fundamentals of fluvial geomorphology – by ro charlton

Book Reviews

Castles in the sand: What’s happening to

the New Zealand coast?

Raewyn Peart. Craig Potton Publishing,Nelson, 2009. 276 pp. ISBN 978-1-877517-00-6.

For New Zealanders wishing to take stock ofthe transformation of the coast over the lastdecade (particularly during the 2002–2007 realestate boom), the release of this book could notbe more timely. While some of these potentialreaders will be academics, the great majoritywill not; one of the remarkable achievements ofCastles in the Sand is that both groups will findmuch to savour. On the one hand, this is nocoffee table text: it provides an exhaustivelyresearched account of human activity on theNew Zealand coast, especially in the form ofcontemporary residential development. It isalso thoroughly referenced and conceptuallysophisticated. On the other hand, it would notbe out of place on many coffee tables: its logicalorganization into short chapters, and excep-tionally lavish production, will surely attractmany casual readers. Effective use is made onalmost every page of suitable illustrations,particularly archival and contemporary photo-graphs, and in combination they underscorejust what is at stake.nzg_1176_1 89..96

In reviewing this book, I was interested inpart in whether it is a successor to the landmarkmonograph, Morton et al.’s (1973) Seacoast inthe Seventies. As a statement on the effects ofdevelopment – particularly residential forms –it follows up on (and cites) many of the con-cerns of Morton et al., and provides expertdescription and analysis of what has unfoldedin the decades since these were voiced. Thissaid, there is less here for the coastal scientistthan was the case in Seacoast in the Seventies;whereas Morton et al. traversed the physicaland human worlds, Peart’s analysis is firmlyanchored in the latter (notwithstanding a

slightly grandiose promise in her opening sen-tence to ‘tell the story of the New Zealandcoast’, p. 10).The book is probably no worse forthis focus. Moreover, when consideration ofphysical processes is required, as in discussionof the risks coastal hazards pose to many ‘sandcastles’, the writing remains lucid.

The first three substantive chapters providea thorough overview of the natural and socialhistory of the New Zealand coast. This is avaluable contribution for the way it integratesmyriad secondary sources into a coherent nar-rative. For geographers, historians, sociologistsand others wishing to introduce first andsecond year undergraduates to human interac-tions with the coastal environment in NewZealand, there would be few better places tostart. Breathtaking photographs of remnantcoastal forest will no doubt assist in maintain-ing students’ attention. Appropriately, thissection is followed by a short chapter detailinghow and why so many New Zealand artistsand authors have been inspired by suchlandscapes.

At this point, one-quarter of the way throughthe book, Peart moves to examine the ‘castles’of the title, and the focus of her originalresearch. This begins with a thorough accountof the bach, including its evolution and even-tual replacement (in many instances) by themore elaborate and luxurious ‘coastal holidayhome’. As someone who has attempted to con-ceptualize this trend, I benefitted greatly fromPeart’s observations of the ways in whichcoastal developments have mirrored suburbanforms. While some bach settlements have beenliterally enveloped by suburban growth (e.g.as at the Whangaparoa Peninsula), the morecommon scenario has been for settlementsrelatively removed from urban centres to rep-licate the suburban trend of ‘a grid-like patternof sections where houses were widely set apartin long parallel roads’ (p. 188). The reasons for

New Zealand Geographer (2010) 66, 89–96

© 2010 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2010 The New Zealand Geographical Society

doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7939.2010.01176.x

this pattern, and its often deleterious effects onpublic interests in coastal landscapes and beachaccess, are clearly set out.

Many other important themes are canvassedin the eight chapters covering coastal develop-ment, and attempts to manage it. Readers willsurely appreciate the detailed and thoughtfulanalyses of so many recent controversies – fromseawall replacement at Waihi Beach to man-grove destruction and marina development atWhangamata; to dramatic construction projectsat Orewa (the Nautilus), Tutukaka (OceansResort) and Cable Bay (Crystal Waters).

