Down to Earth II (Studies on the Environment) [Paperback]

Matt Ridley (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 102 pages
• Publisher: Abm Komers (September 19, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0255363834
• ISBN-13: 978-0255363839
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,230,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matt Ridley's books have been shortlisted for six literary awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (for Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters). His most recent book, The Agile Gene: How Nature Turns on Nurture, won the award for the best science book published in 2003 from the National Academies of Science. He has been a scientist, a journalist, and a national newspaper columnist, and is the chairman of the International Centre for Life, in Newcastle, England. Matt Ridley is also a visiting professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Son of Mr. Green Genes, June 14, 2003

By 

Junglies (Morrisville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Down to Earth II (Studies on the Environment) (Paperback)

I very much enjoyed reading this second collection of articles from Mr. Ridley's now defunct column about the cant and hyperbole published by many of the so-callled green and environmental campaigners.

Mr. Ridley writes in a refreshing, fun way about serious issues which confront the environment without the pretentiousness and certainty that many campaigners do. He writes with irony and mocks a lot of the claims which are made but not substantiated by many alarmists. He also writes on the basis of having some knowledge and experience of the subjects he writes about which is a little unusual for this area.

I like the brevity and conciseness of the articles written on the level that the man on the Ashington Omnibus would understand without being offended by. He speaks to the regular individual who cares about his surroundings as much as anyone else.

Most of all I like the refreshing way that he exposes the environmental lobbies as being what they really are - self-serving organizations which create and maintain jobs for people out of touch with the realities of the world who go from one junket to another often without coming into contact with the environment at all.

This is an excellent little book both serious and amusing. Let us hope that the author will find another voice for us to share soon.