Customer Reviews

Rational Readings on Environmental Concerns

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A big read! But easy and extremely informative and full of references. The various authors of the essays contained within are not social scientists, but scientists within the field of which they write. They debunk and explain in laymans terms for the most part, the arguments and evidence against the "chicken little" attitudes of the modern environmentalists and the political and media agenda. It is not a book that you pick up and read in a couple of days in your spare time. It is a superior reference book for the layman to use to question and make sense of the environmental activism of our period. If you buy this book you will want to throw rocks at your television or radio every time you hear an environmental PSA or listen to the evening news or read a magazine or your daily newspaper, warning you about such and such peril and how we must turn over our freedoms and money to the environmentalists and government. You will be more able to tell what is fraud and what is not.

Rational Readings is a massive compilation of essays written by the worlds top scientists on today's most discussed topics. Void of doom and gloom predictions that we hear so much about through the scare tactics of the media and political groups, Rational Readings gives us the truth about today's environment concerns. In response to the review from Wisconsin, I find it humorous that this reader could possibly think that all of these world renowned scientists have come together to write a reference book to support their common political agenda. Perhaps the spreading of truth should be a more common political movement. My compliments and many thanks to the contributing scientists and to the editor, Dr. Jay Lehr for putting together this great reference book.

This is an outstanding collection of essays on environmental issues. The authors give an in-depth but readable discussion of the science of these environmental issues. Some essays also explain the anti-capitalist, anti-reason, anti-man philosophy of environmentalism.

As an engineer I've been trained to draw conclusions based on data. I've been frustrated by the junk science that dominates the discussion of environmental issues. This scholarly, yet readable, work puts to rest the many myths propogated by psuedo-scientists with a political agenda to promote. It presents leading experts in a wide variety of fields who explain the relevant facts in the context of solid theory. The reader will come away with a deeper understanding of the situation which is: there are real problems, but they can be solved without the burden of massive regulation of our lives.

Excellent! This should be required reading for every high school in the United States. It sould be used as a text book for colleges.

The kindest thing I can say about this book is that its radically different viewpoint is thought-provoking and could spark some dialogue between those who see themselves on one side or the other in discussions of environmental and toxicological issues. On the other hand, the outright rejection of many widely-held views, including some with considerable scientific support, may serve only to further polarize the doomsayers and the business-as-usual camp.

There is legitimate food for thought in this book: How little do most people really know about issues of environmental harm and chemical toxicity? How well do the media perform their function of supplying information in a complete and balanced way? What are the facts regarding atmospheric change, water quantity and quality, and rate of species disappearance? Although it is possible that our opinions may be based on lack of information or misinformation, it is nonetheless true there is abundant evidence for declines in resource availability and quality, declines that will affect people's ability to continue living as they always have.

The problem with this book is that it persuades the reader to reject everything on the grounds that it might not be true because the media are not independently objective (If indeed the media are not independently objective, it is more likely that they are controlled by big business than by environmentalists.). This curse-the-darkness attitude leads to deliberate denial that there are any problems serious enough that I might change my lifestyle, or even be moved to try to do something about them. Rather than contribute to division and polarization among those who hold opinions on environment and toxicology, the editor would have done better to establish the common ground of concern for humanity, and identify and look for solutions based on real information.

As a scientist, I am embarrassed and outraged that this tome contains a myriad of errors and makes a number of outrageously hilarious statements: for example, the authors claim that acid rain is beneficial because it removes "unwanted" organisms from lakes and streams, and thus creates a "pristine environment" for swimmers and bathers. Of course, this ignores the effects of acid rain on ecosystem functioning in terms of multi-trophic interactions and ultimately, stability. Other topics are handled in a similarly contemptible fashion. This book is a perfect example of science distorted to support a political agenda. Certainly, its one of the LEAST scientific books on the subject that I have read in a long, long time.