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Title: Killer Algae by Alexander Meinesz, Daniel Simberloff, David Quammen, Alexandre Meinesz ISBN: 0-226-51923-6 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: March, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Highly political
Comment: This book describes how an invasive alga was released into the Mediterranean and details the political story of why it was allowed to spread. The alga, caulerpa taxiflora, was first discovered growing under the windows of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco in 1989. When Meinesz saw the alga, he approached the director of the museum and was told that the alga, being tropical in nature, would never survive the winter. However, it did indeed survive the winter, flourished, and over the next few years spread beyond Monaco to the coast of France, Spain, and as far away as Croatia.
Although one section of the appendix describes the biology of the alga, the vast majority of the book is devoted to documenting the various political battles that the author fought to try to convince the authorities to take action against the spread of the alga. Some of the behind-the-scenes tales of how the academic publishing establishment works were quite illuminating. After reading this book, I will also be rather skeptical when I come across scientific articles in the popular press, especially newspapers, since Meinesz points out how often reporters got the details wrong or pulled other facts out of context. When I picked up this book, I was more interested in learning the scientific and environmental implications of an invasive species, but that's not the focus of this book.
Rating: 4
Summary: How Bureaucracy trumped Science
Comment: This book should wake up anyone who still believes that clear scientific truth will automatically change the way that governments make decisions. Consider it the ocean-side equivalent of Halberstam's classic "The Best and the Brightest." and an excellent complement to Barbara Tuchman's "The March of Folly". Dr. Meinesz was among the few and leading French scientific voices who saw and, what's more, cared about the epidemic spread of a tropical green algae along the world's most expensive coastline - the Riviera. He shows how the famous Oceanographic Museum at Monaco not only caused the problem with its careless handling of an exotic species but how the Director's disinformation cover-up campaign spread faster than the noxious seaweed itself. And it did not help that this environmental mayhem was started under the watch of famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau (the preceding museum director). One of the most striking things one learns is how diverse and complex -- and ultimately useless -- the French bureaucracy is, that is supposed to be protecting their coastlines and marine environments. A scary story that might have done better with a more carefully chosen title!
Rating: 4
Summary: This is a book about politics, not ecology!
Comment: The author does not try to convince the reader of the ecological threat that the algae imposes. That is now obviouse. He recounts the politics involved with this ecological crisis. There is a historical record of a failure in a system composed of government officials and agencies, and reputable scientific circles. First, the governmental agencies failed to recognize the problem. The "wait and see" attitude that is described shows a certain apathy or indolence of bureaucratic agencies. There is a failure in the practic of science to report ideas with the proper rigor. Both the author and his opponants make mistakes that exacerbate a pseudo-scientific debate, causing confusion in the news media. The unfortunate result is a crisis spiraling out of controll. In the last section "the lessons of Caulerpa" he explains his opinions on why the failure in the system occured. I don't necessarily agree with his views, but it is an interesting critique of the current politics of biological science.
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Title: Letters to a Young Contrarian by Christopher Hitchens ISBN: 0465030327 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 16 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: Biological Invasions (Population and Community Biology Series, 15) by M. H. Williamson ISBN: 0412591901 Publisher: Chapman & Hall Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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Title: The Ego and the Id (The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud) by Sigmund Freud, James Strachey, Joan Riviere ISBN: 0393001423 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 1990 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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