Book Description

Hardbound. "Waves in Ocean Engineering" covers the whole field of wave studies of interest to applied oceanographers and ocean engineers.It has considerable relevance to coastal engineering.

The book is split into 12 sections, the first of which is devoted to the practical applications of wave studies and to the history of wave research.The rest of the book covers the measurement of waves, including remote sensing; the analysis and interpretation of wave data; estimating the properties of the extreme "Design Wave", as well as of the generality of waves for fatigue calculations; waves in finite depth, wave generation by wind and wave forecasting models; non-linear effects, and errors and uncertainties in wave data. ... Read more

Book Description

Even before the myth of Prometheus, fire played a crucial ecological role around the world. Numerous plant communities depend on fire to generate species diversity in both time and space. Without fire such ecosystems would become sterile monocultures. Recent efforts to prohibit fire in fire dependent communities have contributed to more intense and more damaging fires. For these reasons, foresters, ecologists, land managers, geographers, and environmental scientists are interested in the behavior and ecological effects of fires. This book will be the first to focus on the chemistry and physics of fire as it relates to the ways in which fire behaves and the impacts it has on ecosystem function. Leading international contributors have been recruited by the editors to prepare a didactic text/reference that will appeal to both advanced students and practicing professionals. ... Read more

Book Description

The large-scale application of new silvicultural systems hasbecome a political reality in many parts of the world. This involves agradual tarnsformation of traditional silvicultural practice towardsContinuous Cover Forestry (CCF), also know as near-naturalforest management, favouring mixed uneven-aged stands, site-adaptedtree species and selective harvesting. Today, CCF systems areencountered in many parts of the world, but forest managers often lackthe technical support for generating and evaluating treatment optionsfor complex forest structures. Specific CCF-related resource assessment, forecasting and sustainableharvest control techniques have been developed, but details abouttheir use are not widely known. The emphasis in the book is onquantitative methods and modelling. ... Read more

Book Description

Electricity markets are structurally different to other commodities, and the real-time dynamic balancing of the electricity network involves many external factors. Because of this, it is not a simple matter to transfer conventional models of financial time series analysis to wholesale electricity prices.

The rationale for this compilation of chapters from international authors is, therefore, to provide econometric analysis of wholesale power markets around the world, to give greater understanding of their particular characteristics, and to assess the applicability of various methods of price modelling.

Researchers and professionals in this sector will find the book an invaluable guide to the most important state-of-the-art modelling techniques which are converging to define the special approaches necessary for unravelling and forecasting the behaviour of electricity prices. It is a high-quality synthesis of the work of financial engineering, industrial economics and power systems analysis, as they relate to the behaviour of competitive electricity markets.
... Read more

Reviews (5)

Ambitious
Perlin's book is an ambitious overview of the use of wood in world civilization.Therein lies the both the book's strengths and weaknesses.Like any work that attempts to do a global history, inevitably some regions and some eras get very short shrift.Still, A Forest Journey is interesting, and well worth reading by anyone with an interest in environmental or forest history.

Rise and fall of civilizations
This book is a study on the rise and fall of civilizations, as caused by their management of wood resources, or in other words energy resources. Perlin tells a convincing tale on what makes a civilization tick. This is a very good book to read for anybody who cares about what the world is coming to, and perhaps even for those who don't. It is filled with fascinating historical material.

The limitations of the book are that Perlin is not as great a storyteller as DC Peattie (many of the stories here would make a sweeping tale in the hands of a truly gifted writer) and that the choice of civilizations treated is very much oriented towards the US.

The Rise and Fall of Trees­The Rise and Fall of Civilization
A Forest Journey first reminds us of the absolute importance of wood to human history: how much we have depended on wood for our very existence:

"Throughout the ages trees have provided the material to make fire, the heat of which has allowed our species to reshape the earth for its use. With heat from wood fires, relatively cold climates became habitable; inedible grains were changed into a major source of food; clay could be converted into pottery, serving as useful containers to store goods; people could extract metal from stone, revolutionizing the implements used in agriculture, crafts, and warfare; the builders could make durable construction materials such as brick, cement, lime, plaster, and tile for housing and storage facilities....

