Synopses & Reviews
G. Tyler Miller's worldwide bestsellers have evolved right along with the changing needs of your diverse student population. Focused specifically on energizing and engaging all your students, Miller and new contributor Scott Spoolman have been at work scrutinizing every line--enhancing, clarifying, and streamlining to reduce word density as well as updating with the very latest environmental news and research. The resulting texts are shorter, clearer, and so engaging that your students will actually want to read their assignments. The Fifteenth Edition's engaging, streamlined coverage includes over 4,000 updates and new topics; hundreds of new "Thinking About" exercises that engage students in critical thinking about environmental science topics; "Core Case Studies" that reinforce chapter concepts; 127 new photos; and superb, integrated coverage of sustainability! New to this edition for instructors is PowerLecture, a one-stop shop for lecture prep that includes everything you need to create dynamic lectures all in one place.
About the Author
G. Tyler Miller, Jr., has written 54 textbooks for introductory courses in environmental science, basic ecology, energy, and environmental chemistry since 1970. They include ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINING THE EARTH, and ESSENTIALS OF ECOLOGY. Since 1975, Miller's books have been the most widely used textbooks for environmental science in the United States and throughout the world. They have been used by almost 3 million students and have been translated into six languages. Miller has a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and has received two honorary doctorate degrees for his contributions to environmental education. Currently, he is President of Earth Education and Research. He explains his hopes for the future as follows: "This book summarizes what I have learned in more than four decades of trying to understand environmental principles, problems, connections, and solutions. If I had to pick a time to be alive, it would be the next 75 years. Why? First, there is overwhelming scientific evidence that we are in the process of seriously degrading our own life support system. In other words, we are living unsustainably. In doing this, we are likely to cause the premature extinction of up to half of the world's species during this century. Second, I believe that within [students'] lifetime we have the opportunity and the responsibility to learn how to live more sustainably by working with the rest of nature instead of trying to conquer it mostly for our own species. This book and the course in which it is used should give students a good start on this challenging lifelong adventure."
Table of Contents
Part I: HUMANS AND SUSTAINABILITY: AN OVERVIEW. 1. Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability. Part II: ECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY. 2. Science, Systems, Matter, and Energy. 3. Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work? 4. Evolution and Biodiversity. 5. Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity. 6. Aquatic Biodiversity. 7. Community Ecology. 8. Population Ecology. 9. Applying Population Ecology: The Human Population. Part III: SUSTAINING BIODIVERSITY. 10. Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: The Ecosystem Approach. 11. Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species Approach. 12. Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity. Part IV: SUSTAINING KEY RESOURCES. 13. Food, Soil Conservation, and Pest Management. 14. Water. 15. Geology and Nonrenewable Mineral Resources. 16. Nonrenewable Energy Resources. 17. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Part V: SUSTAINING ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. 18. Environmental Hazards and Human Health. 19. Air Pollution. 20. Climate Change and Ozone Loss. 21. Water Pollution. 22. Solid and Hazardous Waste. Part VI: SUSTAINING HUMAN SOCIETIES. 23. Sustainable Cities. 24. Economics, Environment, and Sustainability. 25. Politics, Environment, and Sustainability. 26. Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability. APPENDICES. 1. Measurement Units, Precision, and Accuracy. 2. Graphing (Science). 3. Environmental Science: Concept Map Overview (Science). 4. Biodiversity and Ecological Footprints (Science). 5. Overview of U.S. Environmental History (Science and History). 6. Norse Greenland, Sumerian, and Icelandic Civilizations (Science and History). 7. Some Basic Chemistry (Science). 8. Classifying and Naming Species (Science). 9. Deforestation and Nutrient Cycling in an Experimental Forest (Science). 10. Weather Basics, El Nino, Tornadoes, and Tropical Cyclones (Science). 11. Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Volcanic Eruptions (Science). 12. Wolf and Moose Interactions on Isle Royal, Michigan (USA) (Science). 13. Effects of Genetic Variation on Population Size (Science). 14. Shade-Grown Coffee and Tropical Forests (Science). 15. Reducing the Harmful Effects of Insects and Pathogens on Forests (Science). 16. Using the Marketplace to Control Access to Fisheries (Science and Economics). 17. Feeding Japan and China (Science and Economics). 18. Using Isotope Hydrology to Understand Aquifers (Science). 19. The U.S. General Mining Law of 1872 (Economics and Politics). 20. Brief History of the Age of Oil (Science, Economics, and Politics). 21. Maps of Nonrenewable and Renewable Energy Resources (Science). 22. Estimating the Toxicity of a Chemical (Science). 23. Dioxins (Science and Politics). 24. Global Free Trade and the Environment. 25. Philosophy, Religion, Ethics, and Nature. 26. How to Analyze a Scientific Article.