The World According To Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth

By Stuart Pimm

Ever since the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in the '60s, we've known that human activity has had detrimental effects on the environment. Yet after four decades of growing awareness of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071374906
• ISBN13: 9780071374903
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.1" x 1.2" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Insight from Numbers guides Strategy

I found Pimm's book extremely helpful. Puts meaningful numbers to the disparate facts about global warming and toxins in the environment so that one can weigh the need for action and the types of strategies that are available. We have passed the point of some strategies having any use, and it is critical to select good strategies and take action. Pimm even discusses important aspects of the environmental crisis that we, as of yet, do not fully understand, and how our lack of knowledge may NOT justify inaction.

Very useful for courses on environmental ethics

This is a truly excellent book, quite readable for undergraduates yet full of important information -- especially on the decline of the rainforests, on which most environmental ethics textbooks have woefully little to say, unfortunately. We need another book like this on the world's oceans -- for this topic also is mostly missing from standard textbooks -- but Pimm does an excellent job summing up what the different parts of the earth's land are being used for today. It brings the obvious unsustainability of our present increase in resource use into clear and undeniable focus, as well as bringing together data on the shocking rate at which we are causing the extinction of land species. I'm sure there are other books with more statistics in them for the advanced scientific specialist, but none I've found that will be equally accessible to undergraduates. There is only one problem: where is the paperback edition? It is long overdue!

The World According To Pimm Review

This is the first book I've read that concisely examines the problems and issues facing our planet Earth. Anyone who is interested in the future of the planet and wants to be able to make informed, rational decisions about a wide variety of ecological problems should read and reread this book. The material is presented in a very entertaining, informal way. The non-scientific person will not be mired in confusing (not to mention boring) data. He has a admirable ability to get right to the heart of the issues. He presents the material evenly and lets the reader make his own mind up about the problems presented.

Excellent, Important Book that Everyone Should Read

This book is well written, informative and an enjoyable read. But so are many books. What distinguishes this one is that it also presents a critical message - one that we all should take to heart. And do not assume: "oh, wonderful, here's another book just bemoaning the fate of the planet and predicting its destruction." Instead, Dr. Pimm's book does an exceptional job of clearly and accurately presenting a wealth of sobering information while maintaining a strong sense of optimism and inspiration. This is a truly outstanding and important book, and one does not need to be a scientist to understand and appreciate its content.