Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfully enlightening...
Review: As an environmental earth science major at the Johns Hopkins University, I found this book absolutely fascinating. It was written with compassion, fairness, and excellent prose. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the environment, or just curious about what may await us in the twenty-first century.I already knew many of the facts and the science behind global warming and other environmental problems, but I've never been exposed to the human side of things. Mark Hertsgaard shows us what it's like to breathe the polluted air of Bangkok, live with the Dinka tribe in Sudan, or attend an Earth Summit meeting where world leaders talk and talk but nothing gets accomplished. I've never traveled outside of the U.S. and will probably never experience what the author experienced... so I'm grateful that he wrote this book. It has reinforced my decision to join the ranks of scientists and writers who are trying to communicate the dangers of our present way of life to the general public. As many people have said before, environmental disasters will affect everyone, rich and poor alike, so we must all work together to save ourselves from the greatest enemy we will ever face- the greed and selfishness within ourselves.
Rating:
Summary: A most important book
Review: As is one of the reviewers above, I also am from the University of Utah, as a professor, am interested in environmental issues, and believe as he does that we are on a runaway train, however I find that Earth Odyssey puts you on that train and communicates the desperation we all should be beginning to feel even though the author works very hard to see the problem as solvable.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written first-hand account but...
Review: cheap shots take away from the message. Just once I'd like to read an objective book on environmentalism. For example, when the author talks about setting up a global fund he uses the same old "for the price of 3 B-2 bombers we could..." What about if we cut AFDC (aid for dependent children)? Or when Bush attended a conference in South America "he stayed in air conditioned hotel with ocean views" while thousands in the city lived in squaller. Where do you suggest he stay? I don't recall any similar slaps at the other side. Come on, tell the story without the politics or sign up as a lobbyist.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read in years.
Review: Earth Odyssey is a powerful story of the earth's prospects. I loved this book because it is beautifully written, fair and balanced. It does not give simple answers -- it provides textured answers that reflect human needs, motivations and aspirations. It covers a journey that was both personal and professional, reflecting the author's obvious concern for the environment and the human species, yet objective and meticulous in reporting of environmental events and their causes. The best books make you think; Earth Odyssey makes you reflect upon your own relationship with the planet.
Rating:
Summary: A Long Night's Journey Into Day
Review: Having just read Mark Hertsgaard's THE EAGLE'S SHADOW I moved on to his much longer and earlier book EARTH ODYSSEY. Though not intending to read all of this important information in one sitting, I found this book so well written as well as informative that it became a page turner that happily usurped an entire evening. Try to bed down after reviewing the state of the world's environmental crises! Yet in the darkness, having finished the book, there was time to reflect on just how important it is to get this information to the entire public. Not just the active Environmentalists, those who know intuitively the dangers we have bred and are still breeding, but the Everyman out there - all of us who glibly fill our multiple cars with gasoline, clog the freeways, allow the government to ignore Global Warming, remain uninformed about the terrifying diasters associated with the world's nuclear energy programs. Hertsgaard is a fine journalist and as such he traveled the globe from 1991 - 1997 observing, breathing the noxious air in China, the extreme poverty in Africa, the filth in Russia, India, among the Third World countries, and reporting the complacency echoing in groups who live in this deteriorating world and do very little about taking action to guard our planet's future. Currently the media (such as it is) is alerting us to the presence of an Asteroid a mile wide apparently headed for the earth from outer space. That incident, devastating though it would be, is only a possibility. The more pertinent devastation ( our clamouring for "the better life" through industry and its concomitant wasting of our natural resources by knowingly turning them into poisonous by-products ) seems to go unnoticed. Hertsgaard intermixes reportage with very readable converstaions with people around the world and the result is a book that feels as though it unites all of us, even though that core of unity may be a shared terror. Had we more writers like Mark Hertsgaard who are brave enough and concerned as deeply about 'Whither mankind' perhaps our newspapers and magazines and television/radio news shows would feel compelled to report the important issues before us today rather than search for the latest movie star wedding or sex scandal or whatever sells commercial space. Take this journey with Hertsgaard and wake up to a morning of commitment to the guardianship of our fellowmen.