These are accompanied by a clear editorialvoice – one that is strongly critical of muchdevelopment, particularly in terms of its visualimpacts. At times, this would have benefittedfrom greater consideration of the most signifi-cant constraint to achieving coastal landscapeprotection – the ‘brute reality’ of private own-ership of land. This said, a detailed section out-lining the growth of coastal reserves, theestablishment of the Hauraki Gulf MaritimePark and the Auckland Regional Park network,and Crown purchase of key coastal sites underformer Minister of Conservation Chris Carter,tellingly illustrates an effective solution: publicownership.

Reference

Morton J, Thorn D, Locker R (1973). Seacoast in theSeventies: The Future of the New Zealand Shore-line. Hodder & Stoughton, Auckland.

Damian CollinsDepartment of Earth and

Atmospheric SciencesUniversity of Alberta

Theories of economic development:

Linking theory to practice

James Rowe (ed.). Ashgate Publishing,Farnham, 2009. 375 pp. ISBN 97-0-7546-7305-7.

This book aims to provide the economic devel-opment profession with an up-to-date overviewof theoretical tools that can assist their work.Edited by James Rowe, an internationallyexperienced American practitioner and aca-demic, the book introduces different facets of

contemporary economic development bybringing together Anglophone experts on localeconomic development, economics, economicgeography, regional science, managementstudies and urban and regional planning. It ispositioned as the successor to Bingham et al.’sTheories of Local Economic Development: Per-spectives from across the Disciplines from 1993,a first comprehensive attempt to construct atheoretical base for the profession in theEnglish-speaking realm. The world has pro-foundly changed in almost two decades, thusthis book is timely. It is useful not only forpractitioners and policy makers searching forguidance, but also for academics, researchersand postgraduate students who share aninterest in economic development.

The book is organised in four parts. Rowe’sintroduction is an extensively referenced andpost-structuralist-inspired call for linking eco-nomic development theory and practice. Part 2attempts to define the discipline by tracing thehistory of subnational economic and spatialinterventions in the United States (MarkMiller, Edward Blakely), and reflecting onbarriers to translating theory into practice(Andrew Beer). Part 3, ‘theoretical concepts’,provides a wide-ranging overview of currentperspectives on local economic development,ranging from accounts of social capital, entre-preneurship, technology, clusters, firm location,universities and mediating institutions tosophisticated analyses of endogenous regionalgrowth and situated understandings of the pro-cesses constitutive of local economic develop-ment. Part 4, ‘theoretical frameworks’, usespost-structuralist insights to interpret economicdevelopment as pleasure (Michael Gunder)and a realm of stories and metaphors (JamesRowe).The editor’s final chapter endeavours tohighlight possibilities for developing alterna-tive theory by turning to the work of Frenchphilosopher Gilles Deleuze. While the mixof contributions makes broad and insightfulreading, there is unevenness in length betweenthe different parts of the book that makes onewonder about the relative comprehensivenessof the material presented. This publicationwould have also gained by providing corre-sponding introduction and conclusion chaptersas an aid to conceptually frame and relate thediverse range of papers.

Book Reviews90


If one disregards the occasionally ambitioustone behind the imperative of developing newtheory, the book’s key objective has largelybeen achieved. This is not only an outcome ofthe generally interesting content of the indi-vidual papers, but also the combined insightsgained by putting them into creative conversa-tion. Beer’s chapter 4, for example, highlightsthe fact that situated and context-sensitive localdevelopment knowledges (see Richard LeHeron’s chapter 5) such as a new endogenousdevelopment model (Robert Stimson andRoger Stough’s chapter 9) do not travel well inpolicy-making and practitioner circles. In con-trast, more readily digestible and appealingknowledge such as Michael Luger’s ideas onglobally competitive institutional configura-tions (chapter 6) circulate extensively partlybecause they satisfy our inherent need forenjoyment (Gunder’s chapter 14). The bookconveys a sense that there are many differentways of seeing, interpreting and acting in localeconomic worlds. However, it struggles at timesto explicitly acknowledge the constitutive roleof context. Another weakness is the editor’sstyle of resorting extensively to direct quotes, astrategy that impedes relating abstract litera-ture to common practice. There is also discur-sive tension between the editor’s recentlyacquired post-structural philosophical outlookand his practitioner’s impulse to seek clarity,effectiveness and success in local economicdevelopment. On the other hand, Rowe’s greatachievement lies in the fact that he could suc-cessfully draw together both well-known andperhaps slightly less visible experts for thisintellectual project.

