Amospheric Environment. Pergamon Press 1968. Vol. 2, p. 191. Printed in Great Britain.

BOOK REVIEW

The Dirty Animal. HENRY STUL. Hawthorne, New York. 1967, pp. 298, $5.95

THERE is a story about an old priest who overheard a younger cleric who, for the tirst time, was hearing confession. After several of the faithful had received the ministrations of the neophyte priest. his senior walked in on him and remarked, “Father, you are not going to achieve real repentence until you learn to hear confessions with more ‘tut-tut’ and less ‘wow’.” The volume under review, a popular book on both air and water pollution with some extent discussion of soil pollution as well, struck this reviewer as being rather too much “WOW”.

Since the fields covered are virtually identical, the book invites comparison with the similar volume by JOHN PERRY, Our PoUed World, previously reviewed here (July, 1967). The styles are obviously different. PERRY’s is a highly personal work, while STILL does not appear in his volume at all. STEL’S book appears more scholarly, in the sense that far more names are cited, more instances given, and the index is distinctly longer.

Nevertheless. The Dirty Animal seems less satisfying. In the first place, there appears more emphasis on achievements in control than on the work still undone. As a result, the work is less pointed and more diffuse. The unsolved problems are not so lirmly hammered home.

There are at least a few outright errors of fact. The present reviewer sought, as one will, his own name in the index and was surprised to find it. Seeking out the passage in question, it turned out to be a reference to a conference held in Denver. Since the conference in question was held in Washington. one wonders how many other errors are tucked in which may be less obvious but of a more substantive nature. Certainly the unqualified endorsement of the Ruhrgenossenrchufren as a cure for stream pollution should raise eyebrows in a few quarters. What is nowhere stated is the fact that this arrange- ment, admirable as it is, has controlled pollution in major rivers at a cost of reducing a selected number of streams to open sewers.

A perusal of the list of names of individuals cited in the index also gives one an unhappy feeling. KENNETH HAHN is cited as the primary protagonist in the conflict between the Los Angeles Air Pollution Control District and the automakers of Detroit (on the side of the angels, that is). How important Mr. HAHN’S individual contribution may have been will have to await the judgment of history, but it is curious that the name of S. %TH Gatswou, is never mentioned at all. Neither is that of A. J. HAAGEN-SHIT. P. A. LEIGHTON is cited only in connection with a recent statement against the continuing indiscriminate use of fossil fuels. His scientific accomplishments are not mentioned, and he is incorrectly identified as affiliated with Stanford Research Institute. to which he is only an occasional consultant.

When one adds to the above points the presence of a substantial number of minor typographical errors, one concludes that the book, despite its unquestioned utility as a source of miscellaneous information, and particularly of some very apt quotations, misses the point in its overall impact. Those who are knowledgeable in the field can find in it a valuable source of quotable material. How- ever, the book cannot be recommended without qualification as a first primer on pollution for the iayman.

JAMES P. LODGE. JR.

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