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Book Review: Introduction to coastal processes and geomorphology

standing of the relevant laws and provide a comprehensive overview of the links between these and environmental health. The detailed references to US issues and governmental reports do, however, bias the value of the book toward US markets. The standard chapter format, intended to facilitate use of the book as a standard reference text, works well for the majority of the topic areas and the comprehensive index facilitates easy access to information without having to read the (hefty) volume from cover to cover. However, in places the rigid adherence to this presentation style results in a rather disjointed presentation of materials and significant repetition. For example, ‘global warming’ is first introduced and described on page 5. However, the process-based explanation for this phenomenon appears on page 49 (labelled as the ‘greenhouse effect’) following a very brief introduction to radiative and heat transfer processes. Surprisingly, the two sections are not explicitly cross-referenced in the text and the use of two different terms is misleading for novice readers. This could have been avoided by the judicious selection of case studies to illustrate points and more consistent cross-referencing. Throughout the book, Koren and Bisesi work from the basic premise that their readers have very little background understanding of the topic areas (or science in general) and attempt to develop the readers’ knowledge base to the level expected of a practicing Environmental Health Practitioner. The resulting tension between the space available (the book is already more than 800 pages long) and the level of detail required leads to patchy emphasis within the text. For example the authors avoid the use of the term ‘photosynthesis’ in describing the role of vegetation in carbon dioxide uptake (p. 50) whilst providing nine equations for chemical reactions in the atmosphere with little introduction and scarcely adequate definition of terms (p. 23). Given the ambitious scope of the book it is perhaps inevitable that this tension is also reflected in the balance between topic areas, with only a paragraph devoted to atmospheric motion whilst the environmental health issues of swimming areas are covered in detail over more than 40 pages. The book is largely factual in nature with minimal emphasis on process-based explanation. It contains little discussion or critical reflection of the material. Little consideration is given to the potential conflict between socioeconomic or political considerations that underpin legislative responses and their consequent impact on long-term environmental health and management. As such it is not well suited to meet the needs of advanced or specialist students. First published in 1979, and now meticulously updated in its fourth edition, the Handbook of environmental health is clearly a useful and important reference text. Its value lies in meeting the generalist needs of public interest groups, high school teachers, first year introductory undergraduate courses and, possibly, Environmental Health Practitioners primarily working in the USA.