Humans have been writing about the environment for centuries, and the environment has figured prominently as a theme in both Western and Eastern philosophies. Books about or featuring the environment as a prominent theme have proliferated especially since the middle of the twentieth century. The rise of environmental science, which has encouraged interdisciplinary approaches to studying the environment, and the environmental movement, which has increased public and political awareness of humanity's impact on the environment, have been highly influential. The 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring has been regarded as particularly important in popularizing environmental science and helping to launch the modern environmental movement.[1] The emergence of the environmental humanities, including fields like environmental history, has also been important in bridging divides between the sciences and humanities and encouraging further interdisciplinary approaches. The environment also features prominently in much fictional literature.
This page is a list of environmental books. In this context they are notable books that feature the environment as a major theme, including human impacts on the environment.
Non-fiction environmental books
Non-fiction accounts are ones that are presented as factual, although often in the context of subjective argument. Non-fiction environmental books may, for example, be the products of scholarly or journalistic work. The books in this list include fields and styles such as anthropology, conservation science, ecology, environmental history, lifestyle, and memoirs.
Fiction environmental books
Fiction environmental books feature the environment as a prominent theme. Books in this list include fields such as children's literature, eco-fiction, fantasy, and science fiction.
Title | Author(s) | Year(s) | Theme(s) | ISBN(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
American War | Omar El Akkad | 2017 | Climate change | ISBN 978-1-5098-5220-8 |
Antarctica | Kim Stanley Robinson | 1997 | Nature conservation | ISBN 0-00-225359-3 |
The Appeal | John Grisham | 2008 | Pollution: water pollution | ISBN 978-0-385-51504-7 |
The Back of the Turtle | Thomas King | 2014 | Defoliants | ISBN 978-1-4434-3162-0 |
Blockade | Derek Hansen | 1998 | Logging | ISBN 0-7322-6466-9 |
Caballero: A Historical Novel | Jovita Gonzalez and Eve Raleigh | 1996 | borderlands | ISBN 978-0-89096-700-3 |
The Caretaker Trilogy (series) | David Klass | 2006; 2008; 2009 | Nature conservation | ISBN 978-0-374-32307-3 ISBN 978-0-374-32308-0 ISBN 978-0-374-32309-7 |
Carpentaria | Alexis Wright | 2006 | indigenous studies; Australia; settler colonialism | ISBN 978-1439157848 |
Coal | Audre Lorde | 1976 | poetry collection | ISBN 978-0393044393 |
The Cool War | Frederik Pohl | 1981 | Energy; fossil fuel depletion | ISBN 0-394-29383-5 |
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead | Olga Tokarczuk | 2009 | Animal welfare; hunting | ISBN 978-83-08-04398-1 |
Earth Abides | George R. Stewart | 1949 | Disease and population | ISBN 9780345487131 |
The Earthquake in Chile | Heinrich von Kleist | 1807 | Earthquakes | |
Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston | Ernest Callenbach | 1975 | Various themes | ISBN 0-553-34847-7 |
Ecotopia Emerging | Ernest Callenbach | 1981 | Various themes | ISBN 0-9604320-3-5 |
Flight Behavior | Barbara Kingsolver | 2012 | Climate change | ISBN 978-0-06-212427-2 |
The Forgotten Enemy | Arthur C. Clarke | 1949 | Climate change | |
Freedom | Jonathan Franzen | 2010 | Various themes | ISBN 0-374-15846-0 |
A Friend of the Earth | T. Coraghessan Boyle | 2000 | Various themes | ISBN 0-670-89177-0 |
The Green Brain | Frank Herbert | 1966 | Ecosystems: insects almost extinguished | OCLC 476046923 |
