Book Learning: Highlights from 40 Years of Alternatives Book Reviews

Michalenko, Greg, Alternatives Journal

ENVIRONMENTALISM burst onto the world scene in 1962 thanks to Rachel Carson's remarkable book, Silent Spring. Reviewers heralded it as "one of the great and towering books of our time," noting that "a great woman has awakened the nation," and predicting that the book was "certain to be history-making in its influence upon thought and public policy all over the world." It remains unmatched in its influence, but thanks to the determined efforts of researchers, journalists, writers and publishers, the environmental movement now has a legacy of fine books, many of which have been reviewed on the pages of Alternatives Journal

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Alternatives early book reviewers were primarily academics who enjoyed the opportunity to provide spirited, substantial discussions of provocative or controversial books. Early examples included Paul Ehrlich's neo-Malthusian The Population Bomb (1968) and The Club of Rome's 'The Limits to Growth (1972). Both involved computer modelling, which reviewer C.A. Mawson cautioned was a promising pioneering tool, but needed improvement. His assessment was born out in a 2004 review of Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update, which found that the predictions made 30 years earlier were generally accurate.

Alternatives gave an enthusiastic nod to the publication Balance and Biosphere, which was based on a similarly named, much-discussed radio symposium on the environmental crisis aired in 1971 on the GBC. It included …

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Publication information: Article title: Book Learning: Highlights from 40 Years of Alternatives Book Reviews. Contributors: Michalenko, Greg - Author. Magazine title: Alternatives Journal. Volume: 37. Issue: 6 Publication date: November-December 2011. Page number: 41+. © 1998 Alternatives, Inc. COPYRIGHT 2011 Gale Group.

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