Books
Some examples:
The Great Lead Water Pipe Disaster by
The history of a long-running environmental catastrophe chronicles the harmful effects of lead pipes and their continued use despite evidence that they pose a significant health risk. In The Great Lead Water Pipe Disaster, Werner Troesken looks at a long-running environmental and public health catastrophe: 150 years of lead pipes in local water systems and the associated sickness, premature death, political inaction, and social denial. The harmful effects of lead water pipes became apparent almost as soon as cities the world over began to install them. Doctors and scientists noted cases of acute illness and death attributable to lead in public water beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century, and an editorial in the New York Herald called for the city to study the matter after a bizarre illness made headlines in 1868. But officials took no action for many years. New York City, for example, did not take any steps to reduce lead levels in water until 1992, long after the most serious damage had been done. By then, in any case, much of the old lead pipe had been replaced with safer materials. Troesken examines the health effects of lead exposure, analyzing cases from New York City, Boston, and Glasgow and many smaller towns in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and England. He draws on period accounts, government reports, court decisions, and economic and demographic analysis to document the widespread nature of the problem, the recognized health effects--particularly for pregnant women and young children--and official intransigence. He presents an accessible overview of the old and new science of lead exposure--explaining, for example, why areas with soft water suffered more harmful effects than areas with hard water. And he gives us compelling and vivid accounts of the people and politics involved. The effects of lead in water continue to be felt; many older houses still have lead service pipes. The Great Lead Water Pipe Disaster is essential reading for understanding this past and ongoing public health problem.
ISBN: 9780262285179
Drinking Water by
This book takes a broad and eclectic view of the water that all humanity depends upon, probing its role in human life and in the history of our planet, as well as surveying the latest scientific understanding of purification techniques and standards for the protection of water quality. The volume opens with a chapter on the role of drinking water in human life, which discusses the planet's water resources, the quality of drinking water, water and health, the advent of water quality standards, "Green" chemistry and more. The chapter concludes by discussing the relationship of the biosphere and human civilization. Chapter Two explores the unique properties of water, the role of water in the scenario of development on Earth. Also covered is the current understanding of the importance of the isotopic composition of water, in particular the ratio of protium to deuterium, which is fundamental to life. The third chapter is devoted to Water Clusters, examining the structure, properties and formation of clusters. Also covered here is theoretical research on the interaction of water clusters with ozone, the impact of temperature on water clusters and more. Chapter Four is devoted to drinking water and factors affecting its quality. Discussion includes ecological and hygienic classification of centralized drinking water supply sources, water quality requirements, and problems and potentialities of drinking water preparation. The author introduces a new concept for supplying the population with high-quality drinking water. The fifth chapter examines the peculiarities and problems of water decontamination, with sections on chlorination, ozonation, the bactericidal effects of ultrasound and ultraviolet rays and more. Chapter Six offers a thorough exploration of the theory, means and methods of bio testing as an evaluation method for the quality of drinking water. The final chapter discusses new state standards for drinking water, as well as requirements and methods of quality control. The concluding selection relates the urgent need to measure, evaluate and protect the quality of drinking water and describes a new state standard of drinking water quality.
ISBN: 9783319043340Publication Date: 2014-07-08
The Poisoned City by
When the people of Flint, Michigan, turned on their faucets in April 2014, the water pouring out was poisoned with lead and other toxins. Through a series of disastrous decisions, the state government had switched the city's water supply to a source that corroded Flint's aging lead pipes. Complaints about the foul-smelling water were dismissed: the residents of Flint, mostly poor and African American, were not seen as credible, even in matters of their own lives. It took eighteen months of activism by city residents and a band of dogged outsiders to force the state to admit that the water was poisonous. By that time, twelve people had died and Flint's children had suffered irreparable harm. The long battle for accountability and a humane response to this man-made disaster has only just begun. In the first full account of this American tragedy, Anna Clark's The Poisoned City recounts the gripping story of Flint's poisoned water through the people who caused it, suffered from it, and exposed it. It is a chronicle of one town, but could also be about any American city, all made precarious by the neglect of infrastructure and the erosion of democratic decision making. Places like Flint are set up to fail--and for the people who live and work in them, the consequences can be fatal.
Call Number: Request from UMASS or Mt. HolyokeISBN: 9781250125149Publication Date: 2018-07-10
Freedom Farmers by
In May 1967, internationally renowned activist Fannie Lou Hamer purchased forty acres of land in the Mississippi Delta, launching the Freedom Farms Cooperative (FFC). A community-based rural and economic development project, FFC would grow to over 600 acres, offering a means for local sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and domestic workers to pursue community wellness, self-reliance, and political resistance. Life on the cooperative farm presented an alternative to the second wave of northern migration by African Americans--an opportunity to stay in the South, live off the land, and create a healthy community based upon building an alternative food system as a cooperative and collective effort. Freedom Farmers expands the historical narrative of the black freedom struggle to embrace the work, roles, and contributions of southern Black farmers and the organizations they formed. Whereas existing scholarship generally views agriculture as a site of oppression and exploitation of black people, this book reveals agriculture as a site of resistance and provides a historical foundation that adds meaning and context to current conversations around the resurgence of food justice/sovereignty movements in urban spaces like Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City, and New Orleans.
Call Number: Reserves E185.86 .W38756 2018ISBN: 9781469643694Publication Date: 2019-01-14
Braiding Sweetgrass by
Called the work of "a mesmerizing storyteller with deep compassion and memorable prose" (Publishers Weekly) and the book that, "anyone interested in natural history, botany, protecting nature, or Native American culture will love," by Library Journal, Braiding Sweetgrass is poised to be a classic of nature writing. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer asks questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces indigenous teachings that consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take "us on a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert). Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices.
Call Number: EbookISBN: 1571318712Publication Date: 2013-09-16
Library Catalogs and Book Resources
E-Books Full text:
Please note that the individual records for many of the e-books in the databases below are in the Five College Catalog. However, these collections provide the capability of searching the full-text of each book, whereas the Five College Catalog does not.
Springer E-books 1815+
More than 250,000 books published by Springer and its subsidiary imprints, covering every scientific discipline and some coverage of the social sciences & humanities. Includes access to Springer's Print on Demand Service (MyCopy)
Proquest E-Book Central
A very large collection of Ebooks, mostly scholarly, spanning the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
National Academies Press
Over 5,000 books on a variety topics in science, technology, and other disciplines. Books are free to download.
NLM Bookshelf
A significant selection of full-text books available from the National Library of Medicine.
Google Books 
Growing collection of books, some with complete full text online, others with only a small portion. Limited printing and downloading.
EBSCOhost eBook Collection
Full-text e-books on a broad range of reference, scholarly and professional topics.
Video: accessing HathiTrust e-books from the Smith Libraries catalog
Watch a short 4-minute video for detailed, step-by-step directions on accessing HathiTrust eBooks!
