Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

Driver TS. and Chapman GP. (eds.). 1996. Time-scales and Environmental Change. Routledge. pp xii + 275. ISBN 0 415 13253 1L15.99.

Of all the concepts mentioned in ecology texts, time must be one of the most implicitly and least explicitly, discussed. A further complication is added when one considers the concept of the timescale where long-term ranges from the politicians' few years to the geologists' few million! Add to this the problems that could result from a misunderstanding of the role of time in environmental cycles and you have an idea of the thesis for this text. Leaving aside introductory and closing chapters, the editors have assembled 10 cases where time has different meanings. As one might expect, cases come from diverse backgrounds: tropics, archaeology, global warming, politics and media, soil erosion, W. Africa, economics and India. What these have in common is time; what they have in contrast is timescale. They also share a common link in human reaction to their particular timeframe. As one might expect, the editors conclude with a call to consider alternative timescales in the analysis and interpretation of environmental events.

Although time agects everybody this is a more advanced text better suited to an undergraduate audience. It is a refreshing perspective which puts forward a number of ideas that one has often considered but not taken flu-ther. As such, this text deserves a wide readership.