Water: The Drop of Life (A Companion to the Public Television Series)

Rating:
Summary: The gift of water
Review: "Water: The Drop Of Life", is a companion book to the PBS series about water. The book is well written, and also stands well on it's own describing water usage in much of the world today. Water is a precious resource, but it is often not thought of in that way. Instead, water is often wasted and misused in many places. Contaminated water is also the source of great tragedy and suffering. Millions of people die every year from water borne diseases, including a huge number of children. This book tells the story of the consequences of bad water, and of ongoing efforts to improve the quality of water everywhere. With continuing increases in the world's population, water resources are being strained as never before. Something has to be done on a worldwide scale, or there is going to be a massive water crisis in this century. This book helps to bring the problem into clear focus, and provides possible solutions for the future. It helps us to understand one of nature's greatest gifts; a gift that is far too often taken for granted. This book provides valuable insights and information into the many uses of water.

Rating:
Summary: The gift of water
Review: "Water: The Drop Of Life", is a companion book to the PBS series about water. The book is well written, and also stands well on it's own describing water usage in much of the world today. Water is a precious resource, but it is often not thought of in that way. Instead, water is often wasted and misused in many places. Contaminated water is also the source of great tragedy and suffering. Millions of people die every year from water borne diseases, including a huge number of children. This book tells the story of the consequences of bad water, and of ongoing efforts to improve the quality of water everywhere. With continuing increases in the world's population, water resources are being strained as never before. Something has to be done on a worldwide scale, or there is going to be a massive water crisis in this century. This book helps to bring the problem into clear focus, and provides possible solutions for the future. It helps us to understand one of nature's greatest gifts; a gift that is far too often taken for granted. This book provides valuable insights and information into the many uses of water.

Rating:
Summary: Appreciated. Comment on infant baptism is inappropriate.
Review: I am trying to keep current of water supply and quality issues and found this book, though not a gusher of information, perhaps because only 143 pages, refreshing. I believe I hadn't previously known about "DRiWATER," (pp.136-137), a gel which, as it is slowly eaten by soil microbes, slowly releases water to the soil. I had previously read of fog catchers (pp. 42-43), but the photographs really impressed me with the utter simplicity of the technology. Two things annoyed me bit. First, the photographs should be captioned to identify the location and perhaps give more detail about the scenes. Second, the author seems to have some theological preoccupations. This might seem overly sensitive, but on p. 109, he wrote: "...the Roman aqueducts were not infallible." I've no problem with that mildly witty diction. But on p. 31, we are told that "[t]he practice of infant baptism did not become a normal practice until the fifth century, and there is still a debate today as to whether or not this constitutes a proper baptism." While I have elsewhere encountered a perhaps respectable argument against infant baptism, I remain convinced that it is better to baptise infants than to defer their baptism. I believe infant baptism harmonizes better with the biblical data. I understand that infant baptism was widespread even in the sub-apostolic era (first and second centuries) without criticism, and that even though he was baptised as an adult, St. Augustine (354-430) reported that infant baptism was an apostolic teaching. The author seems to have pulled the fifth century out of thin air for the establishment of the normalcy of infant baptism. Why commentary on infant baptism is dropped into a short book on water, I don't know.

Rating:
Summary: A Simple Look at the Issues Concerning Better Use of Water
Review: Television by its nature usually focuses on a low education level and works fast, before interest fades. Translated into a book, that means all the facts are there . . . but in highly summarized form.

If you follow water at all, you know that we have a severe shortage of clean water in many of the most populous parts of the world. Rapid growth in population means that the pressure is increasing, and that we have to put more effort and innovation into solutions. The ways we use water can stand some reforming along the way. In other areas, too much water causes horrible problems related to floods. Our past conservation efforts have often been misguided and caused new problems.

The book does a nice job of briefly alluding to the most common issues -- people in water-rich areas treating water wastefully, the lack of capabilities to clean up rivers that millions use like the Ganges, and the tremendous problems of desert areas. You also will find a section on the most important part of the rain forest in Ecuador, which is the home of the most biodiverse jungle population on the planet (because it was spared in the last Ice Age).

