Greening Princeton

Recommended books

Looking for something fun and educational to read?  Below is a list of good science books, compiled mostly by graduate students in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.  Enjoy!  


                See also the Nature Conservancy's suggestions.

General conservation	Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring McPhee, John.  The Control of Nature Thoreau, Henry David. Walden Ehrlich, Paul R. The Betrayal of Science and Reason Ehrlich, Paul R., Anne H. Ehrlich, and Gretchen C. Daily. The Stork and the Plow Palumbi, Stephen. The Evolution Explosion Levin, Simon A. Fragile Dominion: complexity and the commons
Biodiversity/endangered species	Quammen, David. The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions Wilson, E.O.  The Diversity of Life Adams, Douglas, and Mark Carwardine. Last Chance to See Buchmann, Stephen, Gary Paul Nabhan, and Paul Mirocha. The Forgotten Pollinators Strier, Karen. Faces in the Forest
Wildlife conservation	Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire
Ocean conservation	Kurlansky, Mark. Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World Steinbeck, John. The Log from the Sea of Cortez Safina, Carl. Song for the Blue Ocean Earle, Sylvia. Sea Change
Conservation and economics	Daily, Gretchen C. Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Profitable Hawken, Paul. The Ecology of Commerce Hawken, Paul, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins. Natural Capitalism Friedman, Thomas L. The Lexus and the Olive Tree: understanding globalization
Climate change	Flannery, Tim. The Weather Makers: how man is changing the climate and what it means for life on Earth Kolbert, Elizabeth. Fieldnotes from a Catastrophe Gore, Al.  An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
Sustainable food and agriculture	Pollan, Michael. The Botany of Desire An Omnivore’s Dilemma Nabhan, Gary. Conserving Migratory Pollinators and Nectar Corridors in Western North America Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Food Jackson, Wes. New Roots for Agriculture Altars of Unhewn Stone Jones, Stephen R. The Last Prairie: A Sandhills Journal Berry, Wendell.  Enduring Seeds: Native American agriculture and wild plant conservation Wuerthner, George. Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West Manning, Richard. Food’s Frontier: The Next Green Revolution Shiva, Vandana. Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply Conway, Gordon. The Doubly Green Revolution: Food for All in the Twenty-First Century Lappe, F.M. Diet for a Small Planet Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: the dark side of the all-American meal Lyman, Howard F. Mad Cowboy: plain truth from the cattle rancher who won’t eat meat
Sustainable development	Diamond, Jared. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed Reisner, Marc. Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water McDonough, William and Michael Braungart. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things Nabhan, Gary and Stephen Trimble. The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places Mcgirr, Lisa. Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right Chouinard, Yvon.  Let My People Go Surfing

While not a book, the Just the Tips, Man for Protecting the Environment is a great collection of ideas on living sustainably.  

Misc. biology	Wilson, E.O. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. Biophilia Vogel, Steven. Cats’ paws and catapults: mechanical worlds of nature and people Judson, Olivia. Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation Colinaux, Paul A. Why Big Fierce Animals are Rare: An Ecologist’s Perspective
Evolution	Weiner, Jonathan. The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man Wonderful Life Dawkins, Richard. The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution The Selfish Gene Darwin, Charles. The Various Contrivances by Which Orchids Are Fertilized by Insects Carroll, Sean B. Endless Forms Most Beautiful: the new science of Evo Devo and the making of the animal kingdom Mayr, Ernst. What Evolution Is Roughgarden, Joan. Evolution’s Rainbow Ridley, Matt. Genome Wilson, David Sloan. Darwin’s Cathedral
Natural history	Quammen, David. Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Nature and Science Wilson, E.O. Naturalist Corson, Trevor. Secret Life of Lobsters Nabhan, Gary. Gathering the Desert The Desert Smells Like Rain: a naturalist in O’Odham Country Cultures of Habitat: on nature, culture and story Chu, Miyoko. Songbird Journeys: four seasons in the lives of migratory birds Heinrich, Bernd. Mind of the Raven: investigations and adventures with wolf-birds Winter World: the ingenuity of animal survival The Hot-Blooded Insects: strategies and mechanisms of thermoregulation Bumblebee Economics Why We Run: a natural history A Year in the Maine Woods Nabhan, Gary. Gathering the Desert The Desert Smells Like Rain: a naturalist in O’Odham Country Cultures of Habitat: on nature, culture and story
Exploration	Flannery, Tim. The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples  The Future Eaters: an ecological history of the Australian lands and people McPhee, John.   Assembling California Basin and Range Rising from the Plains Oranges The Pine Barrens The Survival of the Birch Bark Canoe Lopez, Barry. Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape Stegner, Wallace.    Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Berry, Wendell.   The Unsettling of America The Gift of Good Land: further essays cultural & agricultural Home Economics Another Turn of the Crank Ehrlich, Gretel The Solace of Open Spaces The Future of Ice: A Journey into Cold Knight, Richard L. Ranching West of the 100th Meridian: Culture, Ecology and Economics Kummer, Hans. In Quest of the Sacred Baboon: A scientist’s journey Limerick, Patricia N. The Legacy of Conquest: the unbroken past of the American West Something in the Soil: legacies and reckonings in the New West Sagebrush Country: Land and the American West White, Richard and Patricia N. Limerick. The Frontier in American Culture White, Richard. “It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own”: a new history of the American West Lawson, John. A New Voyage to Carolina Cronon, William. Changes in the Land Ambrose, Stephen. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the opening of the American West Davis, Wade. One River Mann, Charles. 1491
Human nature and biology	Sapolsky, Robert. Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers A Primate’s Memoir: a neuroscientist’s unconventional life among the baboons The Trouble with Testosterone: And Other Essays on the Biology of the Human Predicament Wilson, E.O. On Human Nature Diamond, Jared. The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies de Waal, Frans B. M. Our Inner Ape Good Natured: The origins of right and wrong in humans and other animals Peacemaking Among Primates Chimpanzee Politics Ehrlich, Paul R.  Human Natures: Genes, Cultures and the Human Prospect Williams, Terry Tempest. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place The Open Space of Democracy Griffin, Donald R. Animal Minds: beyond cognition to consciousness The Question of Animal Awareness Davis, Mike. Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the imagination of disaster Sober, Eliot and David Sloan Wilson. Unto Others: the evolution and psychology of morality
Misc. science (and more)	Gleick, James. Chaos: The Making of a New Science Genius: the life and science of Richard Feynman Gell-Mann, Murray. The Quark and the Jaguar: adventures in the simple and the complex Strogatz, Steven. Sync: the emerging science of spontaneous order Wolke, Robert. What Einstein Told His Cook Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States Bryson, Bill. A Short History of Nearly Everything