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Environmental hazards in the British Isles
BOOK REVIEWS
243
Environmental Law in Japan. By Julian Gresser, Koichino Fujikura and Akio Morishima. MIT Press, London. 1981. Pp. 525. ISBN 0 262 0706 6. Price: £37.20. In the years between the 1939-45 war and about 1970, industrial development in Japan was very rapid, and was accompanied by serious pollution. Many people still think that this position continues, but in fact there have been remarkable environmental improvements without adverse effects on employment or economic growth. This book gives the legal framework for this improvement. It is likely that other countries, particularly where economic growth may take place, can learn much from the Japanese example.
Chemicals in the Environment. Distribution, Transport, Fate, Analysis. By W. Brock Neely. Marcel Dekker, New York, Basel. 1981. Pp. 264. ISBN 0 8247 6975 9. Price: SFr82-0. The author states that in the United States legislation on environmental issues means that there will be much greater public participation in future decisions relating to the chemical industry. Scientists will need to be able to make informed predictions on such subjects as the persistence and movement of chemicals in the environment. They must also be able to make this information available and comprehensible to others. This book discusses the problem and deals in some detail with the various models used by some scientists to elucidate these problems.
The Environment: Issues and Choices for Society. By Penelope ReVelle and Charles ReVelle. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York. 1981. Pp. 762. ISBN 0 442 22069 3. Price: £14.20 (cloth). This is a rather elementary textbook for college students. The general slant is towards the more extreme environmental protection standpoint, although there is a great deal of information on many environmental issues, mainly from an USA point of view.
Environmental Hazards in the British Isles. By A. H. Perry. London, George Allen & Unwin. 1981. Pp. 191. ISBN 0 04 910069 6. Price." £12.00 (hardback); £5.95 (paper). As the British Isles seldom suffers devastating earthquakes, floods or storms, there is little literature on the subject of hazards affecting these islands. Dr Perry devotes two-thirds of his book to 'natural' hazards--storms, snow, flood, drought and fog--
244
BOOK REVIEWS
which he shows to be far from negligible. The remainder of the text deals rather briefly with all types of pollution, with seismic dangers, biological hazards (including disease epidemics) and the concept of vulnerability and risk. It is a useful and clearly written text for students in fields relating to man and his environment.
Clean Coal/Dirty Air. By Bruce A. Ackerman and William T. Hassler. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. 1981. Pp. 193. ISBN 0 300 02628 5. Price: £12.60 (cloth), £3.50 (paper). This product of the Yale Law School has the informative sub-title 'How the Clean Air Act Became a Multibillion-Dollar-Bail-Out for the High-Sulfur Coal Producers and What Should Be Done About It'. I hope lawyers will find it easier reading than scientists. Incidentally, a third of the pages are devoted to Notes.
Handbook of Environmental Engineering, Vol. 2. Solid Waste Processing and Resource Recovery. Edited by Lawrence K. Wang and Norman C. Pereira. Humana Press, Clifton, NJ. 1981. ISBN 0 89603 008 3. Price: £29.80. Volume 2 of Wang-Pereira's Handbook is an admirable textbook dealing with the major problems related to solid waste. It comprises seven major sections by the Editors and seven other contributors. Chapters deal with mechanical volume reduction, combustion and incineration, sanitary landfill, combustion processes, materials and energy recovery and systems planning.
Aquatic Pollution. By Edward A. Laws. Wiley, New York. 1981. Pp. 482. ISBN 0 471 05797 5. Price: £19.05. This is an unusual textbook. It really deals with ecological problems arising from pollution, mainly of water. The publishers state that many students find difficulty in dealing with reading lists from scientific journals. Here themes are illustrated by lively case studies, e.g. from Lake Erie the 'doomwatch' pronouncements 'Lake Erie has died' (Paul Ehrlich) and contrasting statements, 'Lake Erie, with its enormous fish population, etc., etc. is far from dead' (Cy Adler). There are also verbatim quotations from governmental inquiries, for instance regarding DDT. I think many students of environmental science and similar subjects should find it very readable and useful. K.M.
