Ecology
by Michael L. Cain, William D. Bowman, and Sally D. Hacker, 2008

The dynamic, interdisciplinary nature of ecology, as well as its wealth of concepts, can make the subject difficult to grasp. This college-level text by Bill Bowman and colleagues balances subject matter emphasis, clearly presented concepts, and examples. The book reminds students of connections among levels of the ecological hierarchy and uses evolution as a unifying theme. Rumor has it that a local student raved, “the only ecology book that doesn’t suck!”

 

Antarctica: Secrets of the southern continent
by David McGonigal et al., 2008

McGonigal, a travel writer who has made more than 100 trips to polar regions, coordinated a team of writers and scientists to produce this large-format, sumptuously illustrated volume on Antarctic geography, ecology, wildlife, science, and exploration. An entry details the International Polar Year 2007-2008.

 

Communicating science: A primer for working with media
by Holly Menninger and Robert Gropp, 2008

This slim guide is the best (only?) book targeted at improving the way that scientists approach the media. This should be required reading for anyone talking to the public—especially those who feel that research results speak for themselves.

 

Compositional data analysis in the geosciences: From theory to practice
edited by A. Buccianti, et al., 2006

Statistics is expected to give sense to our perception of the natural scale of data, and this is made possible for compositional data using logratios. This book outlines the logratio approach, building on the idea of the “natural geometry” of the sample space.

 

Climate change impacts for the conterminous USA: An integrated assessment
edited by Norman Rosenberg and James Edmonds, 2005

A series of papers analyze current and future climate change impacts on agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, irrigation, and land use in the United States and the economic implications of these impacts using an integrated assessment methodology.