Some of the technologies are very interesting because they mimic nature (dew nets), the practices of aboriginal ancestors (for farming), and common sense (reuse water where there is no downside). Advanced technologies are also described.

I have not seen the show, but the appearance of worldwide celebrities in the book will certainly help make the message more meaningful to teenagers and young adults. It was nice these people made themselves available for the program.

Mikhail Gorbachev's foreword is brief, but nicely summarizes where we are. "Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people." "But we stand today on the brink of a global water crisis." In thinking about this he urges us to see that "access to clean water is a universal human right . . . ." He also calls us to action, "Just as we are moved by water, we must now move in order to save it." His comments about the geo-political effects of water were sobering, that no nation can have security without an adequate supply of pure water for all of its inhabitants.

The book has many beautiful photographs, but almost all of them are reproduced in very small sizes that diminish the enjoyment and benefit you can gain from them.

Rather than making the book as a simple companion to the television show (which I have not yet seen), it would have been better to have made this more seamlessly into a book. Now, it seems to "jump" from one sound bite and quick pan to the next in a scrapbook-like way.

I think this book would make an excellent gift to a young person who has not yet had much chance to travel and learn about global water issues.

What can you do to make more appropriate use of water in your life, household, community, and nation?

May you always have all the clean water that good health requires!

Rating:
Summary: A Simple Look at the Issues Concerning Better Use of Water
Review: Television by its nature usually focuses on a low education level and works fast, before interest fades. Translated into a book, that means all the facts are there . . . but in highly summarized form.

If you follow water at all, you know that we have a severe shortage of clean water in many of the most populous parts of the world. Rapid growth in population means that the pressure is increasing, and that we have to put more effort and innovation into solutions. The ways we use water can stand some reforming along the way. In other areas, too much water causes horrible problems related to floods. Our past conservation efforts have often been misguided and caused new problems.

The book does a nice job of briefly alluding to the most common issues -- people in water-rich areas treating water wastefully, the lack of capabilities to clean up rivers that millions use like the Ganges, and the tremendous problems of desert areas. You also will find a section on the most important part of the rain forest in Ecuador, which is the home of the most biodiverse jungle population on the planet (because it was spared in the last Ice Age).

Some of the technologies are very interesting because they mimic nature (dew nets), the practices of aboriginal ancestors (for farming), and common sense (reuse water where there is no downside). Advanced technologies are also described.

I have not seen the show, but the appearance of worldwide celebrities in the book will certainly help make the message more meaningful to teenagers and young adults. It was nice these people made themselves available for the program.

Mikhail Gorbachev's foreword is brief, but nicely summarizes where we are. "Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people." "But we stand today on the brink of a global water crisis." In thinking about this he urges us to see that "access to clean water is a universal human right . . . ." He also calls us to action, "Just as we are moved by water, we must now move in order to save it." His comments about the geo-political effects of water were sobering, that no nation can have security without an adequate supply of pure water for all of its inhabitants.

The book has many beautiful photographs, but almost all of them are reproduced in very small sizes that diminish the enjoyment and benefit you can gain from them.

Rather than making the book as a simple companion to the television show (which I have not yet seen), it would have been better to have made this more seamlessly into a book. Now, it seems to "jump" from one sound bite and quick pan to the next in a scrapbook-like way.

I think this book would make an excellent gift to a young person who has not yet had much chance to travel and learn about global water issues.

What can you do to make more appropriate use of water in your life, household, community, and nation?

May you always have all the clean water that good health requires!

Rating:
Summary: Water, The Drop of Life by Peter Swanson
Review: This book is a companion to the PBS series by the same name. To date, the program has not been available in our area but the book has enhanced my desire to see the program. The book describes water issues throughout the world in words and pictures. I was left with the desire to conserve water in my daily life. The book certainly makes it clear that we have a problem with water now that will get worse in the future. We must work to protect this vital resource for future generations. Water, The Drop of Life is a book I would recommend to everyone.