By David Baron

W.W.Norton, 2003

Reviewed by David B. Williams

Ever since humans began building cities, urban areas have been a refuge, a place we could go to feel safe from the animals we feared. In the late 1980’s, residents of Boulder, Colorado, discovered that their refuge was not as placid as they thought when mountain lions began to attack people’s dogs and cats. One was even so bold as to kill and partially eat 18-year-old Scott Lancaster on January 14, 1991. National Public Radio science reporter David Baron has crafted a gripping account of the developing relationship between humans and nature in the urban setting. His story offers no solutions. But it does show that we need to consider these relationships carefully as our encounters with urban wildlife—whether lion, goose, or virus—continue to grow.

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King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon

By Daniel R. Montgomery

Westview Press, 2003

Reviewed by David B. Williams

We all know that salmon populations have declined across the Pacific Northwest. We even know why, a deadly combination of hatcheries, hydropower, habitat, and harvest; yet why write another book on fish? For University of Washington geomorphologist David Montgomery, the answer is a fifth H-history. He shows that twice before we have driven once abundant English and New England salmon to the point of extinction—even though laws had been established to protect them. By looking at river histories for example, he shows how logjams, some stretching for miles, were essential to salmon survival. This may sound simple and even familar, but by bringing a geologist’s concern for deep time to the salmon debate, Montgomery offers fresh and positive solutions for the future.

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World Agriculture and the Environment: A Commodity-by-Commodity Guide to Impacts and Practices

By Jason W. Clay

Island Press, 2004

Reviewed by David B. Williams

Agriculture is the largest industry on the planet at US$1.3 trillion in annual production. It is also one of the leading threats to biodiversity and environmental health. But this does not have to be the case. Writer and activist Jason Clay proposes that through government regulation, change in farming practices, and better scientific understanding, agriculture can be more sustainable while still increasing production. But Clay is not your typical naysayer. He meticulously analyses 21 of the most important commodities ranging from cotton to coffee, focusing on their history, producers and consumers, the production process, and most importantly, where we can improve and where we can’t. Although Clay offers few new perceptions, he does offer some counterintuitive insights. This is an important reference work to have on your shelf.

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The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint

By Edward R. Tufte

Graphics Press, 2003

Reviewed by the Editors

When it comes to the display of quantitative information, Edward Tufte, retired political scientist and statistician at Yale University, is the guru. In his earlier work, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, he sets the standard for the design of data graphics. And in a crisis discipline like ours, Tufte’s ideas are indispensable. Now, Tufte has come out with a new publication that puts to shame crude and generic PowerPoint presentations. Perhaps he may have gone a bit far in pointing the finger at PowerPoint as a culprit in the space shuttle Columbia’s accident, but he makes a convincing argument - and one that’s revelent to the conservation community. He believes that PowerPoint not only weakens reasoning and corrupts statistical analysis but also encourages lazy, superficial thinking in both presenters and audiences. His words will be ringing in your ears the next time you sit through yet another PowerPoint presentation.

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