5 comments about Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.

1. Dava Sobel's Longitude manages to be both entertaining and enlightening. It's hard to imagine a book based on such a taken for granted historical landmark could prove to be such a good read. Personally, I must to confess a preference for historical issues, and John Harrison proved to be an engaging figure if for nothing else than his single mindedness to the task at hand. He spend the larger part of his life trying to solve a single riddle, and in the process, solved many others.



2. One of the most pressing issues for early sailors was the problem of longitude. Because it was impossible to determine longitude, many ships and sailors died. Also, captains used the same routes as pirates or enemies of the state, which made it easy to lie in wait for your next victim. In 1714, English Parliament passed the Longitude Act which created an award for the first person to accurately determine longitude. Longitude, by Dava Sobel, explores the work of John Harrison, the man credited with accurately determining longitude for ships at sea.
   
   Contents:
   Acknowledgements
   Foreword, Neil Armstrong
   Chapter 1: Imaginary Lines
   Chapter 2: The Sea Before Time
   Chapter 3: Adrift in a Clockwork Universe
   Chapter 4: Time in a Bottle
   Chapter 5: Powder of Sympathy
   Chapter 6: The Prize
   Chapter 7: Cogmaker's Journal
   Chapter 8: The Grasshopper Goes to Sea
   Chapter 9: Hands on Heaven's Clock
   Chapter 10: The Diamond Timekeeper
   Chapter 11: Trial by Fire and Water
   Chapter 12: A Tale of Two Portraits
   Chapter 13: The Second Voyage of John Cook
   Chapter 14: The Mass Production of Genius
   Chapter 15: In the Meridian Courtyard
   Sources
   Index
   
   Today, ships have GPS to tell them where they are on the seas. But before John Harrison created his first sea worthy clock, sailors were pretty much lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Watches were not accurate and clocks worked on a pendulum, which didn't help on a rolling sea. Sobel weaves an interesting tale of John Harrison, a carpenter turned clockmaker, who created an extremely accurate clock for determining longitude. But this story isn't solely about Harrison. There are others that are attempting to do the impossible as well, using the heavens to find longitude. Harrison must battle prejudice, and himself, to get his timekeeper judged for the prize (£20,000 is the award). In the end, Harrison developed several chronometers, extremely accurate and able to withstand the seas and weather, that by the 1780's all log books had an entry for longitude readings by timekeeper.
   
   This is a topic that many may not find interesting. But Sobel hasn't written an academic dissertation on the subject, she has created a highly engaging study of a man dedicated to solving one of the greatest issues facing the world at the time. Her writing style makes this an easy book to read, as there are few technical details. However, for those that need more information, she provides a rather detailed source listing. I found the book to be a fascinating look at early sailing and the answer to a problem that plagued those sailors. Also, the background on Harrison adds to the story. While he worked as a carpenter, his knowledge of wood aided him in his quest for an accurate timekeeper. His chronometer was accurate to less than a second, in the 1700's, when other, more learned clockmakers could only be accurate to 15 minutes a day (plus or minus).
   
   This is a very good, enjoyable book on a fascinating subject.



3. What do Galileo and John Harrison have in common? They both had run-ins with bureaucracies that impeded the acceptance of their breakthrough ideas. And they are both subjects of books by Dava Sobel. Longitude is second book by her that I have read, the other being Galileo's Daughter. As with the latter book, Sobel combines the science of the times with a lot of background on the politics and religion of the age. She weaves these together into a coherent story that is entertaining and informative. I had never even considered that there was a ever a problem in determining longitude, so this book opened my eyes. The book I had purchased contained color illustrations that helped bring the devices that are the subject of this book to life (more can be found at http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.132/chapterId/2685/Greenwich-and-the-story-of-time.html). These devices were one inventor's way of solving the problem of determining longitude at sea. Sobel covers her topic with a great deal of sympathy. Indeed, the blatant way in which the establishment hampered Harrison was very frustrating, meaning that the writing was very compelling. Interestingly it speaks to Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific revolutions, which pointed out the great steps forward in science can be accomplished by those newer to the field and that science doesn't really change until the older generation passes. I recommend this book to anyone interested in boating or science or anyone who uses a GPS device to have an appreciation for how difficult travel used to be.



