RIT Libraries Recent Acquisitions - Sciencetech

Green Plans : Blueprint for a Sustainable Earth / Huey D. Johnson ; with a New Afterword By the Author

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: "Green plans" are the most effective strategies yet developed for moving from industrial environmental deterioration to postindustrial sustainability. In this definitive overview of green plans today, Huey D. Johnson provides a detailed and accessible examination of their theory, implementation, and performance across the globe, highlighting the challenges and successes of green plans in the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Austria, the United Kingdom, Germany, the rest of the European Community, and Singapore. Green plans will serve future generations as models of creative collaboration between government and business. This revised and updated edition features new information on green plans globally and a new afterword by the author.

Added: Monday, Oct 6 2008

Retaking Rationality : How Cost-benefit Analysis Can Better Protect the Environment and Our Health / Richard L. Revesz, Michael A. Livermore

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: That America's natural environment has been degraded and despoiled over the past 25 years is beyond dispute. Nor has there been any shortage of reasons why-short-sighted politicians, a society built on over-consumption, and the dramatic weakening of environmental regulations. In Retaking Rationality, Richard Revesz and Michael Livermore argue convincingly that one of the least understood-and most important-causes of our failure to protect the environment has been a misguided rejection of reason. The authors show that environmentalists, labor unions, and other progressive groups have declined to participate in the key governmental proceedings concerning the cost-benefit analysis of federal regulations. As a result of this vacuum, industry groups have captured cost-benefit analysis and used it to further their anti-regulatory ends. Beginning in 1981, the federal Office of Management and Budget and the federal courts have used cost-benefit analysis extensively to determine which environmental, health, and safety regulations are approved and which are sent back to the drawing board. The resulting imbalance in political participation has profoundly affected the nation's regulatory and legal landscape. But Revesz and Livermore contend that economic analysis of regulations is necessary and that it needn't conflict with-and can in fact support-a more compassionate approach to environmental policy. Indeed, they show that we cannot give up on rationality if we truly want to protect our natural environment. Retaking Rationality makes clear that by embracing and reforming cost-benefit analysis, and by joining reason and compassion, progressive groups can help enact strong environmental and public health regulation.

Added: Thursday, Oct 2 2008

Future Imperfect : Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World / David D. Friedman

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Future Imperfect describes and discusses a variety of technological revolutions that might happen over the next few decades, their implications, and how to deal with them. Topics range from encryption and surveillance through biotechnology and nanotechnology to life extension, mind drugs, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. One theme of the book is that the future is radically uncertain. Technological changes already begun could lead to more or less privacy than we have ever known, freedom or slavery, effective immortality or the elimination of our species, and radical changes in life, marriage, law, medicine, work, and play. We do not know which future will arrive, but it is unlikely to be much like the past. It is worth starting to think about it now.

Added: Thursday, Oct 2 2008

Mr. Lincoln's T-mails : How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War / Tom Wheeler

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Abraham Lincoln's two great legacies to historyhis extraordinary power as a writer and his leadership during the Civil Warcome together in this close study of the President's use of the telegraph. Invented less than two decades before he entered office, the telegraph came into its own during the Civil War. In a jewel�box of historical writing, Wheeler captures Lincoln as he adapted his folksy rhetorical style to the telegraph, creating an intimate bond with his generals that would ultimately help win the war.