In summary, this book provides an interest-ing selection of 16 papers that highlight thesheer variety of perspectives and frameworksavailable to economic policy maker and localdevelopment practitioner today. Despite theconceptual and stylistic shortcomings men-tioned, I would recommend this book to theintended audience. Economic development as amaturing profession, an arena for education aswell as an emerging academic discipline, needssignposts that can direct thinking and guideaction in a rapidly changing world. This bookcan act as one. To be more effective, however,it should be read alongside other texts thatprovide alternative accounts on economy and

interventions – for example, Andy Pike’s Het-erodoxy and the Governance of EconomicDevelopment (2004), and Ash Amin andJoanne Roberts’s Community, Economic Cre-ativity and Organization (2008). The resultingcreative dialogue will assist in developing thekind of nuanced, context-sensitive, imaginativeand challenging intellectual inquiry necessaryto match our unprecedented awareness ofglobal interdependencies, and to confront thepressing need for better reconciling economicand non-economic goals in the quest for moreliveable and sustainable regions, cities, com-munities and households.

Steffen WetzsteinSchool of Earth and Environment

The University of Western Australia

Ways of walking: Ethnography and

practice on foot

Tim Ingold and Jo Lee Vergunst (eds). AshgatePublishing Company, Farnham, 2008. 205 pp.ISBN 978-0-7546-7374-3.

The eclectic accounts of walking collated inWays of Walking illustrate how fundamentalmoving on foot is to human life. The content isengaging and varied. The reader is transported,chapter by chapter, to far-flung places in urbanand rural settings in the developed and devel-oping worlds. In a variety of circumstances, thesocial and cultural meanings of walking inpeople lives are examined. Economic changebrings about the renewal of a languishing reli-gious procession in an Andalusian village insouthern Spain, enabling local people to againwalk together through the streets, reproducinga sense of local identity and connection toplace. In Aberdeen, children create narrativeaccounts of Victorian life by participating inguided walks around city streets, and in theHimalayan mountains the fragility of the lifeworld of the Van Guggar people is portrayedthrough an account of their annual, month-longdescent on foot from alpine summer pasturesto forested foothills, accompanying milk buffa-loes and pack animals.

Walking is presented as repertoires of physi-cal, cognitive and social practices, performed in

Book Reviews 91


various ways in different contexts. For example,for Van Guggars, walking as a physical practicerequires perceiving the world through the eyesof a buffalo, and sharing space and a commonwalking speed with their animals as mountainroutes are negotiated. From a cultural perspec-tive, many of the social and practical skillsnecessary to maintain a pastoral life are expe-rienced and embodied by the children as theytake part in the walk of transhumance.

Dimensions of walking covered in thisdiverse collection extend from its more banalaspects to ways in which walking has inspiredor been represented in literature and art move-ments. Among the more mundane concerns,Vergunst discusses aspects of everyday walkingexperiences such as slipping, tripping andgetting lost, and uses these to illustrate howtaken for granted environmental knowledge isderived from tactile familiarity with textures,paths, surfaces, tempos and rhythms associatedwith walking. She explores the social relationsof walking as they are reflected in the pattern ofpaths produced and used in localities, and in theattentiveness of walkers to the presence, foot-steps and movements of their walking compan-ions. Elsewhere in the volume, the commonsocial practices of Scottish mountain walkinggroups are described, practices such as orient-ing and identifying landmarks, and sharingaccounts of past ascents. In contrast to theexplorations of everyday walking experiences,Raymond Lucas examines ways in whichwalking has been represented in literature andart.An architect, he uses drawings and a systemof notation from dance choreography, as well aswords to describe his experiences of the attr-actions and spectacles in and around a Tokyosubway station.

