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The McGraw-Hill Recycling Handbook, 2nd Edition Herbert F. Lund McGraw-Hill P.O. Box 545 Blacklick, OH 43004-0545 August 15, 2000, 976 pp. $89 hardcover ISBN: 0-07039-156-4 This impressive volume of 37 chapters, each written by a different author, contains a wealth of information. It is divided into sections that include the Basics of Recycling, Recycling Materials, Recycling Facilities and Equipment, Recycling Operations, Case Histories, and Recycling in Other Countries. The authors are employed mainly in the private sector in areas such as consulting firms, trade associations, and recycling businesses. They know their subjects well and have written clearly and comprehensively. Although there are a few passages in which the industry “take” on an issue comes through, the authors have largely managed to avoid inserting policy opinions into the text. A disadvantage of books that comprise chapters written by different authors is that some topics are omitted and others are only touched on in several places. Here, Lund has done a good job of laying out the chapter topics, and recycling is well covered for the most part. One notable exception, however, is source reduction. Prevention is at the top of the solid waste hierarchy, yet it is all too often © 2001 American Chemical Society
skipped over when addressing waste reduction. Lund’s book touches on the topic in a couple of chapters—the chapter on tires, in which the author begins with a discussion of tire maintenance as a key to increased tire life, and the chapter on recycling in other countries, in which “take back” programs are discussed. Lund might argue that waste prevention is not addressed more thoroughly because this is a book on recycling; however, a chapter on household hazardous waste is included that is not about recycling. A good addition in the next edition would be a chapter on source reduction. How and to whom will this book be useful? Although it is called a “handbook”, suggesting that it is a reference to be pulled out when some specific information is needed, that does not seem to be a good descriptor of how this text should be used. A reader needs instead to read a whole chapter at a time. Each chapter can be read independently; some provide lots of detail and data, but others have less depth. Most problematic for its use as a handbook is the book’s poor index. For many index entries (about onethird of those I looked for), the page numbers are incorrect, and I could not find any reference to the item on the page indicated. Other topics, including “medical waste”, which was highlighted as a topic on the book’s back cover, did not appear in the index at all. Without a good index, a book that is an assemblage of chapters by different authors is hard to use as a handbook. The text instead will be more useful to those looking for an overview and current status of recycling, from program development to materials management. Users of such a book would also benefit if references to other information sources were provided. Unfortunately, most chapters do not contain citations, document information sources, or provide a list of references to which readers might turn for more information. The book does contain
an appendix listing organizations that are information sources, but there is no list of documents, Web sites, or other materials. Reviewed by Ellen Z. Harrison, director, Cornell Waste Management Institute, Center for the Environment, 100 Rice Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 (607-255-8576; e-mail
[email protected])
Books Agriculture & Fertilizers in the Environment, M. Laegrid, O. Bockman, O. Kaarstad (Oxford University Press, 2000, 294 pp., $40). Written for undergraduate students, agricultural advisers, and extension workers, this book provides a balanced scientific review of fertilizer use and ways for reducing fertilizer’s environmental impact. Analysis of Environmental Endocrine Disrupters, L. Keith, T. Jones-Lepp, L. Needham, Eds. (Oxford University Press, 2000, 173 pp., $75). This book presents American Chemical Society symposium papers that address a range of topics related to endocrine disrupters, including the use of highresolution mass spectrometry to identify them, environmental exposures to agrochemicals, interspecies comparison, and screening and testing. Applied Aquatic Ecosystem Concepts, G. Mackie (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 2001, 744 pp., $59.95). This teaching text presents applied limnological concepts and demonstrates their use, with an emphasis on integrating fundamental concepts of the physical and chemical attributes of water and applying them to the physical, chemical, and biological assessment of water quality. Ecological Risk Assessment for Contaminated Sites, G. Suter, II, R. Efroymson, B. Sample, D. Jones, Eds.
