Books - ecology books - Brief Article - Bibliography

E: The Environmental Magazine, Jan, 2001

GENIE IN A BOTTLE

If this issue's cover story has left you wondering what in the world a genome even is, let alone how it could be mapped and what that has to do with you, consider picking up Enrico Coen's the art of genes: how organisms make themselves (Oxford University Press, $16.95). Coen somehow tackles a subject as vast and overwhelming as a tiny molecule of DNA, and makes it comprehendible, using such tools as the Mona Lisa, a football stadium and a pancake-making machine as metaphors for the cellular creation of life. Coen leaves nothing out, walking the reader through Mendel's early revelations on heredity to modern understanding of development as a state highly responsive to environmental influence.

--J.B.

IN PRAISE OF POLLUTERS

Believe it or not, the art of public relations "spin" is less than 100 years old, having been pioneered by the egomaniacal Edward Bernays (a nephew of Sigmund Freud, amazingly enough) in the 1920s. In Trust Us, We're Experts! (Tarcher Putnam, $24.95), a follow-up to their celebrated book Toxic Sludge Is Good For You, Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber point to the price tags attached to scientific "authorities" who endorse dubious products and praise polluters. The whole sordid history of industry-sponsored global warming opposition is here, as is the scientifically questionable campaign on behalf of biotech foods.

For a close-up look at how one particular group of spin doctors worked, there is Secrets and Lies: The Anatomy of an Anti-Environmental PR Campaign by Nicky Hager and Bob Burton (Common Courage Press, $17.95). Working with leaked documents, the authors reveal how a government-owned timber company enlisted the powerful American public relations agency Shandwick to "position" its unpopular attempt to log New Zealand's temperate rain forest. The plan ultimately backfired and helped bring the anti-logging Labor Party to power. In this case at least, the spinning spiraled out of control.

--Jim Motavalli

PROTECTED PLACES

Long capturing the attention of nature enthusiasts, two of the United States' most impressive ecosystems have recently come under more public scrutiny as well.

In November, Congress passed a bill including 68 individual projects intended to restore the proper flow and quality of water in the Florida Everglades. David McCally lays the case for just such action in The Everglades: An Environmental History (University Press of Florida, $19.95). The book traces the metamorphosis of this endangered ecosystem from rich wetlands to prosperous agricultural area, from saw grass and sloughs to sugar cane, winter vegetables and cattle. As McCally so clearly illustrates, the need for large-scale restoration is now, "while some remnant of the original environment remains."

And in the wake of the Presidential election, environmentalists feel a renewed sense of urgency for legislation to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Debbie Miller has explored the coastal plains, river basins and glaciated peaks of this 19-million-acre region with her husband and daughter, and each chapter of Midnight Wilderness (Alaska Northwest Books, $14.95) is a leg of this unforgettable journey. Miller seamlessly weaves history with nature and culture throughout, eloquently arguing the importance of protecting the refuge for the eternal possibilities of its wildness, not plundering it for the temporary supply of its oil.

--J.B.