Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Ernest Callenbach.
Ecology: A Pocket Guide.
Tenth revised and expanded edition.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.
paper, 175 pp., ISBN 978–0–52025–719–1, $13.95.

In this handy informative guide to the terminology of ecology, author Ernest Callenbach presents the fundamental concepts of ecology in alphabetical order in a brief, clear literary style. It is not surprising that this little handbook has become so popular. Beginning with the air around us, he weaves together ideas about the interconnection of life processes on Earth in a way that can be easily comprehended by all readers, not just scientists working at the cutting edge. These essays indeed can be savored, a delightful surprise in a reference work.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.