The environmentalist's bookshelf : a guide to the best books /

This is a "guide to the best books. . .on nature and the environment, as determined by a questionnaire. . .sent to environmental leaders and experts around the world. The guide describes the 500 most recommended books, based on a tally of the responses, and provides selected quotes indicating why the respondents think a particular book is important or meaningful." Meridith's excellent annotated bibliography has six sections (Introduction, Top 40 Books, Core Books, Strongly Recommended Books, Other Recommended Books, Respondents to the Questionnaire), an appendix (Sources for Further Reference), and author, title, and subject indexes. Like most G.K. Hall bibliographies, this one has practical organization, clear page formatting, and indexing that is excellent and accurate. Indispensable for collection development and highly recommended for reference collections in college and university libraries. T. C. Trawick; Troy State University

To compile this guide to the 500 "best books" on the environment, the author sent out questionnaires to individuals connected with or concerned about this topic. He received 236 responses from prominent educators, scientists, authors, activists, and government officials. Based upon these responses, he selected and ranked items for this list. The guide is divided into four parts: the "Top 40 Books," "100 Core Books," 250 "Strongly Recommended Books," and 150 "Other Recommended Books." Brief biographies of the respondents to the questionnaire are followed by an essay on other bibliographies on the environment, as well as author, title, and subject indexes. The books listed were published from the turn of the century to 1990. The book selected by the largest number of respondents is Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac. Most titles are trade books that have a wide readership (e.g., Silent Spring, Small Is Beautiful, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek), but some university press and small press titles, government publications, and even a Dr. Seuss book are listed. All entries include the full bibliographic citation and an annotation with either a brief summary of the author's viewpoint or a quotation from several respondents about why they think the book is important. Annotations often cite one or two additional recommended related works. Bookshelf is a convenient item for academic and public libraries. Librarians will use it to evaluate their collections and for readers'-advisory work. (Reviewed Oct. 1, 1993)