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(Lewis Publishers, 2000, 438 pp., $89.95). The authors’ extensive experience in assessing ecological risks at U.S. government sites is integrated with models, measurements, tools, and techniques used by other experts and reference information such as hundreds of sources of details about ecological exposure and toxicity. Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production, V. Smil (MIT Press, 2001, 338 pp., $34.95). The author presents a readable history of the Haber–Bosch process—which creates ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen—and looks to the future global dependence on this process and its biospheric consequences. Fate and Management of Turfgrass Chemicals, J. Clark, M. P. Kenna, Eds. (Oxford University Press, 2000, 464 pp., $140). These papers from an American Chemical Society symposium examine the turfgrass industry, pesticide and nutrient fate, best chemical management practices, and biotechnology and alternative pest management. Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century, V. Smil (MIT Press, 2000, 360 pp., $26.36). The author examines how we can produce enough food to feed the Earth’s population without damaging the biosphere and presents the complete food cycle—from agriculture to postharvest losses and eating and discarding. Fundamentals of Ethics for Scientists and Engineers, E. Seebauer, R. Barry (Oxford University Press, 2000, 269 pp., $35). The author presents a discussion of ethical reasoning, within the context of character formation and intention, and then examines practical issues such as conflict of interest, intellectual property, whistle-blowing, and ethical decision making. Principles of Ecotoxicology, 2nd Edition, C. Walker, S. Hopkin, R. Sibly, D. Peakall (Taylor & Francis Inc., 2001, 309 pp. $39.99). This text for undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers progresses from the molecular basis of pollutant toxicity to consequent effects at higher levels of organization, such as cellular, population, community, and ecosystem. 210 A
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Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry: Sulfate Minerals: Crystallography, Geochemistry, and Environmental Significance, Volume 40, C. Alpers, J. Jambor, D. Nordstrom, Eds.; P. Ribbe, Series Ed. (Mineralogical Society of America [MSA], 2000, 608 pp., $32). The MSA Review in Mineralogy Series is comprehensive and specialized. This volume provides information on sulfates and serves as a basis for a short MSA course on sulfate minerals.
Web Sites The European Science Foundation (ESF) (www.esf.org) is an association of 67 member organizations in 24 European countries dedicated to the multidisciplinary advancement of science. At the ESF Web site, users can access extensive resources, including recent publications; announcements of new scientific activities; calls for applications; and “forward looks”, a program to present long-term views and analyses of future research developments. Users can also access comprehensive meetings information and links to organizations both within the European community and around the globe, as well as documentary resources, scientific media and events, and conferences. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (www.oecd.org) Web site features extensive statistics organized in several categories, including the environment, health, demography, energy, public management, and science and technology. Within each category are data for various regions and countries, related publications, frequently updated indicators, and highlights. Under “energy”, for instance, users can click to find out more about how the EU is generating 27 million metric tons of hazardous waste and get frequently updated statistics (from Eurostat) on energy imports and consumption. Other resources include “latest shortterm indicators” and “frequently requested statistics”. Users can browse the more than 4000 publications from the OECD online bookshop and request a free e-mail service for updates on new publications. Web watch— what’s interesting on the Web—features news and service-oriented
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highlights. Users can also browse recommended sites, such as those of the Brookings Institution, Eurostat, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Web site (www.press. jhu.edu/associations/shot), which is part of the Johns Hopkins University’s Department of the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, offers users dozens of links to a broad array of academic and Web resources. These include a short “Scholar’s Guide to the Word Wide Web” from the University of Chicago. Users can browse institutional and government links, periodicals, references, and a history of science and technology database. The site also lists announcements of awards, prizes, and travel grants. SHOT is an interdisciplinary organization concerned not only with the history of technological devices and processes, but also with the relationship between technology and science, politics, social change, the arts and humanities, and economics. In addition to professional historians and museum curators, SHOT members include practicing scientists and engineers, anthropologists, librarians, political scientists, and economists. Technopolis (www.technopolis.co.uk/ index.htm) is an international research and consulting organization that specializes in evaluations of government science and technology policies, programs, and institutions. Users can access reports and documents in a PDF electronic format. These reports include summaries of projects such as the one in which Technopolis France worked with the French environmental and energy agency ADEME and other European energy agencies on the design and construction of a prototype database for priorities in nonnuclear energy. Users can access this database and its associated reports. Other project reports that users can browse include one prepared for the Norwegian Fund for Business and Regional Development and a summary of an international consortium’s efforts to carry out the final evaluation of the European Commission’s multimedia support program, INFO2000. Users can also browse topics such as innovation and enterprise creation— statistics, indicators, and policy, as well as conference updates.
