Royston, Michael G.

RERO DOC Digital Library

328 Environmental ConservationTreatment of Industrial Effluents, Edited by A. G.CALLELY, C. F. FORSTER & D. A. STAFFORD.Hodder & Stoughton, London—Sydney—Auckland-Toronto: xii + 378 pp., figs & tables, 22.2 X 14 X2.5 cm, £7.95, 1977.It is a continual source of surprise that the well-worn paths of effluent treatment are so poorlydocumented. It is, therefore, particularly worth whileto be able to recommend a comprehensive and yetlow-cost publication which deals as effectively withthe general principles of effluent treatment as it doeswith specific techniques for individual industries.Thus, as well as concise monographs on the treatmentof wastes from paper-mills, dairies, petrochemicals,textiles, leather, farms, food factories, coke ovens,Pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, detergents, oil-spills,etc., there are good background papers on a widerange of physical, chemical, and biological, treatmentprocesses, and also detailed examinations of the manage-ment and legal aspects of pollution.Michael G. Royston(Nr Geneva, Switzerland)Beyond the Age of Waste, by D. GABOR & U. COLOMBOwith A. KIND & R. GALLI. (A Report to the Club ofRome.) Pergamon Press, Oxford—New York—Toronto—Syndey—Paris—Frankfurt: xviii + 237 pp., illustr.,tables, 21 X 14.8 X 1.4 cm, paperbound, $12.50,1978.This is a translation of the book published already inItalian. The Authors were members of a working partyappointed by the Executive Committee of the Club ofRome in 1973 'to identify areas in which progress ofscience and technology can increase Man's capacity toexploit and regenerate natural resources in order tosustain a satisfactory standard of living for the peopleof the world'—a world stated to be 'at a new andcritical stage' as a result of unprecedented populationgrowth and the accompanying crisis of oil and rawmaterials. Chapters are devoted to Energy, Materials,Food, and Climate; a final chapter summarizes theirmain conclusions and calls for 'more systematic andrational approaches to political and managerial prob-lems' in addition to the increased scientific and tech-nological research advocated in the preceding chapters.The conclusions reached in this wide-ranging studyare cautiously expressed and free from the exaggeratedpessimism or facile optimism that is sometimes to befound in books of this kind, e.g. (to quote from thechapter on Energy) 'fusion power cannot yet be con-sidered a source of energy for the future'; the harnessingof solar energy poses formidable difficulties; and thedevelopment of nuclear fission energy, although it repre-sents 'an unavoidable choice for the industrialized coun-tries', involves 'serious safety and security problems withrelated environmental effects.' Nevertheless, the Authorsexpress the belief that 'given adequate resources ...science and technology could provide adequate solutionsto the long-term energy problems on a world-wide basis.'The necessary choices should not, however, 'be made ina technocratic way,' and scientists and technologistshave a responsibility for educating governments andpublic opinion to a proper understanding of the issuesinvolved.Attention is paid in the book to the social and en-vironmental implications of technological development,and a statement by the Science Ministers of the Organi-zation for Economic Cooperation and Development isquoted to the effect that 'in future, technology mustbe socially acceptable.'No reasonable person would dispute these conclu-sions, but, as the Authors of the study themselvespoint out, 'one of the basic shortcomings of existingpolitical systems is the inability to tackle longer-termproblems,' and it remains to be seen whether humangreed and short-sightedness will permit mankind toadjust itself to the consequences of the populationexplosion in a rational manner and without catastrophe.The text is abundantly illustrated with diagrams etc.,although some of these are scarcely comprehensible tothe layman—such as Fig. 38 on page 119, in which,incidentally, gold is given a 'long-term average price'of USS 25 per ounce! The text suffers from numerousmisprints and other errors, reflecting no doubt a shor-tage of qualified proof-readers.Cecil E.King(London, United Kingdom)Environment, Planning, and the Multinational Corpora-tion, by THOMAS N. GLADWIN, Graduate School ofBusiness Administration, New York University, NewYork, and Centre d'Etudes Industrie lies, Geneva, Swit-zerland. Jai Press, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830:xix + 295 pp., 8 figs, 49 tables, 23.5 X 15.5 X 2.5 cm,US $23.50, 1977.Continued pressure from groups expressing concernfor the environment has prompted major changes in themanagement of multinational corporations. Industryhas responded in innovative ways to this added pressureto 'clean up', and has attempted to mould itself to pre-serve the character of its surroundings. Thomas Gladwinhas provided a unique insight and point-in-time descrip-tion of the state of integration of environmental con-cerns into the planning processes of multinational cor-porations (MNCs).The Author first provides a description of the currentstate of environmental planning of selected MNCs. Hethen establishes criteria which are statistically correlatedto provide a measure of what he terms 'ecological incor-poration'.Thomas Gladwin concludes that MNCs engage inecologically sound and socially desirable behaviourlargely as a result of external pressures. He suggeststhat it is essential for ecological issues to be consideredearly in the planning process.Environmentally oriented project-planning involvesthe integration of many activities, and commonly in-cludes the employment of professional environmentalscientists with specialized skills as well as the provisionof a forum for public participation. The Author con-cludes that, in addition to systemization, the bestplanning processes should also have some formal pro-visions for an environmental audit.https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892900003660Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 12:20:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

Book Review: Treatment of Industrial Effluents: Treatment of Industrial Effluents, Edited by CallelyA. G., ForsterC. F. & StaffordD. A.. Hodder & Stoughton, London-Sydney-Auckland-Toronto: xii + 378 pp., figs & tables, 22.2 × 14 × 2.5 cm, £7.95, 1977 --- Either ISSN or Journal title must be supplied

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

RERO DOC Digital Library