Embracing Earth: New Views of Our Changing Planet

Stevens, Payson R.,Kelley, Kevin W.

ISBN 10: 0811801357 / ISBN 13: 9780811801355

Published by Chronicle Books Llc, 1992

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Embracing Earth: New Views of Our Changing Planet
• Publisher: Chronicle Books Llc
• Publication Date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0811801357
• ISBN 13: 9780811801355
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Detailed, informative captions accompany stunning computer-enhanced satellite images (some double-page, i.e. 20x28") that capture both Earth's natural rhythms (e.g. the changing contours of the land, the perpetual movement of the oceans' waters, the shifting global winds, the seasonal fluctuations of the polar ice caps) and humanity's disruption of these rhythms (e.g. global deforestation, the hole in the ozone layer, increasing desertification, the disastrous environmental consequences of the Gulf War). Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Reviews

A holistic picture book, Embracing Earth was brought to birth by artist and producer Kelley, known for his best-selling Home Planet ( LJ 11/1/88), and Stevens, consultant to NASA on Mission to Planet Earth. Using computer-enhanced satellite images, the authors aim to stimulate our ability to see connections and patterns. Their book speaks of the power of earth's forces and the variety, harmony, and time scales of its biorhythms. In a separate section, it documents humanity's negative impacts on the home planet: the spreading desertification of Africa, the clear-cutting of South American rain forests, and the rapid growth of the ozone hole. Scattered quotations and short articles serve as side dishes, but the photos are the meat, and it is therefore disappointing that the captions are not more informative. One of the book's most welcome elements is the use of small global maps locating the photo sites on the biosphere, but this device doesn't go far enough. The inclusion of scale and color bars as well as schematics identifying the photos' major features would have helped the audience and freed space for fuller explications. As it is, it's hard to identify any large readership for this book, beautiful and thought-provoking though it is.
- Linn Prentis, Milford, Pa.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.