The Challenge of Extinction (Environmental Issues Series) [Library Binding]

Dorothy Hinshaw Patent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1991 | Age Level: 11 and up | Series: Environmental Issues Series

Focuses on the scientific, technological, and social impacts of plant and animal extinction.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-- Patent's passion for her topic is clearly expressed in an accessible writing style. However, the organization is confusing, and transitions are lacking. Numerous important concepts are briefly mentioned, but not defined in enough depth to have meaning for readers unfamiliar with modern social problems. For example, the replacement of native species by human-introduced ones is omitted. The book begins by defining extinction and showing how human-caused extinction differs from natural mass extinctions of the past. The following chapter on diversity combines descriptions of threatened animals with concepts of interrelationships within ecosystems, examples of wild species that benefit humans, problems of habitat destruction, a mention of genetic problems of small populations of animals, and two paragraphs on "the unity of life." Nowhere among all the examples of destruction is there a specific indication of why diversity is important, and the glossary definition is totally inadequate. The book is illustrated with clearly reproduced black-and-white photographs, but one of the tables is poorly designed; it compares unlike species to one another rather than showing how each species anchors its environment. Margery Facklam's And Then There Was One (Sierra Club Bks./Little, 1990), while aimed at a slightly younger readership, presents the process of extinction of specific species in a much more engaging manner. Laurence Pringle's Saving Our Wildlife (Enslow, 1990) is a model of clarity and organization, although its viewpoint is more narrowly focused on animals. Christopher Lampton's Endangered Species (Watts, 1988) addresses the same issues (although using somewhat different terms) in a better organized manner. Rebecca Stefoff's Extinction (Chelsea House, 1992), for a slightly older readership, covers history and international regulation of animal products in much greater detail. It's also much clearer on the meaning and importance of biological diversity. --Jonathan Betz-Zall, Sno-Isle Regional Library System, Edmonds, WA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The causes of extinction, the importance of genetic diversity, and efforts to alter conditions that threaten nearly 20% of all species on earth in the next 20 to 30 years. While the examples mentioned here are intriguing, the organization of this entry in the ``Environmental Issues'' series is confusing. Under ``Diversity,'' Patent discusses the causes of extinction--habitat destruction, killing for profit, pollution--and then goes on to discuss keynote species, corn that never dies, improving tomatoes, and domesticating the kouprey (a kind of wild ox). Statements like this one lack sources: ``One of the best examples of why it is to the advantage of humans to keep wild species from disappearing is the discovery of teosinte...its value to agriculture is estimated at $6.82 billion annually!'' A disappointment from this usually reliable author. Photos and drawings not seen. Glossary; further reading; places to write for information; index. (Nonfiction. 12-14) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Library Binding: 64 pages
• Publisher: Enslow Pub Inc (July 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894902687
• ISBN-13: 978-0894902680
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds

More About the Author

Every since I was a child I've loved nature and animals. I spent my time out of doors, picking flowers and scooping tadpoles out of ponds. So it's no wonder I studied biology and became an author myself of a favorite gift when I was young, a book about nature. I've expanded into other fascinating areas of nonfiction, too, especially historical topics of the American west, such as Lewis and Clark and Native Americans.
My work has given me the gift of travel to all sorts of fascinating places such as the Galapagos Island, the Costa Rican Rain Forest, and the famous cave at Lascaux, France, full of amazing ancient art that is no longer open to visitors.

To learn more about me and my books, visit my website, www.dorothyhinshawpatent.com