Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation
This is an outstanding book on Sustainability. It is discussed in a detailed way under the title "Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation". However, this textbook is aimed at students pursuing undergraduate degrees, in particular those who are in their first and second year of their degree program. These students may have had prior lessons on civic education, geography (exploring the biospheres) and perhaps some aspects of the hydrological cycle as discussed in textbook under the theme of water pollution: sources etc. From my own experience, it can be difficult, at this level, for students to think very critically and infiltrate into the minds concepts such as externality (environmental economics – pp239-241) in a detailed way as the authors have presented it in the textbook. For this audience, this part and others should be explained in as simplistic manner as possible (and suggested that additional case studies –common goods – be presented). The textbook is comprehensive in a sense that for each of the 11 chapters, the authors have presented the main objectives to be accomplished upon completion of each chapter, and at times, these are also included in the sub-chapters of the book. The textbook is well equipped with the review questions, which in my opinion, are helpful to students; however, the authors needed to come up with some hints to help students answer these questions or possibly provide comprehensive solutions to these questions.
Sub-title: 2:3.5: Risk Management as a Basis for Environmental Policy: the authors should consider giving an introductory remark to the risk assessment process; and its genesis and application to various agencies. I believe that a genesis of this framework and a statement to that effect, that this framework was conceived in the early 1980s is necessary. Specifically, the authors have missed an opportunity to discuss how the risk assessment framework is being used as the basis for making regulations (both occupational and non-occupational) and also for making policy in the US.; what additional items, other than the risk assessment elements, needs to be considered for policy making are as important for discussion. For example, at some point in time in the past, it was a norm to use the concept of Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) as the basis for making rules, regulations and standards at the EPA and other federal agencies. It was also a part of the NEPA’s policy statement on environmental important statements (EIS) that the CBA be part of these EIS or environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports. This view of CBA should have come out clearly in this section. In my opinion, I am guessing that the authors have concentrated too many issues in one chapter - thus making it difficult for potential young readers to capture all in one lesson or in one semester. The authors could have given one of the two examples which, again in my opinion, would have sufficed. For example when the authors addressed the question of energy: multiple examples are given taking too much time, and space in the textbook. It would have been more appropriate cite these examples, or to use them as case studies for students to work and solve them. Another example is that of the dust pollution in the Philadelphia area. I would suggest that instead of presenting all those figures, only one figure with a, b, and c would have been appropriate in that case. As a result, this would not only have reduced the more than 600 page-volume textbook, but it would also have made it easier for students to read as well. Another example is that of the CFLs presented on pp 557-558 - Fig 11:20 and SSL – on Fig 11:21 (the authors could have combined both of these figures into one figure i.e. 11:20a/11:20b which would then appear on one Fig. Again, this would have significantly reduced the number of pages. Contemporary issues, such as the extraction of shale gas to meet the growing energy demand – and which obviously affect sustainability and development – availability of drinking water or water for irrigation - are covered with some specific examples: hydraulic fracking (pp320). Issues related to the BP oil spill – resulting from our quest for energy sources in the Gulf of Mexico area also have shown in some parts of the textbook (pp497-498)
According to the authors, or at least the author of chapter1: at the intersections of the three themes of sustainability: economic, social and environment – lies the following three: bearable, equitable and viable (pp7). It is gratifying to note that these terms, which form the backbone of the term “sustainability”, have been used throughout the textbook by all the authors – regardless – e.g. equitable: pp7; 260; 485; 512; 515. Viability: pp519; 553; 565.
Finally, it is of my opinion that the glossary, as written in the document, is complete and thorough. However, it could be beneficial to change the order of some of the chapter headings. For example, instead of assigning the chapter titled “Sustainability: Ethics, Culture, and History” to be read as chapter 10, it may make more sense to assign it to a chapter at the beginning. This way the history and culture behind sustainability can be understood before diving into a chapter about modern day environmental management.
The introduction lays out clear expectations for the document which is helpful to the reader, but the title page should have a stand-alone title. The authors have attempted to balance their textbook with some science-based facts. It is gratifying to note how each of the individual authors’ chapters have avoided to use any of the jargons or the doctrines of the extreme left or right or any visible inclination to that effect to communicate their researched subject matter with the reader. The Climate Change topic, which is vulnerable to this challenge, has kept away of this and used the data and science generated by agencies, such as NASA, to support their observations, and in some cases, the authors have encouraged reliance on using “proxy data” pp64.
A few noted exceptions however: the unnecessary blank page on page two and other interruptions such as random blank pages found throughout the textbook. It has incorrect spacing on page four. Furthermore, the textbook contains page numbers that are inconsistent throughout its entirety. Some page numbers can be found in the upper left corner while others are found centered on the bottom of the page. The present title is ambiguous as to what type of sustainability the document is referring to and what the text will contain, and surprisingly all sub-topics and sub-titles that make up sustainability appear in the textbook.
The text is up to date, but also provides information regarding previous times in history i.e. the evolution of the various environmental policies in the U.S.. It appears that the textbook would be easy to update with a newer edition as time evolves. I am concerned, however that the chapters are just too long – but the relevance, as far as the content is concerned, is just fine (with a few exceptions as pointed out earlier) for the audience (undergraduate) that is intended
The text is clearly written and does not use such accelerated terminology that an average person would not be able to understand the text. In fact, most readers regardless of their level of education would be able to read the document and take valuable information away from it. When jargons or initials were used, and explanation was given so that it would be easy to do further research on the word. A few exceptions though: It seems the clarity is lost where too many examples, and too many figures are being introduced in the text as a way to clarify a specific point e.g. a section on air pollution or energy efficiency e.g. the solid state lighting (SSL) and the compact-fluorescent light bulbs [CFL] (pp 557-558). The clarity, especially noting this book is intended for young audience is lost in the process and may lead into losing focus of the objectives and sub-objectives of each section and chapter.
