Environmental Science With Infotrac: Working With the Earth

Rating:
Summary: Biased indoctrination thinly disguised as a college text.
Review: Be wary of any economics book that tries to teach you science. And avoid any science book that tries to teach you economics. I can only describe myself as speechless as I read chapter two, 'Environmental Economics, Politics, and Worldviews'. I would expect some coverage of the political and economic issues that surround environmental science, but Mr. Miller goes out of his way to present his political views as the One True Path and all other views as evil. There are no opposing points, no mention that other opinions might also have merit. His description of capitalism would be laughable if I and thousands of other college students around the world weren't being taught them in class.

On top of this, some web searches turn up other problems with this text. The book does not meet the 'Fairness and Accuracy' guidelines of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). Mr. Miller was criticized by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) for citing only references that supported his viewpoints (and even then, he didn't provide proper references). Another comment from 'The Textbook Letter' magazine describes this book as well as I could ever hope to "The [Miller] book is so insistent in promoting its worldview that it could serve as a model for education-with-indoctrination."

No matter your viewpoint, I think everyone can agree that purposeful bias is not something that is conducive to good learning. I would recommend avoiding this book and finding another less-biased text.