The features of walking observed and thedisciplinary orientations of authors are sovaried that each chapter elicits renewed curi-osity. Tim Edensor’s contribution, chapter 9,‘Walking through ruins’ is particularly capti-vating. It inspires an eagerness to put onwalking shoes and seek out ruins to clamberover and stumble through, to observe decayand renewal, and to relish the unexpected.What perishes and remains of ruins, the irregu-larity of walking surfaces and the surprise ofseeing plants and animals colonising onceformal, peopled spaces are contrasted to the

sanitised, smooth-surfaced and highly regu-lated walking experiences in many urbanpublic spaces. He argues that the senses arealert in the ruins, but dulled in manicuredwalking spaces.

Fascinating comparisons are also made inchapter 4 by Thomas Widlok between indig-enous people’s meanings of place and that of‘confluencers’ who define the same spot on theglobe as a point where full degrees of latitudeand longitude intersect. This curious group ofadventurers set out, often on foot, with mapand GPS, to document what exists at such aplace, sometimes making return visits to buildan understanding of environmental change.Widlok reflects on commonalities and differ-ences in understandings of place and muses onaspects of the confluencer’s aspirations andpractice that resemble colonising processes. ANamibian example of roads and cartographicgrids being used to control and disrupt thewalking practices of indigenous people illus-trates his analysis.

Although rising obesity rates and alarmingclimate change scenarios provide powerfulrationales for observing the social and culturalmeaning of walking in regions where cardependency levels are high, the authors do notengage directly with these issues. There areseveral ideas relating to urban design thatcould be drawn on to entice urban dwellers towalk more in their everyday lives. Enchant-ment engineering and pedestrian empower-ment are two such notions introduced by SoniaLavadinho and Yves Winkin, and illustratedwith examples from Geneva of pocket parksthat offer momentary enchantment for walkers,pop up installations in urbanscapes, waterfrontrevitalisation and shared transport modespaces.The contrasts drawn between walking inruins, and manicured and placeless urbanspaces mentioned earlier also suggest possibili-ties for adding pleasure and surprise to leisurewalking experiences.

This is a fascinating book that will heightenthe reader’s awareness of walking practices –their own as well as others.

Karen WittenCentre for Social and Health Outcomes

Research and EvaluationMassey University

Book Reviews92


Fundamentals of fluvial geomorphology

Ro Charlton. Routledge, Abingdon, 2008. 234pp. ISBN 978-0-415-33454-9.

This book contributes to the ‘Fundamentalsof . . . ’ series published by Routledge. Theauthor aims the text at ‘junior undergraduatesof geography and related disciplines’, as well asproviding supporting material for more seniorundergraduates to improve understanding ofadvanced texts and journal articles. In a NewZealand context, this really places the text atsecond year undergraduate level. It does a verygood job at bridging the gap between the intro-ductory first year textbooks and the moreadvanced texts in the subject. One of thestrengths of Charlton’s book is its broad inter-pretation of fluvial geomorphology. Its focus isnot confined to the river channel, but looks alsoto hydrology, hillslope processes and large-scale sediment transfers within the river catch-ment. This is vital to properly and thoroughlyunderstand river processes, and is entirelyappropriate in a text at this level.

The text covers the subject in 10 chapters,which are structured logically and fit togethersystematically. The first briefly introducesfluvial form, which eases the second yearstudent into the topic, effectively revisingwhat’s been covered at first year. A more sub-stantial, but possibly still revisionary chaptercovers the fluvial system. These openingchapters provide a clear, thorough con-ceptual underpinning of fluvial geomorphol-ogy. Chapter 3 introduces hydrology andconsiders flow generation, flow regime, stream-flow measurement and floods.This is not meantto provide a full treatise on hydrology, but pro-vides useful background information relevantto the student encountering fluvial geomor-phology. Having considered the generation offlow in river channels, chapter 4 considers howsediment is sourced from the catchment,including a summary of mass wasting and watererosion.This leads into chapter 5’s discussion oflarge-scale sediment transfers and most of thischapter on sediment yield. Chapter 6 brings thefocus to the river channel where flow and sedi-ment interact. An excellent job is done inexplaining the complexities of flow hydraulicsin this chapter on flow in channels. Processes of

