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This broad-ranging book presents the key concepts of environmental science in an accessible style that can be understood by those who are not natural scientists. It offers a way to improve environmental literacy-the capacity to understand the connections between humans and their environment.Unique in its breadth and simplicity, the book is also unusual in that it uses a "top-down" approach, starting with a global scale and proceeding to smaller units of organization until it reaches the individual organism. It is divided into four parts. The first introduces three core concepts-the environment, the system, and environmental hierarchies-and applies these ideas to the earth as a system. The second focuses on land and water systems, beginning with the whole earth and ending with the ecotope (small-scale systems in which we work, live, and play). The third section is concerned with populations and individuals. The final section builds up from individuals to the biotic community. The book ends with an overview of human ecology and with general conclusions about the conditions of the biosphere. The book, which includes a reading list for each topic, is ideal for the student or general reader interested in learning more about the environment and how to value it

METCO, America's longest-running voluntary school desegregation program, has for 34 years bused black children from Boston's city neighborhoods to predominantly white suburban schools. In contrast to the infamous violence and rage of forced school busing within the city in the 1970s, METCO has quietly and calmly promoted school integration. How has this program affected the lives of its graduates? Would they choose to participate if they had it to do over again? Would they place their own children on the bus to suburbia?Sixty-five METCO graduates vividly recall their own stories in this revealing book. Susan E. Eaton interviewed program participants who are now adults, asking them to assess the benefits and hardships of crossing racial and class lines on their way to school. Their answers poignantly show that this type of racial integration is not easy—they struggled to negotiate both black and white worlds, often feeling fully accepted in neither. Even so, nearly all the participants believe the long-term gains outweighed the costs and would choose a similar program for their own children—though not without conditions and apprehensions.Even as courts and policymakers today are forcing the abandonment of desegregation, educators warn that students are better prepared in schools that reflect our national diversity. This book offers an accessible and moving account of a rare program that, despite serious challenges, provides a practical remedy for the persistent inequalities in American education