"Transportation would have been unthinkable without wood. Until the nineteenth century every ship, from Bronze Age coaster to the frigate, was built with timber.Every cart, chariot, and wagon was also made primarily of wood. Early steamboats and railroad locomotives in the United States used wood as their fuel...

"Wood was also used for the beams that propped up mine shafts and formed supports for every type of building. Water wheels and windmills ­ the major means of mechanical power before electricity was harnessed ­ were built of wood. The peasant could not farm without wooden tool handles or wood plows; the soldier could not throw his spear or shoot his arrows without their wooden shafts, or hold his gun without its wooden stock. What would the archer have done lacking wood for his bow; the brewer and vintner, without wood for their barrels and casks; or the woolen industry, without wood for its looms?"

Perlin then thoroughly documents how all past nations declined once their forests were depleted. Today, with the world's forests in jeopardy, A Forest Journey provides much needed information that can help us avoid another needless repetition of history.

Trees' Most Famous Fruit ­ Wood
A Forest Journey should be required reading in every school. It thoroughly documents the absolute importance of wood to human history and how all nations declined once their forests were depleted. In his introduction, John Perlin reminds us of something taken for granted: the importance of wood to our very existence...At a time when we have lost touch with the basis of much that makes us human, this book can help us avoid the downfalls suffered by nations that have gone before us. As Lily Tomlin supposedly said, "If we would just pay attention, history wouldn't have to keep repeating itself."

A fascinating journey into four thousand years of forest use
Perlin's Forest Journey traces civilizations from the Fertile Crescent to Colonial North America andhow their rise and fall is related to the health of their forests. His knowledge of history is extensive and his writing style is enjoyable. The surprise is that we have yet to learn the lessons of history. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior James Watt may have seemed only apassing nightmare in his day, but he acted out of a very old tradition of Americanattitudes toward the land and its proper use. So did Henry DavidThoreau. So did Edward Abbey.Americans have been arguing about the environment since the first boats landed atJamestown, and by all appearances they'll keep right on arguing into the nextmillennium. The Idea of Wilderness packs the centuries-old story into a livelynarrative with its full complement of heroes--Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold--a fewchoice villains of the robber-baron and bureaucrat persuasion, and a few middlingsouls like GiffordPinchot, founder of the United States Forest Service. Max Oelschlaeger writespersuasively on the philosophical and religious underpinnings of variousenvironmental positions, showing that indeed there's nothing new under the sun. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent Insights and Perspective
This is the most comprehensive and insightful book I've read on the history of our relationship with nature. Beginning from 20,000 BCE to today, Oelschleager takes the reader on a journey through to the perceptions of wilderness from what can be gleaned about how Paleolithic man might have seen nature on through the myths, poetry and philosophies of ancient, modern and postmodern times, including the perspectives of philosophers from Heraclitus to Descartes and Thoreau, Muir and Leopold. He has masterfully accomplished his goal to write a universal history of "the idea of wilderness, and its ever-changing yet constant relationship between humankind and nature,"
This has been a seminal book in my life and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is seeking an objective and clear understanding of how in the midst of such affluence our culture has evolved to the current state of confusion, conflict and concern about our health and the health of the envirnoment and why we don't seem to be able to address these concerns effectively as of yet. When my son got this book as a gift, I began reading it and couldn't put it down. Soon I bought him another copy. It has provided me with answers to questions and concerns I've had from the time I was a child through college and into adulthood as to why so much of what I was being taught didn't jibe with my own experiences in nature and in life. The book is extensively researched and documented, yet even the end notes are engaging to read.

Get yourself back to the garden
'There are many things in western culture that are admirable. But a culture that alienates itself from the very ground of its own being - from the wilderness outside (that is to say wild nature, the wild, self-contained, self-informing ecosystems) and from that other wilderness, the wilderness within - is doomed to a very destructive behavior'.

