Review by C.J. Bunce
If you’re thinking about how you can change the world for the better in 2019, one step in the right direction would be reading writer/artist Rachel Ignotofsky‘s latest science book, The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth: Understanding Our World and Ecosystems, an easy to understand guide to the elements of science that converge to tell us about the inter-relationships of all life on Earth. Ecosystems and organisms, wastelands to deserts and the oceans, from lichen to predators, with some -isms to learn or re-learn (like commensalism and mutualism), concepts you might learn in grade school natural science and geography, high school biology, and college geology and environmental studies. In a word, it’s what everyone should know about Earth’s ecology.
One of my own proudest achievements was belonging to my grade school’s ecology club between 1975 and 1982, learning about the natural world, planting trees, and making the area better for wildlife. Many concepts I learned then and supplemented in junior high, high school, and college, are peppered throughout this brightly illustrated volume. Readers will examine some benefits of particular ecosystems (and threats to them), including the Redwood Forest, the Mangrove Swamp, the Mojave Desert, the Amazon Rainforest, the Atacama Desert, the Pampas, the Andes, the British Moors, the Alps, the Siberian Taiga, the Mongolian Steppe, the Himalayan mountains, the Congo rainforests, the Savannas, the Sahara, the Great Barrier Reef, the Tundra, and more. The classification of lifeforms and cycles of life are detailed, including the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the phosphorous cycle, the water cycle, and plant cycle. Deforestation, invasive species, desertification, and pollution are identified as just some of the threats the Earth faces.
Writer/artists Rachel Ignotofsky offers through her unique style charts, diagrams, and pictures, all as explanations of how the world’s piece parts interplay to create the global ecosystem. Key to all of it is how humans can act to protect the planet.
Take a look at this preview of ten pages from Ignotofsky’s book, courtesy of Ten Speed Press:
The book includes sources, resources, and places for further information, and a glossary. Ignotofsky also wrote the popular books Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World, and Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win.
I could identify page after page of particular data points I recall from different points in my education, so this book will be a good refresher for some. And it’s a great introduction for kids from K-12 or adults who may not have learned this information before. The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth: Understanding Our World and Ecosystems is perfect as a text for your school’s ecology club, for a book club, and for anyone interested in natural science. It is available now here at Amazon from Ten Speed Press.