Added: Wednesday, Oct 1 2008

Reforms at Risk : What Happens After Major Policy Changes Are Enacted / Eric M. Patashnik

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Reforms at Risk is the first book to closely examine what happens to sweeping and seemingly successful policy reforms after they are passed. Most books focus on the politics of reform adoption, yet as Eric Patashnik shows here, the political struggle does not end when major reforms become enacted. Why do certain highly praised policy reforms endure while others are quietly reversed or eroded away? Patashnik peers into some of the most critical arenas of domestic-policy reform--including taxes, agricultural subsidies, airline deregulation, emissions trading, welfare state reform, and reform of government procurement--to identify the factors that enable reform measures to survive. He argues that the reforms that stick destroy an existing policy subsystem and reconfigure the political dynamic. Patashnik demonstrates that sustainable reforms create positive policy feedbacks, transform institutions, and often unleash the ''creative destructiveness'' of market forces.Reforms at Risk debunks the argument that reforms inevitably fail because Congress is prey to special interests, and the book provides a more realistic portrait of the possibilities and limits of positive change in American government. It is essential reading for scholars and practitioners of U.S. politics and public policy, offering practical lessons for anyone who wants to ensure that hard-fought reform victories survive.

Added: Tuesday, Sep 30 2008

Finding Solutions for Environmental Conflicts : Power and Negotiation / Edward Christie

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: `If this book is read, and its contents are heeded, as widely as is justified, then the days of the application of traditional dispute-resolution procedures to environmental disputes should be over in the 21st century.' - From the foreword by Justice Peter Gray Environmental conflicts over sustainability, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), biodiversity, biotechnology and risk, chemicals and public health, are not necessarily legalistic problems but land use problems. Edward Christie shows how solutions for these conflicts can be found via consensual agreement using an approach that integrates law, science and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and reframes the role of law and science. This book assesses the key unifying principles of environmental and administrative law in Australia, the UK/EU and USA, together with accepted scientific concepts for environmental management and protection. By doing so it provides a cross-disciplinary approach to collaborative problem-solving and decision-making, using ADR processes to resolve environmental conflicts, and will be valuable to environmental professionals. The book has been written to meet the requirements of any environmental professional - lawyer, scientist, engineer, planner - who directly, or indirectly, may be involved in development or planning conflicts when the environment is an issue. For the lawyer, this book, with its focus on understanding and integrating unifying legal principles and scientific concepts, consolidates opportunities for assessing and resolving environmental conflicts by negotiation. For the environmental professional, the book provides opportunities for managing environmental conflicts. In addition, opportunities are identified for resolving environmental conflicts by negotiation, but in quite specific situations i.e. when the interpretation and application of questions of law are not in issue and only factual (scientific) issues are in dispute. It will of course be of great interest to academics and researchers of environmental studies and environmental law. It will also appeal to the indigenous community and environmental groups who are seeking more direct and effective inputs into resolving environmental conflicts.

Added: Thursday, Sep 25 2008

Petrostate : Putin, Power, and the New Russia / Marshall I. Goldman

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: In the aftermath of the financial collapse of August 1998, it looked as if Russia's day as a superpower had come and gone. That it should recover and reassert itself after less than a decade is nothing short of an economic and political miracle. Based on extensive research, including several interviews with Vladimir Putin, this revealing book chronicles Russia's dramatic reemergence on the world stage, illuminating the key reason for its rebirth: the use of its ever-expanding energy wealth to reassert its traditional great power ambitions. In his deft, informative narrative, Marshall Goldman traces how this has come to be, and how Russia is using its oil-based power as a lever in world politics. The book provides an informative overview of oil in Russia, traces Vladimir Putin's determined effort to reign in the upstart oil oligarchs who had risen to power in the post-Soviet era, and describes Putin's efforts to renationalize and refashion Russia's industries into state companies and his vaunted "national champions" corporations like Gazprom, largely owned by the state, who do the bidding of the state. Goldman shows how Russia paid off its international debt and has gone on to accumulate the world's third largest holdings of foreign currency reserves--all by becoming the world's largest producer of petroleum and the world's second largest exporter. Today, Vladimir Putin and his cohort have stabilized the Russian economy and recentralized power in Moscow, and fossil fuels (oil and natural gas) have made it all possible. The story of oil and gas in Russia is a tale of discovery, intrigue, corruption, wealth, misguidance, greed, patronage, nepotism, and power. Marshall Goldman tells this story with panache, as only one of the world's leading authorities on Russia could.