This quotation from poet Gary Snyder sets the agenda for Max Oelschlaeger's important study of the idea of wilderness. His aim is to demonstrate the importance of the Darwinian idea of nature 'as the source of human existence, rather than a mere re-source to fuel the economy' (p.1) He approves strongly of a reaffirmation of the wilderness in the American consciousness, and along with Snyder he 'announces the opening of the frontier again and attempts to push it eastwards, to reverse America's historical process, to urge the wilderness to grow back into civilization, to release the stored energy from layers below us.' (L. Folson, quoted on p. 275).

This is more than a history of ecological ideas and more than a primer on 'wilderness philosophy'. It is a significant contribution to the question of civilisation and its purpose - in many respects a philosophical, ethical and religious challenge to the twenty-first century. ... Read more

Book Description

Environmental Economics distinguishes itself from other books by presupposing that readers already have an understanding of intermediate microeconomics. Thus, this book concentrates only on environmental economics--problems of pollution of earth, air, and water--with an emphasis on regulation and private-sector anti-pollution incentives. Coverage also includes international examples. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great introduction to Environmental Economics .
Actual rating - 4.5 stars .

I read this book as a must-read for the Environmental Economics course I had taken in the beginning of the last semester . I think this book is a great choice for students that are interested in this topic . Myself , I didn't know what to expect in the beginning of the course , but it turned up to be a surprisingly interesting and important issue - with the good help of this book .

I have to say that I've learned a lot from reading this book , and it has been a pleasant experience too . Professor Kolstad has really accomplished a commendable achievement in writing a fluent , methodical , thorough and interesting book about Environmental Economics , nearly everyone who wishes to , can read and understand .

I say it as a student who hasn't read other works on the subject , but nevertheless , feels this book has many pluses as an introduction to this subject :

- The author , in spite of announcing it is a book for persons that have taken an Intermediate Microeconomics courses , makes far-reaching efforts to explain nearly every statement he proclaimed . This is a good feature students can use for reviewing forgotten material , deleting the need to use more fundamental books for understanding .

- Significant number of chapters includes a small use of mathematic tools . This fact is of considerable help for the layman , who is interested in expending horizons and lacks the necessary mathematical skills .

I believe the following points characterize many tutorials , but it's important to note them anyway;

- Every figure the author uses is accompanied with detailed explanations that enhance the reader's ability to understand the sketch and the whole subject while at it .

- Every chapter includes an introduction and a summery . The first connects the chapter to the previous one , and assists in grasping the place it takes in the big picture of things , while the second one summarize the major issues dealt with . This functions organize the material and construct an understandable structure of knowledge .

- One last thing , that consists an advantage constructed with disadvantage is the appearance of questions and problems in the end of each chapter , in the obvious order to help you check out your understanding , but with the irritating absence of answers and solutions (!) . What's the point in composing personal examinations without any achievable , certified solutions ? How can I know I am right ? I recommend authors to annex a booklet/extra pages with the correct answers , along with a full description of the way to the solution plus explanations - if you include such a tutorial tool in your book - do it right .

Excluding the last disadvantage , I'm most pleased with this book , and would recommend it for anyone who is interested in environment and its protection problems

complete and comprenhensive
This book is more than a simple overview of the wide environmental economics world, since it embraces the subject in a clear, comprenhensive but in-depth enough to get a very good picture of it. ... Read more

Book Description

A wide-ranging exploration of the issues shaping development in rural North America for the years ahead

This unique volume presents guidelines for dealing with the problems of development in rural areas, with coverage that encompasses theory, strategic planning and policy implementation, and practical experience. It contains an in-depth examination of the problems faced by rural American towns, communities, and families, and it explores a range of innovative solutions based on the concepts of sustainable use of indigenous talents and resources.

