Eugene P. Odum (1913–2002)

L'Autore qui presenta i concetti basilari dell'Ecologia scientifica e le loro sfaccettature applicative con apprezzabile approfondimento ed un ottimo equilibrio delle parti trattate. Ciò rende il testo un prezioso strumento didattico per l'Università, soprattutto per la presenza di numerosi esempi tratti dalle più recenti ricerche sia sperimentali che modellistiche. Il tipo di approccio alla materia ecologica di E.P. Odum, già ben noto al pubblico italiano, viene riproposto anche in show more questa edizione che rappresenta una radicale revisione, fortemente aggiornata. L'Autore in questo caso pone attenzione anche all'aspetto evoluzionistico dell'Ecologia e Socio-economia. Il testo appare, pertanto, un importante punto di riferimento non solo per gli studiosi di scienze ambientali, ma anche per tutti coloro che, sempre più numerosi, si interessano di ambiente e che quindi ritengono, per la loro preparazione, di dover possedere delle "basi di ecologia". show less

Ecology: A Bridge between Science and Society

ANNOTATION
Topics incl. the life-support environment, levels of organization, the ecosystem, energetics, community ecology.
Reviewer: A reader
Eugene Odum was the first person to put together plant and animal ecology in a satisfying synthesis, in his Fundamentals of Ecology of 1953.That could have remained the prime textbook for the past five decades, but he eventually tired of producing new editions. Also, he was keen to reach a wider audience, show more and this is the latest version of the more accessible book that he wrote for the general reader. Two things in particular make the book special. First, Odum focuses on the whole living planet, working down to the level of the individual organisms and populations; most ecology textbooks work from the bottom up, giving a fragmentary view of the overall situation. Second, Odum is almost alone among ecologists in integrating humans completely into his account. The result is a clear and readable book with an urgent and important message for all of us who share the earth. show less

In about 150 pages the author provides a thorough foundation of the principles of ecology in a step by step fashion. With this many pages there isn't room to go into detail on many specific cases as examples so the book has to stick to basics. Still, this is a good introduction to the interdependency of living things and also the complexity of life and communities .

The expanded second edition includes important new chapters on ecosystem energetics and biogeochemical cycling written by H.T. Odum.. After these early collaborative projects, the Odums pursued largely independent careers and rarely co-authored publications. Nonetheless, their interests in ecosystems continued to intertwine, and although H.T. did not directly contribute to later editions of Fundamentals of Ecology, his important contributions to a theoretical systems ecology continued to show more inform his brother’s highly influential textbook. The symbiotic relationship between the Odum brothers was recognized later in their careers when they were jointly awarded the Prix de l’Insitut de la Vie in 1975 by the French government and the 1987 Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Source: www.oxfordbibliographies.com/ show less