The choice of words used to communicate points throughout the document are consistent throughout its entirety. Thus, there seems to be consistency throughout the textbook. For examples: (there is a preamble in a form of the objectives to be met once a chapter is completed, followed questions for review). A section to point out to the direction of the potentially the right answers or the solutions to these problem questions as expected of the reader, guidelines on how to answer these questions will make this textbook an easy to ready and ready-to-use textbook for undergraduate students. A few notable exceptions are minor as stated elsewhere, issues with spacing, the fonts and format of the paper are consistent.
The textbook’s strongest area is the appropriate use of section divisions. This has made the book easy to focus on specific sections of subject matter of sustainability. It also allows the reader, at least upper graduate level to make clear distinctions between new points of reference. When one section closes, it is made obvious so that the reader can then focus attention to the next section, allowing for convenient reading. In a summary, the chapters are well separated and independent from one another – they are all inter-linked to the larger subject matter of sustainability. For undergraduate readers though, I look at the entire textbook as being too much of information to read and too many topics spread out for this audience to comprehend all at once, and perhaps in one semester. This may be the main objective of the authors, but the information is way too much for this audience. As a recommendation, perhaps it would be wise to use this textbook as supplemental material for some selected topics e.g. energy or population growth or policy making and introduction to the concepts of climate change.
The 11 chapters of the textbook are independent of one another but all addressing the larger picture of sustainability. Although the presentation, structure and the flow are clear, too much emphasis has been placed on giving too many examples, either in the form of figures or sub-sections that its “taste of sustainability” all of a sudden disappears as one navigates through the textbook. However, a minor suggestion would be to consider rearranging the order of the chapters so that they flow in a more chronological order i.e. some chapters may need to precede others (e.g. chapter 4 should perhaps be used to build upon background information that leads to the understanding of what is in chapter3)
The PDF version of the textbook is easy to read offline. However, upon sharing this information with myself (through email), I found it was difficult to access – the share access portal was a requirement in order to download the file. Perhaps the size of the file was a limiting factor in this respect. I did not download the book in any other version, but the PDF is easily readable. In addition, on pages seven and eight there are display interferences in the text. It appears that two separate texts are overlapping one another causing it to be illegible. The remainder of the textbook is just fine. All of the tables and illustrations are appropriately labeled and explained. The pictures presented in the text are of good quality allowing the reader of the viewer to clearly see without confusion.
Only minor small typos: for example line7, Foreword section, pp#1 (know # known). Perhaps the only other errors that I noticed is the lack of the full meaning of an acronyms: For example, the acronym, which appears at section 1.3 pp8, IPAT in the 1.3 The IPAT Equation is not defined in this section. The glossary of the terms used in the textbook are appropriately described. There are also some noticeable mistakes in the references by adding unnecessary spacing between words.
The textbook has taken bold steps to address all stakeholders in the society, including the academia (for example the use of the equations related to sustainability, and the trends of the climate changes and data). The textbook has little inclination to the local politics and therefore, I see little or no evidence at all of confinement or boundaries for not being able to use this textbook in other cultures. The textbook does discuss the social aspect to sustainability and dives into more specific factors such as ethical, background, and human values. The authors state very strongly that sustainability is based upon a series of social movements. The authors go on to list movements such as human rights, racial equality, gender equality, labor relations, and conservation. By pointing out these topics it can be concluded that the authors are inclusive of race, ethnicity, and background since a portion of their text is based on this theory. Although a larger number of the illustrative examples in the textbook appear to have been drawn from the U.S. (dust explosion in Philadelphia, the Love Canal in NY – pp209-211, the hydraulic fracking or the extraction of shale gas; Exxon Valdez Oil Spill – in Alaska – 00287; BP Oil spill---pp200&pp288 etc.), these are typical examples that also affect sustainable development around the world. An equally large number of illustrative examples are also drawn from other countries and cultures as well: – e.g. algal bloom in China - pp. 196; Hg-mercury poisoning – Minamata-Japan (pp201), hydraulic gold mining in New Zealand (pp229); the largest cyanide leaching in Romania – pp229-230 and the open pit mining in Russia –218 among others. One point, which seems, at least from my point of view, to be controversial however is that of bottled water: the author of this topic seems to be addressing the U.S. readers ignoring the fact that millions around the world cannot afford clean potable water-pp207! It is interesting to see that the authors have incorporated a section that compares the carbon footprint (pp446-447) and the water footprint (pp447-448) of various countries.
This book is worth reading. I am impressed how the authors have been able to come together to produce such a great textbook. It is an impressive work. Although the textbook has covered, so far, a great deal of issues of sustainability, it still would be a nightmare to ask the authors to include all of the aspects of sustainability in this one textbook because it would include too many concepts and perhaps too many volumes to cover them all. It would great if a list of the issues affecting sustainability are presented in the introductory chapters; then focus on a few of them and refer the reader of the other topics to other relevant textbooks.