Added: Thursday, Sep 25 2008

Ecotourism and Sustainable Development : Who Owns Paradise? / Martha Honey

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Around the world, ecotourism has been hailed as a panacea: a way to fund conservation and scientific research, protect fragile ecosystems, benefit communities, promote development in poor countries, instill environmental awareness and a social conscience in the travel industry, satisfy and educate discriminating tourists, and, some claim, foster world peace. Although "green" travel is being aggressively marketed as a "win-win" solution for the Third World, the environment, the tourist, and the travel industry, the reality is far more complex, as Martha Honey reports in this extraordinarily enlightening book. Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, originally published in 1998, was among the first books on the subject. For years it has defined the debate on ecotourism: Is it possible for developing nations to benefit economically from tourism while simultaneously helping to preserve pristine environments? This long-awaited second edition provides new answers to this vital question. Ecotourism and Sustainable Development is the most comprehensive overview of worldwide ecotourism available today, showing how both the concept and the reality have evolved over more than twenty-five years. Here Honey revisits six nations she profiled in the first editionthe Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya, and South Africaand adds a fascinating new chapter on the United States. She examines the growth of ecotourism within each country's tourism strategy, its political system, and its changing economic policies. Her useful case studies highlight the economic and cultural impacts of expanding tourism on indigenous populations as well as on ecosystems. Honey is not a "travel writer." She is an award-winning journalist and reporter who lived in East Africa and Central America for nearly twenty years. Since writing the first edition of this book, she has led the International Ecotourism Society and founded a new center to lead the way to responsible ecotourism. Her experience and her expertise resonate throughout this beautifully written and highly informative book.

Added: Thursday, Sep 25 2008

Great Lakes for Sale : From Whitecaps to Bottlecaps / Dave Dempsey ; with a Foreword By Bart Stupak

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Great Lakes for Sale is a book for anyone interested in saving the Great Lakes, a huge fresh-water system that contains an estimated 6 quadrillion gallons of water and about twenty percent of the world's fresh surface water. The book poses---and answers---important questions about the export and diversion of Great Lakes water. Not only does Great Lakes for Sale examine past and present water-diversion practices; it also shows readers what they can do to save this natural resource.It's difficult to understate the importance of the Great Lakes water system---economically, environmentally, or from a public-health perspective. The Great Lakes support year-round sport fishery, they provide a route for commercial and recreational navigation, and they supply many communities with drinking water. Water means jobs and life in the Great Lakes region. And, while residents of this huge region revel in a seemingly limitless quantity of fresh water today, it's likely that the future will see that same fresh water grow ever more scarce as well as become a source of contention between thirsty communities---and corporations---further afield and those who live in this giant watershed.Great Lakes for Sale is an important part of the effort to remind people why commercialization of Great Lakes water is a dangerous threat. It's not simply a matter of how much water in the short term is removed; the long-term threat is control of water and the possibility that non-Great Lakes interests will assert ownership of the very substance of the Great Lakes.Dave Dempsey is senior policy advisor for the Michigan Environmental Council and well known for his writings on environmental issues in the Great Lakes region. He is author of Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader and William G. Milliken: Michigan's Passionate Moderate. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Added: Thursday, Sep 25 2008

Information and Public Choice : From Media Markets to Policy Making / Roumeen Islam, Editor

