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Environment » Environmental Ethics

Most Recommended Books

The Song of the Dodo by David Quammen

“I don’t think anyone has described the fragmentation of nature in the modern world as brilliantly as Quammen. He likens an ecosystem to a Persian carpet. Cut a beautiful, complex carpet into tiny squares, he says, and you get not tiny carpets, but a lot of useless scraps of material fraying at the edges. That’s what we’ve done to our ecosystems. For the most part, nature now exists only in tiny pockets, oases in a biological desert, fraying at the edges. Species that exist in these little Noah’s arks are increasingly vulnerable to assault by pollution, climate change and predators. Populations that – unlike birds or flying insects – are unable to move and mingle with other populations suffer from genetic impoverishment. This is what happens on small islands in mid-ocean. Islands are where species most commonly go extinct. Quammen’s wondrous peregrination of islands takes us on a journey of evolutions and extinctions in order to illustrate how like islands our continents have become.”

Isabella Tree,

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Browse book recommendations:

Environment

  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Ethics
  • New Climate and Environment Books
  • Renewable Energy

Environmental ethics covers all aspects of humanity’s moral relationship with the environment.  What do we owe other species and plants?  What duty do we have to maintain biodiversity and how can that be achieved? How can we use with the world’s resources without exhausting them?  How should humanity respond to climate change? We have a range of interviews dedicated to discussing books on environmental ethics and related questions.

Journalist Adam Minter chooses his best books on the global trash trade, which he has made the focus of his work for over a decade. Juliet Schor, professor of sociology at Boston College, chooses her best books on consumption and the environment. She argues that we need to rethink the way we live, focusing our lives less on ever rising consumption and more on production, on creating things to provide for our personal and cultural satisfaction.

Daniel Headrick,  historian of technology, imperialism and international relations, selects his best books on technology and nature.  Kate Brown, professor of science, technology and society at MIT chooses her best books on the Chernobyl disaster.

Victor Mallet, journalist and author of River of Life, River of Death, about the Ganges, talks about Asia's Rivers. He chooses books on the Ganges, the Indus, and the threat to Asia’s ecosystems from Chinese development.  Denise Russell of Wollongong University chooses her best books on the sea, looking at everything from the role the sea has played in the development of human civilisations to modern piracy, overfishing and the struggle to conserve threatened species.

    The best books on Chernobyl, recommended by Kate Brown

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    The best books on Chernobyl - Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy by Serhii Plokhy

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    Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy
    by Serhii Plokhy

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    The best books on Chernobyl - Producing Power: The Pre-Chernobyl History of the Soviet Nuclear Industry by Sonja D Schmid

    2

    Producing Power: The Pre-Chernobyl History of the Soviet Nuclear Industry
    by Sonja D Schmid

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    The best books on Chernobyl - Voices From Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich

    3

    Voices From Chernobyl
    by Svetlana Alexievich

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    The best books on Chernobyl - Atomic Spaces: Living on the Manhattan Project by Peter Bacon Hales

    4

    Atomic Spaces: Living on the Manhattan Project
    by Peter Bacon Hales

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    The best books on Chernobyl - The Politics of Invisibility: Public Knowledge about Radiation Health Effects after Chernobyl by Olga Kuchinskaya

    5

    The Politics of Invisibility: Public Knowledge about Radiation Health Effects after Chernobyl
    by Olga Kuchinskaya

The best books on Chernobyl, recommended by Kate Brown

While widely regarded as the world’s worst nuclear accident, Chernobyl’s legacy remains fiercely contested, with death tolls ranging from 31 to 200,000. MIT historian Kate Brown, who has spent years in the Chernobyl archives, picks the best books on the disaster, compares its impact with atomic bomb testing, and argues for more research into low-dose radiation exposure

    The best books on Wilding, recommended by Isabella Tree

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    The best books on Wilding - A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

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    A Sand County Almanac
    by Aldo Leopold

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    The best books on Wilding - Three Against the Wilderness by Eric Collier

    2

    Three Against the Wilderness
    by Eric Collier

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    The best books on Wilding - The Song of the Dodo by David Quammen

    3

    The Song of the Dodo
    by David Quammen

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    The best books on Wilding - Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life by George Monbiot

    4

    Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life
    by George Monbiot

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    The best books on Wilding - Half Earth by Edward O. Wilson

    5

    Half Earth
    by Edward O. Wilson

The best books on Wilding, recommended by Isabella Tree

Is there room for both humans and wild nature to flourish on an increasingly crowded planet? The author Isabella Tree argues that ‘wilding’ can be benefit both, and chooses five books to support her case.