Rating:
Summary: A Long Night's Journey Into Day
Review: Having just read Mark Hertsgaard's THE EAGLE'S SHADOW I moved on to his much longer and earlier book EARTH ODYSSEY. Though not intending to read all of this important information in one sitting, I found this book so well written as well as informative that it became a page turner that happily usurped an entire evening. Try to bed down after reviewing the state of the world's environmental crises! Yet in the darkness, having finished the book, there was time to reflect on just how important it is to get this information to the entire public. Not just the active Environmentalists, those who know intuitively the dangers we have bred and are still breeding, but the Everyman out there - all of us who glibly fill our multiple cars with gasoline, clog the freeways, allow the government to ignore Global Warming, remain uninformed about the terrifying diasters associated with the world's nuclear energy programs. Hertsgaard is a fine journalist and as such he traveled the globe from 1991 - 1997 observing, breathing the noxious air in China, the extreme poverty in Africa, the filth in Russia, India, among the Third World countries, and reporting the complacency echoing in groups who live in this deteriorating world and do very little about taking action to guard our planet's future. Currently the media (such as it is) is alerting us to the presence of an Asteroid a mile wide apparently headed for the earth from outer space. That incident, devastating though it would be, is only a possibility. The more pertinent devastation ( our clamouring for "the better life" through industry and its concomitant wasting of our natural resources by knowingly turning them into poisonous by-products ) seems to go unnoticed. Hertsgaard intermixes reportage with very readable converstaions with people around the world and the result is a book that feels as though it unites all of us, even though that core of unity may be a shared terror. Had we more writers like Mark Hertsgaard who are brave enough and concerned as deeply about 'Whither mankind' perhaps our newspapers and magazines and television/radio news shows would feel compelled to report the important issues before us today rather than search for the latest movie star wedding or sex scandal or whatever sells commercial space. Take this journey with Hertsgaard and wake up to a morning of commitment to the guardianship of our fellowmen.
Rating:
Summary: An environmental travelogue with a somber warning
Review: Hertsgaard's book, while sounding the alarm about global environmental degredation, for the most part avoids the dogmatic rhetoric of the environmental movement. His method is simple but effective. He travelled around the world and witnessed environmental disasters first hand. Particularly chilling is the chapter on China. He is also realistic, acknowledging that the biggest environmental crisis consists of billions of third world citizens who aspire to a first world lifestyle and the environmental damage this would cause. Hertsgaard also offers solutions, however unlikely that they might be implemented any time soon. A very worthwhile book.
Rating:
Summary: An environmental travelogue with a somber warning
Review: Hertsgaard's book, while sounding the alarm about global environmental degredation, for the most part avoids the dogmatic rhetoric of the environmental movement. His method is simple but effective. He travelled around the world and witnessed environmental disasters first hand. Particularly chilling is the chapter on China. He is also realistic, acknowledging that the biggest environmental crisis consists of billions of third world citizens who aspire to a first world lifestyle and the environmental damage this would cause. Hertsgaard also offers solutions, however unlikely that they might be implemented any time soon. A very worthwhile book.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I consider this one of the most important books I have ever read. Hertzgaart gives us "the big picture," and for the first time shows us just how bad things are and exactly what we must address if we are going be even remotely successful in reversing our present course of environmental destruction. The facts are not pretty, and at times deeply disturbing, but if you care, this book is a must.
Rating:
Summary: Must-read for Anyone Who Cares About the Earth
Review: I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the environment and fate of the earth, as well as those who already consider themselves knowledgeable. It's a rare mix of compelling personal narrative and well-researched analysis which draws the reader in. I was pleasantly surprised at the balance Hertsgaard was able to strike between doomy pessism and blithe pollyana-ish idealism about the state of global ecological affairs. For the sake of the Earth and all of us, read this book and carry forth its lessons towards a more healthy sustainable future.
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