Showing posts with label Environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Environment. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Ernest Callenbach dies at 83

Ernest Callenbach died April 16 in Berkeley, Calif., at age 83. He was the author of the novel “Ecotopia,” which was published in 1975 and foreshadowed the environmental movement.
In this book Ecology: a pocket guide, published by the University of California Press in 1998, Mr. Callenbach "provides a pocket-sized introduction to the wonderful complexity of life on Earth--and our part in it. In 60 information-packed entries, the author uses everyday, nontechnical language to explain basic ecological concepts".

New York Times obituary by Dennis Hevesi 

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Earth Day April 22

Hamden's Earth Day celebration will take place on Saturday, April 21, 2012 from 10 to 3 in the Hamden Middle School, 2623 Dixwell Ave. in Hamden.
More information on this event can be found here.
We also put together some of our newer books on environmental topics next to the Rotunda computers in Miller Library's lobby area.
Check out these links:


Silent Spring - 5Oth anniversary

Catalog Link
Catalog Link
50 years ago, on April 13, 1962 "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson was published. "Rachel Carson's SILENT SPRING warned humankind that for the first time in history every person is subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals from conception until death. Carson painted a vivid picture of how chemicals - used in many ways put particularly in pesticides - have upset the balance of nature, undermining the survival of countless species. This enormously popular and influential book was a soft-spoken battle cry to protect our natural surroundings. Its publication signaled the beginning of the environmental movement" (source: Chase's Calendar of Events, 2012).
 Come to the library this month and check out our display or see our holdings on Rachel Carson here.

Friday, July 8, 2011

International Year of Forests 2011

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2011 the International Year of Forests. Almost half the world's original forests have been destroyed, most during the past three decades.

In Arboretum America: A philosophy of the forest, author Diana Beresford-Kroener describes 20 different tree groups and how these specific trees can be used to promote health and to counteract the effects of pollution and global warming.


The Book of Leaves by Allen J. Coombes is a leaf-by-leaf guide to six hundred of the world's great trees. The leaves are reproduced at their actual size.

Wildwood: a journey through trees is the last book by British nature writer Roger Deakin which was published after his death in 2006. In his travels he meets artists and scientists who work with forests all over the world.

Brush Cat: On trees, the wood economy, and the most dangerous job in America byJack McEnany, recounts a year in the life of men who perform one of the most dangerous jobs in America--logging New England's vast forests for timber used in hundreds more ways than most realize.

The Sibley Guide To Trees, written and illustrated by David Allen Sibley, identifies more than 600 tree species in North America.

A Shared Landscape: A guide and history of Connecticut's State Parks and Forests by Joseph Leary, published in 2002, contains descriptions, photos and maps of 92 Connecticut state parks and 32 state forests.

Also check out:

Other Related Books (by subject)

Connecticut Forest & Park Association

2011 the International Year of Forests

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Top 10 Books on the Environment

Booklist recently compiled a list of Top 10 Books on the Environment which were published during the last 12 months.

American Eden: From Monticello to Central Park; What Our Gardens Tell Us about Who We Are. By Wade Graham. 2011. Harper.

"Graham offers a fresh, ecologically astute history of American gardens grand and humble, designed by such diverse innovators as Thomas Jefferson and Martha Stewart."

Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment. By David Kirby. 2010. St. Martin’s.

"Kirby profiles people who have suffered the gravely deleterious effects of industrial animal farming in the most relatable, thorough, and irrefutable testimony yet to the hazards of factory farms."

Bird Cloud. By Annie Proulx. 2011. Scribner.

"Renowned novelist Proulx turns to nonfiction to chronicle the building of her dream home in Wyoming, combining construction misadventures with tales of wildlife and crimes against humanity and nature."

Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy Is Undermining the Environmental Revolution. By Heather Rogers. 2010. Scribner.

"Rogers (Gone Tomorrow, 2005) exposes the “green” movement’s failure to advance sustainability and protect the environment as initiatives are hijacked by economic and political interests."

Growing a Garden City. By Jeremy N. Smith. 2010. Skyhorse.

"Smith reports on how Missoula, Montana, embraced the local food movement to create a model for healthful and environmentally sound community-supported agriculture."

The Quiet World: Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom, 1879–1960. By Douglas Brinkley. 2011. Harper.

"Historian Brinkley continues his magnificent multivolume history of conservation in America with an original and enthralling portrait gallery of colorful environmental visionaries intent on preserving Alaska’s glorious wilderness and wildlife."

Running Dry: A Journey from Source to Sea down the Colorado River. By Jonathan Waterman. 2010. National Geographic.

"Waterman chronicles his simultaneously personal and investigative journey down the Colorado River, profiling diverse individuals who have worked hard to keep the river alive and flowing."

The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health—and a Vision for Change. By Annie Leonard and Ariane Conrad. 2010. Free Press.

"A Time magazine Hero of the Environment, Leonard calculates the full ecological and social cost of our “stuff” and calls for an end to overconsumption and the valuing of quantities of consumer goods over quality of life."

The Turquoise Ledge. By Leslie Marmon Silko. 2010. Viking.

"Silko draws on her Laguna Pueblo, Cherokee, Mexican, and European ancestry and extended family in this richly veined eco-memoir of desert life, spiritual forces, close bonds with animals, and environmental destruction."

The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World. By Carl Safina. 2011. Holt.

"Acclaimed ecologist and ocean advocate Safina reports on places around the world where the impact of climate change and environmental destruction is starkly evident."