4. John Harrison completes his first pendulum clock in 1713 before the age of 20. He made the gears for this out of wood which was radical for such a use, but as a carpenter, perhaps not to him---which is a mark of genius, I'd say; to reach beyond accepted norms in this manner. This he did after borrowing a book on math and the laws of motion; which he copied word for word, making his own copy. He incorporated different varieties of wood into his clock for strength and later invented a bi-metal pendulum to counteract the expansion and compression of various individual metals. He also employed friction-free movements so as to do away with problematic lubricants. When intrigued by the puzzle of time at sea and the issue of longitude he contemplated substituting something not prone to gravity, as a pendulum of course is, to track times passing. In 1737 he creates a cantilevered clock 4 foot square. This the longitude board (which had offered a cash bonus to anyone who could devise a method in which time at sea could be kept) admired. Four years later he returns with an improved model; then starts on a 3rd model, like the previous two, also a fairly large sized clock.But there exists a problem within this book: An artisan freemason by the name of John Jefferys at the Worshipful Company of clockmakers befriends Harrison and then later presents to him a pocket watch in 1753. Then in 1755, while still working on his 3rd model, Harrison says this to the Longitude board: I have..."good reason to think" on the basis of a watch "already executed that such small machines[he's referring to pocket watches] may be of great service with respect to longitude." He then completes version 3 in 1759. His fourth version appears just a year later, however, and is a 5 inch wide pocket watch! The obvious inference made by the author is that after he received the pocket watch from Jeffreys he seemingly put his version #3 on the back burner and soon started on the pocket watch 4th version. The author does not claim Harrison copied anything from the Jeffreys model, but she certainly phrases this section so as to lend one to believe that this may have been the case; that Jefferys had a hand in the masterstroke invention Harrison eventually produced in version #4. This is not true. Harrison commissioned the watch he received from Jeffreys and was based on Harrison's specifications. It seems that Harrison simply asked Jeffreys to test an idea which he himself hadn't the time to attack just then; as he was still working on his 3rd version of a table-top prototype clock. Hence Harrison's above statement to the board in 1755 whence his ideas were validated by Jeffreys. In addition, the author plays up the part of the Astronomer Royal's part in attempting to impede Harrison from convincing the longitude board of the efficacy of a time-piece solution to this problem over a celestial answer to this conundrum. The author also jazzes up the issue of whether Harrison received the prize the board promised to pay for a successful solution herein; even though the board supported him for upwards of 20 years as he pursued this quest. It's as if the author intentionally omitted some facts (that the Jefferys was a Harrison commission), and pumped up others (of a rival/foil on the board trying to impede Harrison and the compensation issue; implying that Harrison was jipped) just to make the story more compelling. John Harrison's story, however, is extremely compelling as it is and didn't need this extra spice served up by the author.Do read this (very short) book on how this Mr. Harrison solved the problem of knowing where one is when at sea; and if you're in London, visit the Old Royal Observatory and the Clockmakers museum (in the Guildhall) where you can see Harrison's wonderful creations in person. Enjoy!



5. A short but well written book that sheds light on an almost forgotten man who changed the world. Interesting and fun to read, worth checking out.

No comments about Essentials of Environmental Health.

3 comments about Earth System History.

1. Everybody that is interested in historical geology and paleontology must have this book. It is clear with a lot of informations, has beautifull pictures and a fantastic CD ROM. One of the best I bought last year !



2. Earth System History, Second Edition was my textbook for Geology 1001, and to my surprise I could actually read it without falling asleep. This is not to say that it is a page turner, but the pictures are interesting and Stanley skips a lot of the cheesy textbook speak. I'm not sure I would buy this book if I wasn't required to, but if geology is your thing- it would be great.



