REviewing REthinking REturning: Essays on Life, Ecology and Design

by Alan E. Wittbecker

This book reviews and recasts many popular ideas, using an ecological perspective, ecological design principles and ecological thought experiments.

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 8, 2006

Reviews

[Karl Gauss · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are very few short reviews in this book. Instead the author goes into extensive depth on each subject, often using the topic or book being reviewed as a foil to discuss the complex connections and impacts that need to be revealed and discussed to have any meaningful understanding of the topic. For instance, the section on the ecological responsibilities of corporations is a review of a brochure from a computer corporation; using the same metaphor as the brochure the author investigates what it means for a corporation to have such responsibilities and how the assumption of them might change corporate behavior for the better.

The Preface links the diversity of subjects together in a logical pattern. There are so many good ideas on incorporating the earth, defending the earth, deep ecology, and wilderness. I was surprised that this book won an Eppie as best Nonfiction on the Web in 2003. Rarely do these kinds of holistic ecological books get the recognition they deserve.