Biological Environmental Science aims to be an introductory textbook for undergraduate students in environmental science. The book covers quite a range of areas, mainly various forms of pollution, but also global warming, biodiversity, population growth and environmental law. A strong point of the book is its extensive collections of references. In the preface the author claims that ‘the book utilizes the original research literature’. This is a rather fitting description, since it provides very little added value to this collection of references. In large parts the book reads as if the author had abstracted parts of the research literature, as well as applicable websites. Unfortunately these abstracts were not then connected into a coherent text. Basically the reader needs to consult the original literature in order to get any information.

The chapter on global warming, for example, contains a section on the effects of CO₂ and climate change on biological organisms. This section consists of four paragraphs listing references where the reader could find information on these, while lacking a detailed discussion of the actual effects. The reader therefore needs to consult the original literature in order to actually get the information one would expect from an undergraduate textbook. I therefore feel unable to recommend the book in any way.