Encyclopedia of Environmental Change

Gr 10 Up—This second edition of the Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Environmental Change (2001) has been expanded to more than 4,000 entries and 140 authors and aims to explain the terminology, concepts, techniques, methodology, and philosophy of environmental change. The volumes tackle the rapidly developing topic of environmental change as an interdisciplinary science. Not only are natural and physical science topics addressed but so, too, are subjects in social science and the humanities. For example, an entry on the collapse of civilizations references Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (W.W. Norton & Co., 1997). This approach is a highlight of the set and makes it useful to a wide variety of classroom subjects. Concise definitions or longer, in-depth articles are signed, there is extensive cross-referencing and bibliographic citations, and maps and diagrams accompany many entries. It should be noted that English rather than American spellings are used and most of the references are to materials published in Britain. Matthews states that this encyclopedia "is an advanced work of reference," and, considering the subject matter and the writing style, these volumes will be most useful to AP and IB students.—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel