Daniel B. Botkin

This is a book about ecology, environment, nature, and the misleading information that plagues the discussions of these topics. It is easy-to-read, fun, and doesn't have to be read all at once; you can pick it up for five or ten minutes, get one idea out of it, put it down, and come back for other five or ten minutes some other time. It's light reading about very difficult subjects, such as: is trying to save every single species necessarily a good thing? Is life really all that fragile? Is undisturbed nature the normal state of things? and twenty-three more insightful essays.

A concise look at the field that arms the reader with vital information on today's environmental problems. Offers critical thinking questions in each chapter to help readers draw inferences.Focuses on calculations and data interpretation that are directly linked to answering the big questions.Explores the major environmental issues while providing a critical perspective.Highlights opposite sides of thinking for important issues.Examines science principles while limiting the discussion on mathematical and quantitative areas.