Contributions by leading experts and seasoned practitioners represent a broad spectrum of experience and ideological outlook, making Rural Sustainable Development in America must reading for anyone involved in community development; rural geography, planning, and economic development; public administration; agricultural economics; and public policy. The book covers:

• Historical, philosophical, and ecological foundations of sustainable development in the rural context.
• Principles of a rural sustainable future in which development policies embrace holistic and interactive views of ethics, ecology, economics, and sociopolitical systems.
• Different approaches to policy and planning strategy at the regional and local level.
• The role of citizen involvement and empowerment in choosing and effecting change in community life.
• Real-world experiences with alternative rural-urban symbioses in agriculture, waste management, greenways, and trails.
• Analysis of specific community-based efforts at regional revitalization in Indiana, Central Appalachia, and Eastern Canada.

The development of an energy and technology intensive, global agricultural production system over the last few decades has had a devastating impact on traditional rural communities—from the decline of family farms to the virtual depopulation of small towns on a wide scale. But across this bleak landscape, many communities are planning and taking action to assure their development in sustainable ways.

What are the visions, assumptions, and practical considerations guiding these efforts? How can communities address the obstacles they face in designing and implementing policies that will foster and support regeneration?

Providing invaluable insight into these questions, Rural Sustainable Development in America offers a multidimensional look at theory, strategic planning, and real-world experience that provides planners and others with important tools to use in cultivating a sustainable future for rural America.

Contributions by leading experts from a range of disciplines first explore the philosophical and ecological underpinnings of sustainable development within a global and local context. The second part of the book examines regional and local planning and policy issues, and the final section assesses the success or failure of alternative rural-urban symbioses in agriculture, waste management, greenways and trails, and regional revitalization.

Encompassing several shades of "greenness," this thought-provoking volume truly reflects the diversity of views and approaches that are driving the theory and practice of rural development into the twenty-first century. It is a vital addition to the literature that will inform readers of every ideological orientation and professional perspective—in such areas as rural geography, planning, policy, and economic development; agricultural economics; landscape architecture; and public administration. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

It is a photographic journal not a guide book
Mattias Klum is a very famous nature photographer, who has a unique style. He is not into just making portraits of animals and birds. Every photograph of his that I have seen communicates a whole story of the things he is taking pictures of. He has spent considerable time in rain forests, and communicates his experience very well.

Unfortunately, most of his books are printed only in Swedish, and he has not not got as much exposure outside here. You should check out other books by him too.

Mattias's work also exhibits a different nature photographic aesthetic from what most people in North America are used to seeing.

Artistic View of Borneo's Rain Forrest.
I purchased this book because I am planning a trip to Borneo and I wanted to learn more about the Borneo rain forest. The book is very well done. The photographs are very artistic and beautiful. Some of the creatures I have never seen before. However, I was disappointed that art took presidence over instruction. I did not learn as much about the plants and animals of the rain forest as I had hoped. If you are looking for an atlas or encyclopedic report keep looking. ... Read more