3. This book covers general geology and the fundamentals of earth processes and paleontology. From earthquakes to evolution, this book gives at least a superficial and fundamental view of each major topic. The images and diagrams are by far the most impressive part of this book. Full color diagrams, photos and drawings help to illustrate practically every page.
   
   Chapter 1: historical theories in geology as well as the basics of geology from the rock cycle to geologic time.
   
   Chapter 2: minerals, rock properties and types of rocks.
   
   Chapter 3: basic scientific organization of life and fossils.
   
   Chapter 4: environment and its relationship with life.
   
   Chapter 5: sedimentary rocks, soils & environments including glaciers, lakes, deserts, rivers and the ocean.
   
   Chapter 6: geologic time, stratigraphy basics and dating methods.
   
   Chapter 7: evolution basics, concepts of extinction, evolutionary trends.
   
   Chapter 8: plate tectonics - evidence, consequences and general mechanisms.
   
   Chapter 9: orogenesis (mountain building) - processes, introduction to structural geology.
   
   Chapter 10: introduction to geochemistry - chemical cycles, isotopes, atmospheric trends related to weathering rates, climate-related isotopes and mineralogy.
   
   Chapter 11 - Chapter 20 each deal with a major phase in geologic time from the creation of the planet to the movement of the plates to the great ice ages and finally to the modern era.
   
   The CD, while helpful, essentially contains the same information as the book. I personally did not find it any more or less helpful than the book itself.

5 comments about Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World.

1. This book is the premier source for a critical knowledge of the mechanics of the only environment we have in which we live



2. Stamets' Mycelium Running has way more mushroom lore than I'll ever remember - or even want to know - yet it's a fascinating read and inspiring too!



3. I purchased this book as a gift for a fellow graduate student who is studying the relationship between vascular plant roots and fungi. He and our professor/advisor oohhed and aahhed over it. I should have gotten one for our advisor too!
   
   A quality book with great photos through-out and it is very readable! I have come to the conclusion that mycologists aren't pretentious wordy folks! They enjoy their work, enjoy spreading their knowledge and it is obvious in this book! I agree with the previous reviews - this book should be recommended, if not required reading for any botany or mycology course.



4. I didn't get to read all of this book because it was a gift for someone but what I did read was very good. It's very informative in all aspects of mushrooms. The book includes the science behind mushrooms, how they can be used for ecological benefits, and best of all how to grow and harvest them yourself. The index of mushrooms, their uses and other information was short but very good. I highly recommend this book and will probably get it for myself soon.



5. This book provides a wonderful look into the world of fungi and their properties. I bought the book after seeing the author in a video, and the book has fully lived up to my expectations.

2 comments about American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau (Library of America).

1. Environmental concerns are not a strictly recent development - it has been heavily discussed ever since the writings of Henry David Thoreau. "American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau" is a complete and comprehensive collection of writing covering scholarly essays and writings throughout history addressing the concerns of America, and how America should manage its relationship with the planet it sits on. Enhanced with a foreword from former Vice President and avid Environmentalist Al Gore, "American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau" is highly recommended to environmental studies collections focusing on college level discussion.



2. With over a hundred authors contributing and Al Gore's blessing, you cannot ask for a better collection of writings from some of the best minds around. After you get a taste, it will inspire you to seek out the full editions of the books. The Library of America series has always selected top notch authors and works; they also print the books on wonderful paper with sturdy bindings. The editor- Bill McKibben was able to give a brief summary of the authors works and life that contributed, which helps put the works into perspective.

5 comments about Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century.

1. This is a great book that makes us all more aware of the situation we find ourselves in presently aboard spaceship earth. We simply can not conduct business the way that we have in the past. The earth is not a business in liquidation. The green trends that are occuring now and that are gaining momentum are fascinating.
   This is a global book with a global focus, we are all in this together.
   How much time is needed? Who can know for sure but the sooner we all start, the better.



2. A practical comprehensive compendium of the types of practices we will need to nourish if we are to live in a Bright Green sustainable and just future. More a catalog than an essay, it is divided into sections such as Stuff, Shelter, Cities, Community, Business, Politics and Planet, giving examples of sustainable work being done in each area as well as references to relevant books and web sites. There is a strong emphasis on the potential for well-designed technologies to improve the lot of all human beings. The book is basically a collection of the types of things you will find at the [...] website.



