Review by Choice Review
Conservation biologists admonish us to beware the Sixth Extinction. Species may be disappearing faster now than at any time during the earth's history, and unless we quickly change our ways, entire ecosystems will come crashing down, leaving us a depauperate planet overrun with cockroaches and roof rats. Thomas (Univ. of York, UK) tells us not to listen to the doomsayers. Yes, human activity is causing the disappearance of hundreds of species at ever-increasing rates, but these are the evolutionary losers; we need to focus on the winners! Human-introduced animals and plants have given many areas a greater species diversity than ever before, as long as you don't mind counting feral cats and zebra mussels. Introgressive hybridization caused by human activity is producing new hybrid species faster than old species are disappearing; surely all the new varieties of ragworts more than make up for losing tuataras and tigers. This book is witty and well written, and full of lively anecdotes. However, the author ignores marine environments, ecosystem conservation, and the fact that the full effect of human destruction is yet to be felt. The work is thought provoking, but ultimately unconvincing. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; professionals. --John L. Hunt, University of Arkansas--Monticello
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
GHOSTS OF THE TSUNAMI: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone, by Richard Lloyd Parry. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27.) A British journalist, long resident in Tokyo, probes the emotional and spiritual effects of the catastrophe that killed thousands of men, women and children in 2011. THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner, by Daniel Ellsberg. (Bloomsbury, $30.) When the Cold War ended in 1991, nuclear weapons vanished from the minds of most Americans. But Ellsberg, the former Defense Department analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers, sounds an impassioned alarm, warning that the dangers of nuclear conflict remain. MEGAFIRE: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame, by Michael Kodas. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28.) An account of the misguided history and dire results of America's wildfire management policy that also captures the Sisyphean struggles of the men and women who battle blazes for a living. PALE RIDER: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World, by Laura Spinney. (PublicAffairs, $28.) The Spanish flu tends to be overshadowed by World War I in our cultural memory, but Spinney, a novelist and science writer, draws on medical mysteries and haunting vignettes to give the pandemic its due. THE GREAT QUAKE: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet, by Henry Fountain. (Crown, $28.) In 1964, Alaska experienced an earthquake so powerful that, in one town, the resulting tidal wave swept away a third of the residents. Fountain avidly explains both the science and the human toll. WINTER OF ICE AND IRON, by Rachel Neumeier. (Saga, $29.99.) The plot of Neumeier's epic fantasy of magic and political intrigue feels familiar, but her writing has a spare, haunting quality that makes up for it. The characters hook; this is more satisfying comfort food than most. THE ENDS OF THE WORLD: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions, by Peter Brannen. (Ecco, $27.99.) Earth has undergone five major mass extinctions and Brannen tells us about all the destruction in great detail. DISCOVERING THE MAMMOTH: A Tale of Giants, Unicorns, Ivory, and the Birth of a New Science, by John J. McKay. (Pegasus Books, $27.95.) McKay examines our long fascination with the mysterious, extinct pachyderms that once roamed the earth. INHERITORS OF THE EARTH: How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction, by Chris D. Thomas. (PublicAffairs, $28.) Perhaps our "ecological despair," as Thomas puts it, is overblown; he argues we are seeing a sixth evolution rather than a sixth extinction. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [January 7, 2018]
Review by Library Journal Review
British biologist Thomas (conservation biology, Univ. of York, UK) has a different take on biodiversity loss: though it may be the end for some species, others-like the ubiquitous sparrow-are thriving in human-altered landscapes. Citing his own research and other relevant scientific studies, the author claims that human activity and disturbance have increased the number of species on Earth (though the mix of species is different from that before the human age). He also examines how our love of "native" species and hatred of "foreign" (invasive) species is based on the erroneous assumption that there is some "correct" geographical location for any given plant and animal species. While Thomas's upbeat ecological audit is not a popular perspective in the conservation community, it is based upon a solid understanding of how ecosystems function and basic evolutionary principles. VERDICT This well-argued and provocative work is recommended for open-minded science enthusiasts interested in environmental conservation issues surrounding biodiversity, rewilding, and the resurrection of extinct species.-Cynthia Lee Knight, Hunterdon Cty. -Historical Soc., Flemington, NJ © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An optimistic view of nature amid the current environmental crisis.Thomas (Conservation Biology/Univ. of York) eschews "the shackles of a pessimism-laden, loss-only view of the world"the traditional take of most conservationistsand insists we recognize that many species are thriving in our human-altered world. In a provocative analysis based on his own research and that of others throughout the world, he shows how many animal and plant species benefit from our presence, increasing the biological diversity of much of the world. Human activities generally deemed threats to biodiversitynotably, the killing of animals, habitat destruction, climate change, and biological invasionshave in fact created "unexpected opportunities" for new species to succeed. "Humans have changed the climate, and the distribution of species have changed as a result," he writes, noting that an "inexorable march of the world's wildlife is underway," with birds moving up from the lowlands in Costa Rica, plants shifting upward in European mountain ranges, and warm-water Australian fish finding a home in once-too-chilly Tasmanian reefs. Some two-thirds of animal species "are already living in at least some new places' where they could not have survived as recently as fifty years ago." At the same time, humans' creation of new habitats and connections is leading to the rise of hybrid species, to the consternation of conservationists who believe "every animal should be pure." Similarly, the appearance of invasive species in new areas is simply part of the biological change that allows life on Earth to survive: "Treating each arrival of a species in a new habitat or geographic location as something to be resisted will, in most instances, result in failure, and it is ultimately counterproductive." We are losing much biodiversity because of human meddling, writes this contrarian ecologist in his fascinating book. However, "come back in a million years and we might be looking at several million new species whose existence can be attributed to humans." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
