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Brower’s orientation to his subject is remi- niscent of Jane Jacob’s The Death and L1:fk of Great American Cities ( 196 1, Random House ) .

Planners, architects of city design, and those they have led along with them in their be- liefs are not consciously disdainful of the importance of knowing how things work. On the contrary, they have gone to great pains to learn what the saints and sages of modern orthodox planning have said about how cit- ies ought to work and what ought to be good for people and businesses in them. They take this with such devotion that when contra- dictory reality intrudes, threatening to shat- ter their dearly won learning, they shrug reality aside (p. 8 ).

Design in Familiar Places has a story to tell, and tells it well. However, it is not a source of firm design guidelines or hard social science. I

heartily recommend it to those both in and out of environmental design who are looking for an engaging presentation about learning to de- sign for strangers.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

A. Brookes, Channelized Rivers: Perspectives .ftir Environmental Management, Wiley, Chichester, 1988 (ISBN O-471-91979-9). 326 pp. Price g35.50.

Rivers and river banks are among the land- scape features most affected by human activ- ity. Their courses have been changed by man ever since he has existed. For many years flood control, agricultural land drainage, the im- provement of watercourses for navigation, and the defence of river banks and adjacent land

against erosion have been the main objectives of river engineering.

In recent years the high maintenance costs of projects set up without prior analysis of river dynamics, together with the obvious loss of ecological productivity and diversity in the watercourses affected. has called into question the feasibility of conventional methods of river engineering.

In spite of growing interest among a wide range of professionals in the study of the im- pact caused by watercourse projects, and pro- posals for design alternatives based on a mul- tidisciplinary approach, the information available and the work undertaken in this field are still widely dispersed.

As he states in his book (and this is borne out by his carefully compiled and exhaustive bibliography), A. Brookes attempts among other things to achieve a synthesis of the nu- merous studies and publications in the most diverse of fields: hydraulics and river geomor- phology, civil engineering, wildlife conserva- tion, freshwater biology. evaluation of envi- ronmental impact, etc.

The book is set out in five parts. In the first of these, “Introduction and Problem”, the au- thor defines what he means by channelized rivers. He establishes differences between Brit- ish and American terminology and goes on to introduce an historical analysis of man’s im- pact on rivers, based on examples in three countries: the U.S.A., the United Kingdom and Denmark. The first chapter ends with a gen- eral reference to the impact of channelization and the public debate stirred up by this type of project at the end of the 1960s.

In the second chapter of this first part Brookes describes conventional methods of river engineering. This description is on a gen- eral level and does not go into the theoretical basis or the technical details associated with these methods. For those he refers the reader to specialist textbooks in hydraulic engineering.

The second part, environmental legislation (Chapter III ), reflects the development of a le-

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gal framework for environmental questions stemming from public concern about the neg- ative effects of hydraulic projects. This over- view of the legislation should perhaps have paid greater attention to EEC directives and standards. This third chapter includes an anal- ysis of the methodologies proposed for consid- ering environmental and aesthetic factors in the evaluation and planning of river channeliza- tion projects.

The third part of the book, Chapters IV, V and VI, deals with the physical, ecological and downstream effects of channelization. In these chapters one can clearly see Brookes’ synthetic achievement. The reader is introduced to a profusion of examples and data regarding the effect of various watercourse channelization projects, all accompanied by a set of graphics and explanatory tables. Sometimes this abun- dance of information can divert the reader’s attention from cause and effect relationships. A few outline conclusions at the end of each chapter, pointing out the most important changes and their connection with engineering works, would have helped to focus the main ideas.

The chapters on recommendations will be of great interest to professionals concerned with river engineering and projects to restore water- courses and river banks of channelized rivers.

Chapter VII develops a series of alternatives to present construction procedures with a view to mitigating adverse environmental effects. Techniques for the improvement and restora- tion of watercourses, especially the recovery of morphological diversity and the handling of river bank vegetation, are dealt with in Chap- ter VIII. It must be pointed out that this is not meant to be a textbook; nevertheless, the in- clusion of details on construction and design should clearly increase the number of potential readers.

The author concludes by calling for an im- provement in the planning and design of wa- tercourse projects. This improvement should come about as a result of a multidisciplinary

approach to the subject, in which the environ- mental impact would be evaluated beforehand and the response of the river anticipated. Brookes considers it essential that profession- als from different fields should be represented: geomorphologists, biologists and engineers, together with local interest groups. The author singles out the decisive role played by geomor- phology at the planning stage of the project, because if the morphological characteristics of the watercourse are not correctly designed, ecological recovery is impracticable.

To sum up, Brookes’ work is of the greatest interest to all professionals concerned with river engineering, the evaluation of environ- mental effects, and projects for the restoration of watercourses and river banks. This excellent book will serve as a starting point for future research into the integrated management of watercourses.

VICTOR CASTILLO Department of Forest Engineering

Pol_vtechnical Ckiversity of Madrid Madrid 28040

Spain

AMAZONIAN RAIN FORESTS

Carl F. Jordan (Ed. ), Amazonian Rain For- ests: Ecosystem Disturbance and Recovery, Springer, New York, 1986 (ISBN 0-387- 96397-9). 133 pp. Price DM 108.00.

This small book includes seven concise re- ports that describe the effects of disturbance on the Amazonian rain forest. The focus through- out is on nutrient dynamics and availability, system productivity, and the potential for sys- tem recovery. The book flows smoothly through the continuum of case studies that use similar methods, descriptors and format.

The editor, Carl Jordan, introduces the vol- ume with a succinct discussion of current pres- sures that are resulting in rain-forest destruc- tion. He believes that the Amazonian rain forest cannot be preserved in a pristine state