow Award for Outstanding Contributions in International Forestry; and the Mitchell International Prize for Sustainable Development.

For more information visit www.danielbotkin.com or follow him on Twitter @danielbotkin.

Reviews

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text offers a comprehensive looks at many issues in environmental science. The target audience is beginning environmental science students, as much of the information is presented on an introductory level. Read this cover to cover before beginning a degree in the environmental field, and I feel it provided me with a strong foundation with which to begin the program.

[Andrea Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome text book that I will be using for at least 4 more classes and I am pleased as punch about it :)

[sima Teimourianmotlagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتاب شناخت محیط زیست جز اولین کتاب هایی بود که با شروع تحصیل در رشته جذاب محیط زیست خوندم و چه در کتاب مفیدی هست مخصوصا ترجمه عالی اقای وهاب زاده عزیز لذت خوندنش رو صد چندان میکنه.

فصول به زیر بخش های مختلفی تقسیم میشه و با مثال های مختلف و ترسیم شرایط واقعی سعی در آموزش موضوعات مختلف محیط زیستی به مخاطب داره.

اگر به موضوعات محیط زیستی علاقه مند هستید یا در این رشته مشغول تحصیل و فعالیت هستید این کتاب برای شماست.

[Hamed Dehsaraei · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتابی بسیار مفید برای دانشجویان رشته محیط زیست و همه دوست‌داران زمین که اطلاعات متنوع و خوبی را در حوزه‌های مختلف در اختیار قرار می‌دهد، حجم این اطلاعات از فونت ریز و تعداد صفحات آن هم پیداست و وقتی شروع به مطالعه می‌کنی دوست نداری کتاب را زمین بگذاری.

[Rita Jóñer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably the most interesting school-book I've ever had to read.

[Saba Diyat]

After studying i will drop my review.....✌😎

[Edie Walls · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very solid textbook. We didn't use it much in class, but when I did read it it was clear and easy to understand.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ew. Horrible book. Oh yeah maybe that's because it's an environmental science textbook....

I'm not positive that I actually read this book cover to cover since I didn't read the chapters in order, but I'm fairly certain that I've finished the whole thing. I read a chapter of it almost every week this school year, and I don't think that there's a chapter left unread. So anyway. I am counting this book as read because I took the painstaking time to read a chapter each week. I will make it count for my reading challenge this year.

and I added this to my made-me-cry shelf because I cried many times while reading this book. Not because I got emotionally attached to it or because favorite characters died or anything, no, just because I hated having to read chapters from this book so much that sometimes I cried.

[Courtney Chappell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an okay book for the class I was taking. However, with the way the class was taught, I stopped reading it near the end of the semester. Some things I would find interesting, while the others my eyes would glaze over. I am glad to be done with this class and this book. I did appreciate the little insider look into lake Washington. I liked reading about things I knew and places I have been to many times before.

[Amirography · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty comprehensive book. I think a less detailed book must be teached in every school out there.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a school text book, it was easy to read and had some interesting stories in each chapter.