3. A nonsensical belief that we can solve the environmental crisis by avoiding self change. Never in our history have their been a more deluded and narcissistic generation clambering to take the helm. We're in serious trouble.



4. This book is absolutely amazing and lifechanging because of all the important information that is in this book. You just have no idea how bad we treat the world and how close we are to destroying our lives all so we can have selfish comforts on a daily basis.



5. Although the book looks very good and most interesting, it did NOT come with the box cover, as advertised. False advertising - I would suggest not ordering it from Amazon.

5 comments about Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators.

1. WTWTW is a book that is way past due. It addresses ecological issues every bit as important as the oil and water shortages that are constantly on the front pages.
   
   In his book, Mr. Stolzenburg provides an in depth look at the ill considered impacts of mankinds elimination of major predators. This book should be required reading for all Wildlife, and National & State Forests & Parks decision makers. It is also a must for anyone desiring to have an understanding of why certain species (whitetail deer to name only one) seem to be taking over the earth.



2. I am an environmental idiot. I try to grasp the concepts behind global warming, extinction, habitat loss, and biodiversity and come up gasping for People Magazine. Will Stolzenburg is my oxygen mask. He writes in such a way that is gripping, visceral and imparts a deep and lasting knowledge of the issues we face in the biological world. I bought 20 copies of this book - it will be my Christmas present to everyone. I wish I could buy enough for the whole world. It's that good.



3. Sheer genius... I cannot sing enough positive praises about "Where the Wild Things Were"... Truly an education in ecology... William Stolzenburg does a thorough job of presenting diverse viewpoints... All of the topics were fascinating... The author's writing is moving, powerful, and provocative... I could go on and on with superlatives...
   
   I am extremely excited to introduce family and friends to "Where the Wild Things Were"... My hope is that this book will receive the vast exposure it so richly deserves...



4. The quite carefully written review of papers published over the last 60 years (yes, some ideas take a long time to make it to the maintstream)really tells a compelling story of our most feared ompanions, the top predators. What struck me most is the fearful power of self-defined specialist, or special interest groups, such as the hunting community, the animal right advocates, the greens, who ferouciously defend their standpoint ("rats have a right to live even if they exterminate the last breeding pair of a ground nesting seabird", to name just one nice case). What appears to be logic usually is not,(remember the summers spent by all those students sitting on fire watch towers preventing fires that now are being set on purpose by rangers?) and special advocacy groups are really prone to fall into that pitfall. So this book is an enlighting call for seeing the full picture, in this case the benefit we could gain from having back the top predators.



5. Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators, is a new and important contribution to conservation and ecology by William Stolzenburg (Bloomsbury, 2008)
   The author looks at cases, both experimental and real-life, where the top predators have been wiped out, and looks at what happens next. It turns out that a lot of things happen, none of them good. One result is an explosion of "mesopredators" (the second-tier carnivores, ranging from coyotes to raccoons to feral domestic cats) which wreak havoc on ecosystems without the larger predators to compete with (and sometimes eat) them. Plants and prey animals have evolved for one type of ecosystem and are often helpless in an altered one. While his examples come from all over the world, it's the North American ones that will cause the most consternation to most readers. Who foresaw that killing the eastern wolves and cougars would result in a gigantic deep population explosion (far beyond the ability of hunters to keep up) that wrecked the habitats of many smaller creatures? Who knew that bringing in a new apex predator (whalers) and wiping out the northern Pacific great whales started a cascade that drove the former apex predator (killer whales) to decimate seal and sea otter populations in many areas, resulting in kelp forests being replaced by barren seafloor overrun with the urchins the otters used to keep down? There are many such examples, some almost despair-inducing. One of Stolzenburg's important points is that, ecologically, human hunters don't replace the predators: they hunt in specific seasons rather than all year round and pick off the largest animals instead of the weakest.
   This book should be must reading for anyone involved in wildlife management or conservation biology including everyone in the FWS, EPA, or state wildlife agencies.
   