erosion, transport and deposition, conditionedby the flow properties discussed in the previouschapter then follow in chapter 7. The interac-tion of these processes condition channel formand behaviour, and chapter 8 also includessome spectacular colour imagery. It is a pitythese images are not better integrated with thetext, but presumably that is a publisher’s deci-sion and a means of keeping costs down.Acknowledging that channel-forming variableschange over time, chapter 9 considers systemresponse to change, both natural and anthropo-genic; the latter leads into the final chapterintroducing river management.

Each chapter is clearly written and illus-trated, as well as being augmented with techni-cal boxes which include details on parametermeasurement, technical concepts or casestudies. This is a neat and succinct approach tocover complex details without disrupting themain flow of the chapter. Each chapter beginswith an outline of its content and concludeswith a summary, reinforcing the topics covered.Further reading relevant to the chapter contentis also provided. Charlton has classified thisreading into ‘introductory’,‘advanced’,‘classics’and ‘techniques’, as well as referring to somekey journal literature as appropriate. Thisallows the more advanced student to delvefurther into the subject at hand, or the stillunsure student to know where to turn for someremedial help. Some websites are also listed,together with a brief explanation of what thestudent will find there. This all makes for a veryaccessible and student-friendly textbook. Inevi-tably,many of the examples and illustrations aredrawn from the Northern Hemisphere;however, it is heartening to see that one of thecited advanced texts for further reading is Bri-erley and Fryirs’ Geomorphology and RiverManagement (2004), and New Zealand’s Waim-akariri and Hokitika Rivers get a mention.

A holistic understanding of the river catch-ment operating as a discrete entity, with itsvarious components linked together to varyingdegrees at different spatial and temporal scales,is greatly needed among our future river man-agers. This textbook helps pave the waytowards this. I highly recommend Fundamen-tals of Fluvial Geomorphology to all secondyear students studying this subject, and allcolleagues teaching fluvial geomorphology in

Book Reviews 93


some form at that level. I already use it as atextbook for my own second year paper onRivers and Slopes, and it has been well receivedby students who appreciate its clarity.

Ian FullerGeography Programme

Massey University

Coastal systems

Simon K. Haslett. 2nd edition. Routledge,Abingdon,2009.216 pp. ISBN 10 0-415-44060-2.

In the second edition of Coastal Systems forthe Routledge ‘Introductions to EnvironmentSeries’, Simon Haslett focuses on increasing theappeal of the book to the next generation ofcoastal science students by updating theexamples, as well as the literature base. Thebook does not contain any extensive changes,and its basic strengths and weaknesses are notaltered from the first edition.

Coastal Systems is a highly accessible bookfor entry-level undergraduate students.At leastpart of that accessibility is attributable to a stylein which the emphasis is mainly descriptive. Forinstance, the first chapter contains a broadoverview of concepts relating to coastalsystems, rather than a detailed consideration ofmorphodynamics following the work of Wrightand Thom (1977) and others.

Chapters 2–4 provide a consistent structurein which the dominance of waves, tides andrivers is explored. One of the more significantchanges in the book is in the chapter on wave-dominated coasts, in which Haslett placesincreased emphasis on the role of catastrophicevents, particularly tsunami. There is contro-versy in respect to some of this research, butHaslett’s treatment of the material is generallywell balanced. A new case study on the IndianOcean tsunami has been added and providescontext to students wishing to consider the roleof catastrophic events on coastal evolution.Haslett notes that the combined impacts of thetsunami and co-seismic subsidence resulted incoastal retreat, with beaches reforming locally.

Interestingly, the chapter on sea level followsthose concerned with waves, tides and rivers. In

a new concluding chapter, Haslett argues thatafter many years of teaching the subject, he hasfound that it is difficult for students to appreci-ate the significance of sea level without firstbeing introduced to coastal landforms and pro-cesses. He further points out that a consider-ation of sea-level change naturally leads intocoastal management issues, which is the finalchapter. This structure works for CoastalSystems. More could perhaps have been doneto contextualise Quaternary sea-level move-ments in respect to modern coastal change(Harvey 2002), but other aspects of sea-levelchapter are quite successful, including a consid-eration of future possible impacts under themost recent IPCC scenarios.