Book Description

An unprecedented rape of Mother Nature from the 1880s to the 1940s completely changed the wooded landscape in the northern Great Lakes region of America as well as the society and ecology forevermore. In this time of empire building, logging towns grew like weeds around sawmills and often died when the last tree was cut. The people living there called it "cut and run." This fascinating book presents true-life photographic images of the loggers and the people they touched. Here we see the lumberjacks and river pigs who began the work, railroad loggers who extended the range and types of logs available, and a close-up look at one town in the wilderness. With hard work written across their faces, these men and women who dedicated their lives to the logging industry earn the respect of today's readers through the dynamic photographs and poignant stories related here. To build American towns, they toiled to make the lumber available; they succeeded and became legendary. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A history of a colorful era
Book Review
That "Cut & Run" Loggin' Off the Big Woods" is a coffee table book is obvious when you see its cover with the three lumberjacks posed with their axes but, it is much more than that. There are over 150 pictures in its 144 pages all of them clear as bells and none of them seen before by me.
In addition to the pictures, there is text on each page and the text is what sets it apart from other books of its type. The book is written by Mike Monte, who I know. He lives in Crandon, Wisconsin, is a former logger and the son and grandson of old time lumberjacks. Where he got all the original photos I don't know but, the writing comes naturally to him from a life long interest in the logging history of the north woods. If its possible to love the sinner while hating the sin, Mike does that. He makes plain his contempt for the timber barons who were responsible for the cutting and running but his love and respect for those people who actually did the work and lived the life shows through on every page.
Although most of the book is about the loggers, teamsters, railroaders, sawmillers and river rats who did the work, there is also a lot about their wives and families. There is an entire chapter on "Padus" a typical "sawdust" town which no longer exists. Its now part of the small town of Wabeno. There are pictures of boiler explosions, train wrecks and fires all of which plagued these early towns and mills. Pictures of stores and saloons and mud choked main streets. People in their Sunday best and lumberjacks sleeping 4 and 5 to a bed in the logging camps. All with colorful descriptions , some from elderly people who actually lived the history.
You learn a lot about those days. Beneath a shot of a 'Jack with a two bitted axe, for example, Mike explains that they kept one edge sharp, the other dull and used the dull end on frozen wood since a sharp edge would chip out on frozen wood.
Since the timber companies all paid about the same wages, food in the camps made all the difference. Mike says that 'jacks would quit jobs to follow good cooks from one job to the next.
The book doesn't stop with the clearing of the pines. There are sections on the follow up harvests of hemlock and hardwoods and, finally, the cutting of what was left for pulpwood. By the 1920s it was pretty much all over. Some 70 years to take it all.
For those who are really interested, Mike shows pictures and explains, for example, the difference between an A frame jammer and a slide ass jammer, both of which were used to load logs onto railway cars. The book can serve as a history lesson into a colorful industry of the past and/or, simply a collection of interesting photos. Either way, its well worth owning

Dave Johnson

A treasury of old photographs
The publisher stumbled onto a treasure in this collection of photographs of early logging in America. Mike Monte's enthusiasm shines through his commentary on the history of logging. He's interested in the loggers, their trees, their lifestyle, their machinery, their locales, their women, in short, in everything associated with the logging industry in the United States more than a century ago. I keep wondering what it would be like to eat in the logging tent at the table with these rough-looking guys, or sleep on a plywood cot next to a fellow still wearing his hobnail boots--or hang out the laundry in a couple feet of snow....this book is to die for! ... Read more

Book Description

The increasing risk of severe droughts and water shortagesemphasizes the need for an integrated approach to drought mitigation.However, effective tools for the implementation of such an approachhave not been available till now. This book contributes to an improvedpreparedness for drought in water supply systems, providing toolsuseful for a better decision making process in drought management. Itpresents methods and software features of a Decision Support System(DSS) developed within a European research project and consists ofthree main parts. The first part deals with the advanced techniquesfor hydrological drought identification and monitoring; the secondanalyses the successful use of climate-crop-soil models in definingdeficit irrigation strategies; the third provides tools for improvingthe operation of irrigation supply reservoirs. All methods areembedded in a user-friendly DSS package that has been applied inseveral Case Studies of Mediterranean countries (Portugal, Italy,Tunisia, Jordan and Syria) and whose results are also compared. Audience: Scientists working in hydrology, irrigation and watermanagement as well as decision makers responsible for irrigationsystems will find this book of interest. ... Read more

Book Description

Barry Field’s Environmental Economics, 3e, examines all the facets of the connection between environmental quality and the economic behavior of individuals and groups of people. The book contains 21 chapters covering Cost and Benefits of Environmental Policy, Environmental Analysis, Policy Analysis, US Policy (Air Pollution, Toxic Wastes, State and Local Issues), and International Environmental Issues.Barry Field’s other text with McGraw-Hill/Irwin, Natural Resource Economics (©2001), may be packaged with Environmental Economics, 3e, at a discount. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent Intro to Environ reesource economics
This book holds an excewllent treatment of the range and focus of topics which fall under the environmental resource economics realm.The author addresses both the fundamentals and advanced social concepts mixed withexcellent examples of the economic principles which resource managers mustmake during the policy process and the inherent problems these policiespresent.A must read for anyone interested in working in the publicsector. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is designed and intended as a source of ideas on how to think about oak forests as responsive ecosystems. Divided into two sections the book focuses on oak ecosystems in the United States as well as providing much application to other regions such as Europe and the Mediterranean. The first section includes chapters on the ecological characteristics and distribution of oak species and the various kinds of oak forests in the United States, differences among them and how they have been classified. The second section includes chapters on site productivity, stand development, silviculture, and growth and yield. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