   
   Matt Bille, author, Shadows of Existence: Discoveries and Speculations in Zoology

1 comments about Severe & Hazardous Weather: An Introduction to High Impact Meteorology.

1. As an earth and atmospheric science professor who specializes in natural hazards, I've seen probably every text available on this subject. For atmospheric hazards in particular, this is the best textbook I've used. It is easily accessible to second year meteorology undergraduates, and could even be somewhat useful in a graduate course. Although the text emphasizes the meteorological science of atmospheric hazards more than the societal impacts, I've found it to be a good balance for a hazardous weather course. This is a substantial textbook with information on nearly all atmospheric hazards, and it is accompanied by a well-produced CD-ROM (and website), which contain a lot of supplemental material and work very well in the classroom. The print size is large and there are many supporting diagrams that are easy to read. My only complaint is the complete lack of discussion of fog, which is a significant natural hazard. Otherwise, this is a superb textbook.

5 comments about The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World.

1. Good book, though quickly becoming outdated as we slide down the post-peak oil decline. I wish Roberts had cut about 50 pages, though; he starts to repeat himself in the second half of the book, as he revisits ideas he detailed in the first half. By page 276, I don't need to be reminded what comprises the hydrocarbon economy yet again.



2. Overall,the author has done a good job of demonstrating the seriousness of the oil price increase problem.However,he needed to emphasize that the problem is not one of running out of oil per se ,but of running out of the low to medium priced oil that,for instance,the world's agricultural farm businesses are based on and accustomed to.The author needed to emphasize the impeccable nature of the mathematical and statistical modeling done by M K Hubbert in his original 1969 paper( Deffeyes's minor correction of 2005 is well within the 1 to 5 % error allowed in science )and the relative accuracy of his predictions.For instance,he predicted that peak American oil production occurred in 1969.Hubbert was "wrong".It occurred in 1970.The fundamental point is that PEAK world production has been obtained.Hubbert's original paper never stated that the world would run out of oil in 2000.The world will essentially be out of oil around 2125-2150.
   I have deducted one star because of the misleading title of the book.The title should be changed to " The End of Low to Medium Priced Oil:On the Edge of a World of $200 a Barrel Oil ".



3. When I decided to read this book, I did so with the expectation of learning something only after wading through a great degree of partisan political rhetoric. It did not take me long to realize that Mr. Roberts' book is not what I had expected.
   
   He makes this complex issue accessible to the layman looking to familiarize himself with not only oil, but the energy economy. Rather choose a side and engage in partisan sniping, he tells the good, the bad, and the ugly of the policies advocated by every party involved in the energy debate. Not only does he analyze our present situation, but he also studies our several possible ways forward into a new energy economy.
   
   If I were pressed to make a complaint, it would be that I read the original hardcover edition of the book. A lot of the speculation regarding "worst case" scenarios involve $50 a barrel oil. Now that we are nearly $100 past that worst case, the educated speculation portrayed in the book should be coming to pass in the market. I would like to see either a completely updated 2008 edition or at least one with an updated preface.



4. this is a very intertesting book for me because present a high perfomance for the our future



5. This book was published about four years ago, and it is interesting to compare some of its future projections with the current reality. The worse case scenario envisioned in the last chapter has oil going to $50 a barrel, a far cry from the habitual $100 or more for a barrel now, not to mention a high of almost $150. The United States has arrived at the point of sending on the order of 700 billion dollars a year overseas to mostly unstable governments. Yet, despite what in the context of this book would be a horrifying emergency situation, the winds of change have been very slow to make much of a difference. The entrenched oil interests, which the author does not underestimate, have kicked into gear; the Bush Administration has battened down the hatches and basically all they have to say is "drill! drill! drill!". Oil industry influence continues to do its work putting the breaks on renewables: tax credits have not been extended by Congress.
   