Consistent with the intention of the book,chapter 6 provides a broad overview of a rangeof coastal management issues without treatingany examples in great detail. In this chapter, asthroughout much of the book, the diagrams andphotos are from the UK, France and Australia.Throughout the book, there are a large numberof diagrams reproduced from the text of Briggset al. (1997).

Coastal Systems is a well-written book witha useful index and glossary. The referencing isadequate, and further readings are suggestedin a graduated style that will appeal to stu-dents. Coastal Systems will continue to serveits purpose in providing first and second yearundergraduate students with a very accessibleintroductory text. The second edition has fewmajor changes, but accessibility to studentswill be modestly improved by the addition ofa very brief concluding chapter, as well asseveral updates to the interesting boxedexamples.

References

Briggs D, Smithson P, Addison K, Atkinson K (1997).Fundamentals of the Physical Environment.Routledge, London.

Harvey N (2002). Book review: Coastal systems.Progress in Physical Geography 26, 155–6.

Wright LD, Thom BG (1977). Coastal depositionallandforms: A morphodynamic approach.Progress in Physical Geography 1, 412–59.

Mark DicksonSchool of Environment

The University of Auckland

Book Reviews94


Encounter earth. Interactive

geoscience explorations

Steve Kluge. Prentice Hall, Upper SaddleRiver, NJ, 2009. 65 pp. ISBN 978-0-321-58129-7.

This book is designed as an assignment supple-ment to accompany introductory courses inPhysical Geography and/or Geology. It contains20 interactive exercises which use Google Earthto explore a variety of subjects including glacia-tion, plate tectonics, volcanism, structuralgeology and natural hazards. Google Earth is aninformative, accessible and visually spectacularprogram. It is free to download, functional andeasy to use. This supplement also highlights theprogram’s real potential as an educational tool.Students can fly around landscapes in 3D, zoomin on specific landforms or zoom out to gain anoverview of an area. Best of all, students canaccess this program from anywhere and are nottied to a specific computer lab.

As an interactive use of Google Earth as alearning aide, Encounter Earth has some excel-lent features. Students access resources via awebsite, and the procedure to upload the .kmzfiles is simple and effective. Visually, the land-scapes are impressive, and some of the exer-cises are really engaging. The 3D terrain bringsthe study areas to life, and this combined withthe use of topographical and geologic mapoverlays allows interesting analysis.When used,the placemark balloons, accompanying photo-graphs and associated web links work well. Allthe exercises and worksheets are convenientlyavailable in both the provided workbook andonline.

Despite its potential, Encounter Earth hasseveral limitations.The exercises are essentiallya list of instructions with associated questions.There is little attempt to explain the rationalebehind the questions, and in some cases thislack of clear objectives becomes frustrating. Itwould make more sense to explain the purposeof each exercise at the outset so that studentsunderstand what they are doing or workingtowards. Unless they read through each exer-cise thoroughly before they start, students arelikely to have to go back and revisit parts of theexercise to answer later questions.

Some of the exercises are done very well andcontain lots of information in placemarks, dia-

grams, photos and even video. In contrast,many of the other exercises, particularly theearly ones, lack context. For example, in ‘exer-cise 2’ you are directed to the landscape ofGrand Canyon. This and subsequent imagesprovide real opportunities for students toengage with this amazing landscape and theprocesses that shaped it, and yet there is nocontext provided. Instead, they simply measurecontour lines. More context would make theexercises more interesting and effective.

The exercises have been designed to accom-pany a series of lectures, and thus they assumeprior knowledge of numerous processes, land-scape features and geomorphic units. Thisapproach is somewhat limiting, and a comple-mentary textbook would be useful, allowingthe exercises to stand alone. Many of thequestions ask students to name specific land-forms and describe how they were created. Asthey are given no guidance in the text, theexercises should be viewed more as a test thana learning tool. More outlined objectiveswould also make this supplement easier toteach, and users must recognise that it reliesalmost entirely on examples from North andCentral America.