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: The ability of the media to affect outcomes in economic and political markets has been well documented. News reporting and advertising influence consumer behavior in goods and services markets by revealing (or selectively revealing) information about a product, acting as agenda setters to influence consumer demand, or enhancing competition in markets by alerting consumers to substitutes. In political markets, they can affect behavior by informing voters about a politician's views or actions, enlightening citizens to outcomes of public policy, or taking a stance on political, social, or economic issues. For businesses, households, and most others, the media is the main source of information on public policy choices and current social and economic conditions. As a result, what news the media chooses to gather, analyze, and disseminate and the slant they choose to put on what they report is of consequence. Information and Public Choice addresses the factors that affect the content and reach of news coverage as well as its impact on public policy. The book addresses both market constraints that affect media particularly news content and the impact that news reporting has on economic and political choices. The authors examine a range of issues including bias or slant in media reporting, the impact of market and nonmarket factors on news reporting, and the role of government regulation of the media sector in developing countries. The studies in this volume provide new evidence and a good summary of previous research on the power of the media. An invaluable guide for those concerned about the impact of media on economic and political outcomes, Information and Public Choice draws attention to an under-researched yet important area of economics.

Added: Thursday, Sep 25 2008

Capitalizing on Environmental Injustice : the Polluter-industrial Complex in the Age of Globalization / Daniel Faber

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Capitalizing on Environmental Injustice is a comprehensive assessment of the environmental justice movement, examining the achievements and challenges confronting the movement, along with an emphasis on new strategies of environmental problem-solving and innovations in environmental policy.

Added: Wednesday, Sep 24 2008

Outsourcing America : What's Behind Our National Crisis and How We Can Reclaim American Jobs / Ron Hira And Anil Hira

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: The True Cost of Shipping Jobs Overseas and What Can Be Done About It Ron Hira and Anil Hira, with a Foreword by Lou Dobbs One of the most controversial topics in the news is the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries. Outsourced jobs have extended well beyond the manufacturing sector to include white-collar professionals, particularly in information technology, financial services, and customer service. Outsourcing America reveals just how much outsourcing is taking place, what its impact has been and will continue to be, and what can be done about the loss of jobs. More than an exposé, Outsourcing America shows how offshoring is part of the historical economic shifts toward globalism and free trade, and demonstrates its impact on individual lives and communities. In addition, the book now features a new chapter on immigration policies and outsourcing and advice on how individuals can avoid becoming victims of outsourcing. The authors discuss policies that countries like India and China use to attract U.S. industries, and they offer frank recommendations that business and political leaders must consider in order to confront this crisis--and bring more high-paying jobs back to the U.S.A.

Added: Wednesday, Sep 17 2008

Energy for Sustainability : Technology, Planning, Policy / John Randolph, Gilbert M. Masters

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Energy for Sustainability is the first undergraduate textbook on renewable energy and energy efficiency with a unique focus on the community scale. Written by two of the foremost experts in the field, it is a pedagogically complete treatment of energy sources and uses. It examines the full range of issuesfrom generating technologies to land use planningin making the transition to sustainable energy. The book begins by providing a historical perspective on energy use by human civilizations and then covers energy fundamentals and trends; buildings and energy; sustainable electricity; sustainable transportation and land use; and energy policy and planning. Included in these topical areas are in-depth discussions of all of the most promising sources of renewable energy, including solar photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, and biofuels. In addition, the authors offer a thorough presentation of "green" building design, the impact of land use and transportation patterns on energy use, and the policies needed to transform energy markets at the local, state, and national levels. Throughout, the authors first provide the necessary theory and then demonstrate how it can be applied, utilizing cutting-edge practices and technologies, and the most current available data. Since the dawn of the industrial age, the explosive growth in economic productivity has been fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas. World energy use nearly doubled between 1975 and 2005. China's energy use has been doubling every decade. The implications for the environment are staggering. One way or another, our reliance on fossil fuels will have to end. Energy for Sustainability evaluates the alternatives and helps students understand how, with good planning and policy decisions, renewable energy and efficiency can support world demands at costs we can affordeconomically, environmentally, and socially.