   A case made here is that almost all of the easy oil has been exploited. Oil is only produced in Nature under special circumstances. Organic material has to be buried and then cooked in a narrow temperature range (100-135 degrees C). Then, it has to to be confined by rock formations so that it does not leak away into nothing. Worldwide, there is estimated to be 600 geological systems where oil can be extracted for commercial uses. Of that, about 400 have been explored and the remaining lie in hard-to-reach areas such as the Arctic and continental shelves. OPEC has clearly emerged the winner in the battle for easy oil, and has left the big oil companies and most of the non-OPEC world desperately scrambling to find new supplies. The likelihood that enough oil can be extracted from costly out-of-the-way places to compete with the power that OPEC can exert in the marketplace is not great, to say the least. In other words, drilling in costly, remote places will not make a dent anytime soon in the 700 billion dollars that the U.S. pays every year for its oil import bill.
   
   Time is not on our side and the subject is much larger than just finding oil and dealing with OPEC. It concerns not only the use of oil but the use of all hydrocarbons. Just how much carbon dioxide can the atmosphere tolerate before serious disruptions occur to life on planet earth? The author cites experts who maintain that 550ppm might be a tipping point and that we are speeding toward that state. Of particular concern is the developing world - China and India - and the breakneck pace in which dirty fuels, namely coal, are being burned in order to grow emerging economies. The author asserts that the developing world will never take a leadership role in developing alternative energies. They cannot afford to invest except in the quickest and dirtiest. The rich countries, particularly the United States, will have to take the lead.
   
   The author reviews the positives and negatives of alternative energy: hydrogen, wind and solar. Wind and solar offer growth opportunities in the near term, but are problematic as dependable sources because of their intermittency. Hydrogen may work as a substitute for oil sometime in the future but not in the near future. A very important factor in reducing hydrocarbon use is efficiency and conservation. In the 1980s energy efficiency was a significant factor in quelling OPEC's power to raise prices, but energy efficiency was a victim of its own success and Ronald Reagan moved to shutdown such efforts because of the free market meddling.
   
   The big question concerns the role of government - particularly the United States and the rich countries - in instituting a price on carbon and encouraging the development of alternative fuels and "bridging" solutions. Will the world act proactively with a plan to move away from hydrocarbons or will it only react after disasters? If free market supply siders have their way and carbon is never recognized as having an economic cost, there will not be an economic incentive not to use cheap hydrocarbons; and if government does not step in and aid research and development for alternatives, it's less likely that in the near future the private sector will find enough economic incentives to make energy breakthroughs. Then, China and India will have no alternative but to continue to burn dirty fossil fuels.
   
   In enshrining the free markets and the economics of supply, the U.S. will most likely be involved in more overseas conflicts and wars, particularly in the Middle East. Despite the way politicians downplay the matter, the two wars the U.S. has fought in Iraq have both been about opening up the supply of oil. If oil continues to be the life blood of the economy, then the forces that protect that oil will become more militant in protecting that crucial supply especially from the Middle East. If the Saudi royal family loses control to fundamentalists, the stage will be set for another war.

2 comments about The Economy of Nature: Data Analysis Update.

1. This is a decent textbook as an introduction to ecology. It contains alot of good information and integrates quite a bit of mathematics and graphs into the material being presented. However, I am convinced that ecology is not a real science.



2. I admit, at first I could feel my eyeballs melting from the pedantic aura that radiated from the Economy of Nature. The text followed a simple, formulaic method of teaching: each chapter began with a generalization, usually relating chapter concepts to a current issue, before dissecting the topic from the easiest to most difficult concepts. The material was essentially mathematical based on the graphs and equations normally associated with ecology, and the section on population growth is particularly helpful if you're a bit rocky with incorporating all the rates to calculate the net growth.
   
   It was boring, boring, boring, but it was concise and saved my arse on final exams. If you're taking intro bio, I would recommend this as supplementary reading. It's definitely not as wordy as the average bio textbook, but you'll learn loads more about ecology and the math involved isn't tricky. The formulas are explained well, so even if you find it challenging you'll get the hang of it in no time.