Some of the exercises would benefit frommore detailed instructions. Without tutorsupport, some students will likely find theseexercises difficult. While a brief introduction toGoogle Earth is included, the coverage isnarrow and does not contain all the functionsstudents are asked to use in the exercises. Amore comprehensive and logical introductionto using Google Earth would greatly enhancethe usefulness of this supplement.

The idea of having online grading for eachexercise is good. As an instructor, you can usethis function to create classes and keep track ofstudents’ marks. However, I was unable toenter any numerical-based answers into theonline worksheets, and although paragraphanswers could be entered easily, they were (forobvious reasons) unable to be marked by theprogram.Answers to the exercises are availableonline at the instructor resource centre.

The final limitation is that the images usedin Google Earth are continuously updatedas higher resolution ones become available.Unfortunately, this creates potential issues forusers. While testing the program, I was unable

Book Reviews 95


to complete a couple of the exercises becausethe current image was obviously different fromthat available when the questions were written.For example, in one exercise shadows now lieacross the landscape you are meant to beanalysing rendering it impossible to decipher.websites also change, and thus future issueswith web links are likely.

Despite these limitations, some exercises inEncounter Earth work really well and illustratethe great potential of Google Maps as a learn-ing tool. In ‘exercise 18’, students overlay the3D surface terrain with an opaque geologicalmap providing excellent opportunities toanalyse and understand the connectionsbetween rock type and the resultant landforms.In ‘exercise 19’, in what appears to be a veryapplicable use of the program, students useimages, maps, web links and quick time videosto investigate past and potential naturalhazards.

Encounter Earth is essentially a workbookthat would benefit from increased context andmore obvious learning objectives. Despite itslimitations, it has potential as an assignmentsupplement for courses in geology and geomor-phology, and importantly highlights the consid-erable opportunities of using interactiveprograms like Google Earth in the teachingof such courses.

Joe FaganSchool of Environment


An introduction to

sustainable development

Peter R. Rogers, Kazi F. Jalal and John A.Boyd. Earthscan, London, 2008. 416 pp. ISBN13:978-0-674-01964-5.

This introductory text is based on lectures usedat the Harvard Extension School. It has had thebenefit of contributions from staff of the WorldBank, and two of the main authors are formeremployees of the Asian Development Bank. In

addition, they have had contributions andadvice from others involved in developingcountries who have direct experience of theissues behind the urgent international need formore sustainable development.

The book is comprehensive in its coverage. Itintroduces the topic and the multitude of viewsthat accompany the concept and understandingof sustainability. It looks at the options forimplementation, and their advantages and dis-advantages. The book then outlines the keyenvironmental issues in their social context.The next section covers tools that managersand governments can use to measure progressand the severity of problems. Such tools includeindicators, assessments and environmentalmanagement policies and legislation.

The book then moves to consider social poli-cies and then to economics. This latter sectioncovers a range of approaches and does coverboth the conventional approach, as well asexternalities, valuation and even naturalresource accounting. Given the background ofthe authors, it is not surprising that there is achapter looking at the role of internationalfinancial institutions. Then, the authors look atthe vexed issue of international cooperationbefore finally considering whether there is afuture possibility of a sustainable world. Thebook ends with an extensive reference list.

The book is as it states – an introduction.Thetopic is enormous, and the authors do a crediblejob of introducing the important issues andoptions. The book is peppered with a wealth ofexamples that clearly illustrate issues, problemsand solutions. Inevitably, there is a compromisebetween depth and breadth of understanding,and for those with some knowledge there is afrustration at the conciseness of sections andexamples. Despite these quibbles, the book is avaluable text for introducing an important andrapidly evolving concept. Regardless of thelevel prior expertise, students and teachers ofsustainable development will find value inthis book.

John L. CraigSchool of Environment


Book Reviews96


fundamentals of fluvial geomorphology – by ro charlton

Documents