Hoot | Carl Hiaasen | 2002 | Wildlife conservation | ISBN 0-330-41529-8 |
The Hungry Tide | Amitav Ghosh | 2004 | South Asia; environmental transformation | ISBN 0-00-714178-5 |
Ishmael | Daniel Quinn | 1992 | Human-animal relations; sustainability | ISBN 0-553-07875-5 |
The Last Man | Mary Shelley | 1826 | Pandemic; global catastrophic risk | |
The Lorax | Dr. Seuss | 1971 | Various themes | ISBN 0-394-82337-0 |
MaddAddam | Margaret Atwood | 2013 | Climate change; ecological degradation | ISBN 0-77100-846-5 |
Make Room! Make Room! | Harry Harrison | 1966 | Population | ISBN 978-0-7653-1885-5 |
The Marrow Thieves | Cherie Dimaline | 2017 | indigenous studies; climate change | ISBN 978-1770864863 |
The Mockery Bird | Gerald Durrell | 1981 | Symbiosis and Lazarus taxa | ISBN 978-0-671-44131-9 |
The Monkey Wrench Gang | Edward Abbey | 1975 | Eco-terrorism | ISBN 0-397-01084-2 |
Mother of Storms | John Barnes | 1994 | Climate change: giant hurricane caused by nuclear explosion | ISBN 0-312-85560-5 |
Old MacDonald Had a Farm | Mike Resnick | 2001 | Genetically engineered animals | |
Oryx and Crake | Margaret Atwood | 2003 | Climate change; ecological degradation | ISBN 0-7710-0868-6 |
Parable of the Sower | Octavia Butler | 1993 | Ecological collapse; adaptation | ISBN 0-941423-99-9 |
Parable of the Talents | Octavia Butler | 1998 | Ecological collapse; adaptation | ISBN 1-888363-81-9 |
A Planet for the President | Alistair Beaton | 2004 | Various themes | ISBN 0-297-84776-7 |
Plume | Kathleen Flenniken | 2012 | Poetry collection | ISBN 978-0-295-99153-5 |
Process of Elimination | Carolyn Keene | 1998 | Mystery | ISBN 9780671007393 |
Prodigal Summer | Barbara Kingsolver | 2000 | ISBN 0-06-095903-7 | |
Rainforest | Jenny Diski | 1987 | ISBN 978-0-413-15910-6 | |
Salvage the Bones | Jesmyn Ward | 2011 | Environmental justice | ISBN 978-1-60819-522-0 |
So Far from God | Ana Castillo | 1993 | Environmental justice | ISBN 0-393-03490-9 |
State of Fear | Michael Crichton | 2004 | Various themes | ISBN 0-00-718159-0 |
Under the Feet of Jesus | Helena María Viramontes | 1995 | Environmental justice, Chicanx | ISBN 9780393326932 |
The Winter Vault | Anne Michaels | 2009 | dams; inundated landscape; Egypt | ISBN 978-0747598091 |
The Word for World Is Forest | Ursula K. Le Guin | 1972 | Colonialism | ISBN 0-399-11716-4 |
The Year of the Flood | Margaret Atwood | 2009 | Climate change; ecological degradation | ISBN 978-0-7475-8516-9 |
Zodiac | Neal Stephenson | 1988 | Toxic waste | ISBN 0-87113-181-1 |
See also
- Bibliography of sustainability
- Climate change in literature
- Earth Policy Institute#Books
- Eco-terrorism in fiction
- Environmentalism in The Lord of the Rings
- List of American non-fiction environmental writers
- List of Australian environmental books
- List of books about energy issues
- List of books about nuclear issues
- List of books about renewable energy
- List of climate change books
- List of environmental issues
- List of environmental law reviews and journals
- List of environmental periodicals
- List of environmental reports
- List of environmental websites
- Lists of environmental publications
- Opposing Viewpoints series
- Risk#List of related books
References
- ↑ Griswold, Eliza (21 September 2012). "How 'Silent Spring' Ignited the Environmental Movement". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
External links
- Biology Library News: Best Sellers in Environmental Science
- eScholarship: Environmental Information Sources: Websites and Books
- H-Environment (H-Net, Humanities and Social Sciences Online)
- Natural Resources Library - Best Sellers in Environmental Studies, December 2006 - Present, As Compiled by YBP Library Services News