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How I Became Involved In 1966, I heard a scientist

give a lecture on the problems of overpopulation and

environmental abuse. Afterward, I went to him and

said, "If even a fraction of what you have said is true, I

will feel ethically obligated to give up my research on

the corrosion of metals and devote the rest of my life to

research and education on environmental problems

and solutions. Frankly, I don't want to believe a word

you have said, and I'm going into the literature to try to

prove that your statements are either untrue or grossly

distorted."

After six months of study, I was convinced of the

seriousness of these problems. Since then, I have been

studying, teaching, and writing about them. This book

summarizes what I have learned in almost three de-

cades of trying to ufiderstand environmental princi-

ples, problems, connections, and solutions.

My Philosophy of Education I agree with Nor-

man Cousin's statement: "The first aim of education

should not be to prepare young people for careers, but

to enable them to develop a respect for life." In our

lifelong pursuit of knowledge, I believe we should do

three things. The first is to question everything and

everybody, as any good scientist does. Second, each of

us should develop a list of principles, concepts, and

rules to be used as guidelines in making decisions, and

to continually evaluate and modify this list as a result

of experience. This is based on my belief that the pur-

pose of our lifelong pursuit of education is to learn

how to sift through mountains of facts and ideas to

find the few that are most useful and worth knowing.

We need an earth-wisdom revolution, not an information

revolution.

Third, I believe in interacting with what I read. I

do this by marking key sentences and paragraphs with

a highlighter or pen. I put an asterisk in the margin

next to something I think is important, and double as-

terisks next to something that I think is especially im-

portant. I write comments in the margins, such as Beau-

tiful, Confusing, Bull, or Wrong. I fold down the top

corner of pages with highlighted passages and the top

and bottom corners of especially important pages.

This way, I can flip through a book and quickly review

the key passages. I urge

with this book.

you to interact in such ways

Key Features This book is designed to be used in ii

troductory courses on environmental science. It trea

environmental science as an interdisciplinary stud

combining ideas and information from natural sc

ences (such as biology, chemistry, and geology) an

social sciences (such as economics, politics, and ethic

to present a general idea of how nature works an

how things are interconnected. It is a study of conne~

tions in nature.

After major environmental problems are di~

cussed, various solutions to them proposed by a var

ety of scientists, environmental activists, and analysl

are given. A range of possible solutions--some of ther

highly controversial--is provided to encourage you t

think critically and make up your own mind.

Each chapter begins with a brief Earth Story, a cas

study designed to capture interest and set the stage fc

the material that follows. In addition to these 19 cas

studies, 53 other case studies are found throughout th

book; they provide a more detailed look at specific er

vironmental problems and their possible solutiom

Sixteen Guest Essays (five of them new) present an ir

dividual researcher's or activist's point of view, whic

are then evaluated by two critical thinking question~

In this book I use scientific laws, principles, mo~

els, and concepts to help us understand both enviror

mental and resource problems and their possible sok

tions, and how these concepts, problems, and solution

are connected. I have introduced only those concepi

and principles necessary for understanding the mate1

ial in this book, and have tried to present them simpl

but accurately. The key principles and concepts used i:

this textbook are summarized inside the back cover.

My aim is to provide a readable and accurate ir

troduction to environmental science without the us

of mathematics or complex scientific information. T

help ensure that the material is accurate and up-tc

date, I have consulted more than 10,000 researcl

soffrces in the professional literature. In writing thi

book, I have also benefited from the more than 200 e~

perts and teachers who have provided detailed rc

views of the editions of this and my other four book

in this field (see list on pp. ix-x).