Short notices
"It is a seller's market for doomwatchers," wrote Sir Eric Ashby in last week's Spectator, and certainly the flow of books about the dangers of ecological mismanagement have reached an all-time high this spring. Publishers have been falling over themselves to produce the latest definitive statement on the toxic levels in our blood and the carboniferous deposits in our lungs. One publishing company, Earth Island, was recently set up with the intention of producing books solely about the ecosystem. A few of the more interesting studies are listed below.
Polluting Britain Jeremy Bugler (Pelican Original 35p). A study of industrial pollution, by the Environment Correspondent of the Observer, which describes how some of the companies concerned avoid. being brought to book for their activities, and also suggests how the ' policing ' of industry could be improved.
Pollute and Be Damned Arthur Bourne (Dent £2.95). A generalising condemnation of global pollution by a marine biologist, currently a Research Fellow at the University of Lancaster.
The Toxic Metals Anthony Tucker (Earth Island £2.50). A factual accounts of the risk from, and effects of, toxic metals such as lead, mercury, chromium, selenium, and cadmium which are released into the atmosphere and find their way into our food and water. Anthony Tucker, who is Science Correspondent of the Guardian, also suggests some possible remedies.
Planet in Peril Raymond Dasmann (Penguin / UNESCO 30p). A study of ways of saving "spaceship Earth" through a world conservation programme and research leading to a better understanding of the biosphere. Dasmann is Senior ecologist at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, sited hygienically in Switzerland.
V/urderous Providence: A Study of Pollution in Industrial Societies Harry Rothman (Hart-Davis £2.95). A somewhat breathless coverage of the field by a lecturer at Manchester University, which ends, "When the ' freedom instinct' is inhibited men become uncomfortable and ready to raise their level of consciousness in order to seek out the means to smash the restrictions. This process has begun and the revolution and the environmental struggle will become one."
The Green Revolution Stanley Johnson (Hamish Hamilton £2.75). An account of developments in agricultural technology and their application in the rural Third World, through descriptions of some of the areas and discussions with the local scientists.
Must the Seas Die? Colin Moorcraft (Temple-Smith £2.50). To be published on June 15. A survey of the dangers facing the world's oceans, including the overkilling of their livestock and the pollution resulting from the discharge into them of toxic wastes like oil, DDT and radioactive substances. The author concludes with two chapters suggesting immediate and longterm remedial action.
The Diseconomics of Growth H. V. Hodson (Earth Island £2.50). The author, an exEditor of the Sunday Times and executive head of the Ditchley Foundation, considers hcw a zero-growth economy might work, without stagnation, in an advanced economy; and then continues with a critique of the effects of growth on society and the environment.
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