    The best books on Asia’s Rivers, recommended by Victor Mallet

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    The best books on Asia’s Rivers - Slowly Down the Ganges by Eric Newby

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    Slowly Down the Ganges
    by Eric Newby

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    The best books on Asia’s Rivers - Empires of the Indus: The Story of A River by Alice Albinia

    2

    Empires of the Indus: The Story of A River
    by Alice Albinia

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    The best books on Asia’s Rivers - The River's Tale: A Year in the Mekong by Edward Gargan

    3

    The River's Tale: A Year in the Mekong
    by Edward Gargan

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    The best books on Asia’s Rivers - Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China by Dominic Ziegler

    4

    Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China
    by Dominic Ziegler

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    The best books on Asia’s Rivers - Meltdown in Tibet: China's Reckless Destruction of Ecosystems from the Highlands of Tibet to the Deltas of Asia by Michael Buckley

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    Meltdown in Tibet: China's Reckless Destruction of Ecosystems from the Highlands of Tibet to the Deltas of Asia
    by Michael Buckley

The best books on Asia’s Rivers, recommended by Victor Mallet

Human history has been founded on the banks of great rivers – but in the East they are increasingly the focus of bitter international and environmental dispute, says Victor Mallet, the journalist and author of River of Life, River of Death. Here he selects five brilliant books that profile Asia’s most celebrated waterways.

    The best books on The Trash Trade, recommended by Adam Minter

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    The best books on The Trash Trade - Waste and Want by Susan Strasser

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    Waste and Want
    by Susan Strasser

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    The best books on The Trash Trade - Cash for Your Trash by Carl Zimring

    2

    Cash for Your Trash
    by Carl Zimring

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    The best books on The Trash Trade - Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

    3

    Behind the Beautiful Forevers
    by Katherine Boo

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    The best books on The Trash Trade - The Metal Shredders by Nancy Zafris

    4

    The Metal Shredders
    by Nancy Zafris

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    The best books on The Trash Trade - Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

    5

    Ship Breaker
    by Paolo Bacigalupi

The best books on The Trash Trade, recommended by Adam Minter

Recycling is more than just a blue and green bin in your pantry, says journalist Adam Minter – it’s a global trade with centuries of history that stretches from American scrapyards to Chinese e-waste recycling villages

    The best books on Consumption and the Environment, recommended by Juliet Schor

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    The best books on Consumption and the Environment - Distinction by Pierre Bourdieu

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    Distinction
    by Pierre Bourdieu

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    The best books on Consumption and the Environment - Econned by Yves Smith

    2

    Econned
    by Yves Smith

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    The best books on Consumption and the Environment - The End of the Long Summer by Dianne Dumanoski

    3

    The End of the Long Summer
    by Dianne Dumanoski

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    The best books on Consumption and the Environment - Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken

    4

    Blessed Unrest
    by Paul Hawken

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    The best books on Consumption and the Environment - Living in Denial by Kari Marie Norgaard

    5

    Living in Denial
    by Kari Marie Norgaard

The best books on Consumption and the Environment, recommended by Juliet Schor

The author of True Wealth suggests how we can rethink our patterns of consumption and approach our relationship with nature in a new, less damaging, way

    The best books on Technology and Nature, recommended by Daniel Headrick

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    The best books on Technology and Nature - Medieval Technology and Social Change by Lynn White Jr.

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    Medieval Technology and Social Change
    by Lynn White Jr.

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    The best books on Technology and Nature - Plagues and Peoples by William McNeill

    2

    Plagues and Peoples
    by William McNeill

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    The best books on Technology and Nature - Ecological Imperialism by Alfred Crosby

    3

    Ecological Imperialism
    by Alfred Crosby

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    The best books on Technology and Nature - Collapse by Jared Diamond

    4

    Collapse
    by Jared Diamond

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    The best books on Technology and Nature - Something New Under the Sun by John R McNeill

    5

    Something New Under the Sun
    by John R McNeill

The best books on Technology and Nature, recommended by Daniel Headrick

The historian explains how the power of technology has affected man’s relationship with the rest of nature, and tells us what determines why some civilisations succeed and others fail

    The best books on Man and Nature, recommended by TC Boyle

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    The best books on Man and Nature - The Song of the Dodo by David Quammen

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    The Song of the Dodo
    by David Quammen

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    The best books on Man and Nature - Out of Eden by Alan Burdick

    2

    Out of Eden
    by Alan Burdick

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    The best books on Man and Nature - Playing God in Yellowstone by Alston Chase

    3

    Playing God in Yellowstone
    by Alston Chase

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    The best books on Man and Nature - The Tiger by John Vaillant

    4

    The Tiger
    by John Vaillant

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    The best books on Man and Nature - The Beast In The Garden by David Baron

    5

    The Beast In The Garden
    by David Baron

The best books on Man and Nature, recommended by TC Boyle

The novelist and nature lover T C Boyle tells us about delicious dodos, angry tigers, snakes on planes and why Viagra saves rhinos.

    The best books on The Sea, recommended by Denise Russell

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    The best books on The Sea - Cod by Mark Kurlansky

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    Cod
    by Mark Kurlansky

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    The best books on The Sea - Dangerous Waters by John S Burnett

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    Dangerous Waters
    by John S Burnett

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    The best books on The Sea - The Whale Warriors by Peter Heller

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    The Whale Warriors
    by Peter Heller

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    The best books on The Sea - Outcasts of the Islands by Sebastian Hope

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    Outcasts of the Islands
    by Sebastian Hope

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    The best books on The Sea - The Unnatural History of the Sea by Callum Roberts

    5

    The Unnatural History of the Sea
    by Callum Roberts

The best books on The Sea, recommended by Denise Russell

The Australian environmental philosopher discusses man’s interaction with the oceans – from whaling voyages and dynamite fishing to sea gypsies and the flourishing business of piracy

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We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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