243
Environmental Law in Japan. By Julian Gresser, Koichino Fujikura and Akio Morishima. MIT Press, London. 1981. Pp. 525. ISBN 0 262 0706 6. Price: £37.20. In the years between the 1939-45 war and about 1970, industrial development in Japan was very rapid, and was accompanied by serious pollution. Many people still think that this position continues, but in fact there have been remarkable environmental improvements without adverse effects on employment or economic growth. This book gives the legal framework for this improvement. It is likely that other countries, particularly where economic growth may take place, can learn much from the Japanese example.
Chemicals in the Environment. Distribution, Transport, Fate, Analysis. By W. Brock Neely. Marcel Dekker, New York, Basel. 1981. Pp. 264. ISBN 0 8247 6975 9. Price: SFr82-0. The author states that in the United States legislation on environmental issues means that there will be much greater public participation in future decisions relating to the chemical industry. Scientists will need to be able to make informed predictions on such subjects as the persistence and movement of chemicals in the environment. They must also be able to make this information available and comprehensible to others. This book discusses the problem and deals in some detail with the various models used by some scientists to elucidate these problems.
The Environment: Issues and Choices for Society. By Penelope ReVelle and Charles ReVelle. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York. 1981. Pp. 762. ISBN 0 442 22069 3. Price: £14.20 (cloth). This is a rather elementary textbook for college students. The general slant is towards the more extreme environmental protection standpoint, although there is a great deal of information on many environmental issues, mainly from an USA point of view.
Environmental Hazards in the British Isles. By A. H. Perry. London, George Allen & Unwin. 1981. Pp. 191. ISBN 0 04 910069 6. Price." £12.00 (hardback); £5.95 (paper). As the British Isles seldom suffers devastating earthquakes, floods or storms, there is little literature on the subject of hazards affecting these islands. Dr Perry devotes two-thirds of his book to 'natural' hazards--storms, snow, flood, drought and fog--
244
BOOK REVIEWS
which he shows to be far from negligible. The remainder of the text deals rather briefly with all types of pollution, with seismic dangers, biological hazards (including disease epidemics) and the concept of vulnerability and risk. It is a useful and clearly written text for students in fields relating to man and his environment.
Clean Coal/Dirty Air. By Bruce A. Ackerman and William T. Hassler. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. 1981. Pp. 193. ISBN 0 300 02628 5. Price: £12.60 (cloth), £3.50 (paper). This product of the Yale Law School has the informative sub-title 'How the Clean Air Act Became a Multibillion-Dollar-Bail-Out for the High-Sulfur Coal Producers and What Should Be Done About It'. I hope lawyers will find it easier reading than scientists. Incidentally, a third of the pages are devoted to Notes.
Handbook of Environmental Engineering, Vol. 2. Solid Waste Processing and Resource Recovery. Edited by Lawrence K. Wang and Norman C. Pereira. Humana Press, Clifton, NJ. 1981. ISBN 0 89603 008 3. Price: £29.80. Volume 2 of Wang-Pereira's Handbook is an admirable textbook dealing with the major problems related to solid waste. It comprises seven major sections by the Editors and seven other contributors. Chapters deal with mechanical volume reduction, combustion and incineration, sanitary landfill, combustion processes, materials and energy recovery and systems planning.
Aquatic Pollution. By Edward A. Laws. Wiley, New York. 1981. Pp. 482. ISBN 0 471 05797 5. Price: £19.05. This is an unusual textbook. It really deals with ecological problems arising from pollution, mainly of water. The publishers state that many students find difficulty in dealing with reading lists from scientific journals. Here themes are illustrated by lively case studies, e.g. from Lake Erie the 'doomwatch' pronouncements 'Lake Erie has died' (Paul Ehrlich) and contrasting statements, 'Lake Erie, with its enormous fish population, etc., etc. is far from dead' (Cy Adler). There are also verbatim quotations from governmental inquiries, for instance regarding DDT. I think many students of environmental science and similar subjects should find it very readable and useful. K.M.