scholarly, readable, useful, and unique
Foresters and other land managers usually have to rely on shelves and boxes full of books, reprints, bulletins, and notes for the information they need about the ecosystem they are concerned with. Here, between two hard covers, is a great wealth of carefully selected, clearly organized, and creatively synthesized knowledge dealing with the biology and management of American oak forests and woodlands.Chapter titles will indicate the diversity of subject matter: Ecology, Regeneration Ecology (flowering, fruiting, and reproduction characteristics), Regeneration Ecology (population dynamics),Site Productivity and Stand Development, Development of Natural Stands, Self-Thinning and Stand Density, Even-Aged Silvicultural Methods, Uneven-Aged Silvicultural Methods, Multi-Resource Management, Growth and Yield, plus seven appendices. There are numerous sub-topics within each chapter, greatly amplifying the diversity of information. There are many illustrations, graphs, flow-charts, and photos. Each chapter has its own lit cited, about 90% of which are from 1990 or later. As a tree biologist I read the sections on acorn dispersal, vegetative reproduction, and growth, and found all to be clear, accurate, and current. This excellent technical volume should serve as a model for the digestion of information for all significant forest tree genera.

Stephen Shifley is a ROCKSTAR!
This book, the Ecology and Silviculture of Oaks, absolutely rocked my world. Never have I read such a moving, overwhelming discussion of oak trees. Wow. I may seem a little biased because author Steve Shifley is my rockstar father (yeah, Dad!), but this coming-of-age tale of oak trees in a changing, oppressive urban culture is truly a tearjerker. Well worth the [$] I paid for it. Buy as many copies as you can, because all the proceeds go to fund my college education. Once again, READ THIS BOOK! It'll alter your worldview- forever. ... Read more

Book Description

A straight-forward , easy to understand presentation of hydraulic and hydrologic processes using the control volume approach. The author extends these processes into practical applications for water use and water excess, including water distribution systems, stormwater control, and flood storage systems. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Water Resources at your finger tips!
Larry W. Mays has written an outstanding text that provide students with a complete picture of water resources engineering by integrating the fundamental concepts of fluid mechanics, hydraulics, hydrology, and contaminant transport processes. The material in the text is presented from first principles, is rigorous, is relevant to the practice of water resources engineering, and is reinforced by detailed presetations of design applications. A text worth having next to vintage books on this subject in W-R engineers' library. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST
Maclean's done it again, only this time he's done it better. His first book, FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, was and still is a popular book with wildland firefighters. This one, though, will be a must-own for the summer army of boots-and-nomex firefighters -- and will surely be assigned as mandatory reading in many a fire training course. The collection of stories in FIRE AND ASHES proves up both Maclean's dogged pursuit of history and his determined focus on accuracy gained from 30 years in journalism. Covering many thousands of miles, dozens of interviews, and with painstaking attention to detail in his writing, Maclean has crafted a book that puts his readers out on the fireline. Unlike many authors who try to write about wildfire, Maclean makes no lame allowances for readers unfamiliar with the language and culture of the firefighter. He just explains it for them. His recounting of the 1999 Sadler incident -- in retrospect a problematic compilation of small "oops" decisions that resulted in near-disaster -- is a chilling read when one considers how close it came to being a disaster like South Canyon. His "Short History of Wildland Fire" and glossary of fire terms will be a go-to resource for firefighters -- structural and wildland both -- and for anyone curious enough to read about or write about fire. It's Maclean's reconstruction of the 1953 Rattlesnake Fire, though, that stands as the highlight of the book. It's a can't-put-down story that's finally been accurately researched and told (and illustrated), about a fire that's been a benchmark for safety lessons and fire behavior training for 50 years. Young men and women in fire camps across the West -- and the older ones too -- will be packing this book along in their red bags this summer, and well they should. ... Read more