Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews
Encyclopedia of Environmental Pollution and Cleanup edited by Robert A. Meyers and Diane K. Dittrick Wiley: New York, 1999. Pages: 1890 + xxi pp. 3.9 × 11.4 × 8.9 in. ISBN 047131621. $200.00. reviewed by Charles S. Feigerle
The Wiley Encyclopedia of Environmental Pollution and Cleanup is a compilation of 230 articles that provides a concise introduction into some key areas of modern environmental science and technology. This two-volume set is an outgrowth of a more comprehensive Encyclopedia of Environmental Analysis and Remediation (Meyers, 1998). The present condensed set focuses more on fundamental pollution problems and cleanup methods and should be useful to high school and college science teachers and students, as well as environmental nonprofessionals who seek an introduction into just about any environmental pollution topic. The articles typically include tables, graphs, and illustrations that summarize fundamental aspects of the subject, and a significant bibliography that can serve as an entry into the archival literature and other reviews on the subject. One criticism I do have is that the bibliography is nearly exclusively library based and
edited by
Jeffrey Kovac University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-1600
rarely draws on the growing body of useful Web sites and databases. During this past summer we had the opportunity to test the appropriateness and utility of this set for high school science students. An environmental chemistry class composed of rising juniors and seniors attending the Governor’s School for the Sciences at the University of Tennessee were required to write a library-research article on some aspect of environmental chemistry. An excellent introductory article could be found in the set for every topic the students chose. In many cases, the articles were of sufficient depth to serve as the students’ primary source of information for the paper. It is my experience that students and educators especially appreciate when they can apply the fundamentals of their science or engineering discipline to problems in the real world. The field of environmental pollution and cleanup lends itself beautifully to making these connections. This encyclopedia therefore should have very broad usage and appeal, and will be a valuable addition to any public, high school and college library. Teachers and environmental professionals will also find it to be a useful desktop reference and may want to add it to their personal collection. Charles S. Feigerle is in the Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1600;
[email protected].
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 77 No. 9 September 2000 • Journal of Chemical Education
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