Added: Wednesday, Sep 17 2008

Dry Spring : the Coming Water Crisis of North America / Chris Wood

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Between global warming and ever-increasing consumption, the world is fast running out of water. And while water's scarcity will challenge the success of North America's fastest-growing regions, other areas of the continent will experience dramatic flooding. Dry Spring looks at how the coming water crisis will devastate communities unless urgent action is taken. In many areas, the damage has already begun. Author Chris Wood relates compelling stories of people all over the continent coping with new conditions: Okanagan orchardists facing an uncertain future; a Mexican fisherman on the now-dry Colorado River Delta, which has been reduced to desert because of upstream usage by the American West; a Las Vegas water cop who monitors excessive lawn watering; a New Brunswick couple fleeing their coastal house because of the encroaching ocean; and more. Wood also shows how practical solutions like xeriscaping, water "recycling," and run-off containment can preserve water for future generations.

Added: Wednesday, Sep 17 2008

Water : the Looming Crisis in India / Binayak Ray

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Water: The Looming Crisis in India examines the key issues in developing national freshwater policies for the mainland countries of the South Asian sub-continent. Ray addresses the religious diversity, ethnic fragmentation, and complicated international, politically sensitive issues that reflect differently on each of the riparian countries' freshwater policies.

Added: Wednesday, Sep 17 2008

The Coming Convergence : Surprising Ways Diverse Technologies Interact to Shape Our World and Change the Future / Stanley Schmidt

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Imagine direct communication links between the human brain and machines, or tailored materials capable of adapting by themselves to changing environmental conditions, or computer chips and environmental sensors embedded into everyday clothing, or medical technologies that eliminate currently untreatable conditions such as blindness and paralysis. Now imagine all of these developments occurring at the same time. The stuff of science fiction? Not So. These are actually the reasonable predictions of scientists attempting to forecast a few decades into the future based on the rapid pace of innovation.Author Stanley Schmidt-a physicist, a writer, and the editor of Analog: Science Fiction and Fact-explores these and many more amazing yet probable scenarios in this fascinating guide to the near future. He shows how past convergences have led to today's world, then considers tomorrow's main currents in biotechnology, cognitive science, information technology, and nanotechnology. Looking even further downstream he foresees both exciting and potentially dangerous developments: ·Lonnger, healthier lives ·Cheap, generally available food, energy, and technology ·Reduced pollution and environmental stress ·Economic disruption during transitional periods ·Excessive power in too few hands ·Increased vulnerability from overdependence on technology. Schmidt notes that even a routine technology such as the CAT scan is the result of three wholly separate innovations started many decades ago which recently converged: the X-ray, the computer, and advances in medicine. On a more ominous note, he also observes that the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was made possible by the malicious convergence of two separate trends in modern engineering and technology: the concentration of people in high rises within cities and the success of the passenger airline industry. The message is clear: the choices we make now will converge to create a near and distant future that will be almost unbelievably wonderful or unimaginably catastrophic, or both. This knowledgeable, fascinating glimpse into the future is a must read for everyone interested in technology, upcoming innovations in business, science fiction, and the future.

Added: Wednesday, Sep 17 2008

Sustainable Development Handbook / By Stephen A. Roosa

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Currently gaining momentum on the world stage, sustainable development is beginning to significantly redefine the policies and decision making of both corporations and governmental entities. Sustainability development initiatives can vary widely in scope, application, and success. This book is intended clarifies critical issues, delineates proven approaches, and examines potential pitfalls associated with such initiatives. It covers underlying concepts, renewable energy solutions, environmental issues, green design and LEED® programs, sustainable industrial processes, sustainable development policy considerations, local government programs, corporate programs, tracking results, and future trends.

Added: Monday, Aug 11 2008

Taken By Storm : the Troubled Science, Policy, and Politics of Global Warming / By Christopher Essex and Ross McKitrick

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Description: Climate and weather patterns, and their changes over time, can be nearly impossible to predict. Yet thousands of political, social, and societal decisions have been made with the assumption that global climate change can be foretold. In this book, authors Essex and McKitrick dismantle the myth of global warming, and argue that the relationship between science and society needs immediate attention.

Added: Wednesday, Jul 30 2008