Dr. Art's Guide to Planet Earth : For Earthlings Ages 12 to 120

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Summary: Dr. Art's Guide to Planet Earth
Review: Finally, a book that takes on the Earth Systems instead of a collection of unconnected Earth facts. Dr. Art's talent for describing the big picture through an interconnected systems approach provides the tool I've been waiting for as an educator and as a citizen of the global community. This readable and beautifully illustrated book is going to be the guide my students use as they travel the Earth Systems. With Dr. Art's guide my students will learn about why the Earth is so extraordinary and what Earthlings can do when they think globally. I can't wait to share Dr. Art's Guide to Planet Earth with my fellow teachers and my friends. Thank you Dr. Art.

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Summary: Perfect Ecological Education Tool
Review: That the world we now live in is unsustainable should go without saying. Skyrocketing human populations put enormous pressure on the productive and absorptive capacities of Earth, outstripping her carrying capacity by some twenty percent. As ever more fisheries collapse, forests shrink, rangelands deteriorate, soils erode, species vanish, temperatures rise, rivers run dry, water tables fall, ozone fades and polar ice caps melt, the single most important question humanity has faced resonates ever louder: How can we live sustainably? Rather than naively banking on some techno-fix, Art believes we must become ecologically literate. And with this book, he has helped us move one step in that direction.

Written for "earthlings ages 12 to 120," Art's Guide is at once light enough for youth to comprehend and yet comprehensive enough to "help us focus on major concepts rather than becoming lost in confusing details." By breaking the subject down into three primary categories (matter systems, energy systems and life systems) he provides a simple framework for thinking about Earth's systems within systems within systems within...you guessed it, more systems! Similarly, he explains the synergistic aspects of these systems, their deep interconnections, and the complex feedback loops which work to balance or reinforce patterns of change: like the rising temp > CO2 > greenhouse effect > rising temp feedback loop (otherwise known as global warming).

I especially liked the way Art stresses our deep interconnection with Earth. "Now, fill a glass with water," he says. "This glass that you hold in your hand today has more than ten million water molecules that once passed through the body of the buffalo, more than ten million water molecules that passed through the dinosaur and more than ten million water molecules that passed through one of our African ancestors!" Along with many other passages throughout the book, this one shuns the most pernicious dualism in Western thought: namely, that humanity is somehow separate from the natural world.

To keep things in perspective, Art includes a comprehensive discussion of current environmental issues: including habitat fragmentation, habitat destruction, pollution, excessive harvesting, introduction of exotic species and climate change. He also notes the major changes we must institute in order to prevent and mitigate further harm, from purchasing organic produce to selecting a home to limiting our consumption of red meat. Why red meat, you ask? I'll let Art answer that one.

Part and parcel of this discussion is the typical corporation. As usual, Art takes a systems approach here. The traditional company inefficiently utilize solar energy in the form of fossil fuels, minerals, and biomass in order to produce finished goods. Processing these finished goods usually creates pollution and waste, which is often toxic. The company then sells the finished product (which is also in many cases inefficient, highly-polluting and toxic itself) to willing if uninformed consumers. The consumer then uses the finished product and disposes of it, creating even more waste and introducing more pollutants into the biosphere. A sustainable company, on the other hand, would utilize solar energy and renewable materials in an eco-efficient, non-toxic manner, thereby completely avoiding problems of pollution and waste. After selling or renting those products and services to the public, the company would then safely recycle all the materials back into the production of new eco-efficient products or into the biosphere. In effect, a sustainable company would create zero waste. What a concept!

From energy budgets to carbon cycles to the greenhouse effect, Art does not leave a stone unturned. The perfect educational tool, Art's Guide has the potential to help create a sustainable future, grounded upon a citizenry with enough environmental understanding to live harmoniously within the delicate web of life upon which we feed and are ultimately fed upon. Get one for your kids - but don't forget to read along!

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Summary: The Art of Science
Review: This book is a rare gem! The concepts are described both visually and textually--even an adult could grasp the principles expressed here. It is a book every child in America should read or should read to his/her parents. Armed with this information, I now know how global warming occurs and how matter is recycled. If all of the adults governing our planet would read this easily understood manual, the world would indeed be a better place. Art Sussman, I thank you, my kids thank you and the world thanks you. Dr. Sussman is truly the Art of Science.