Bibliography

Cities

Alexander, Christopher, et al, A Pattern Language, 1977. A decidedly different take on what makes for liveable buildings and cities. Alexander's newest work is called The Nature of Order. This four-volume work is the culmination of theoretical studies begun three decades ago and published in a series of books -- including The Timeless Way of Building and A Pattern Language -- in which Christopher Alexander has advanced a new theory of architecture. He has tried to grasp the fundamental truths of traditional ways of building and to understand what gives life and beauty and true functionality to buildings and towns. His A New Theory of Urban Design encapsulates his theories in a student experiment involving a portion of the San Francisco waterfront. An implication of that book for elevated highways is discussed elsewhere.

Bacon, Edmund N., Design of Cities, 1967. Looks at cities through history and explains the design elements that lead to greatness. He shows the conscious interrelation of space and structures to create those city environments valued through time.

Jacobs, Allan, Great Streets, 1993. The former planning director of San Francisco compares hundreds of streets around the world to determine the design and other elements that make some of them great.

Jacobs, Jane, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, 1961.
This book opened the eyes of many planners to the reality of what made for city success or failure as a human environment. In effect it said the 'radiant' city approach so prevalent at the time had no basis in reality - 'the emperor had no clothes'. A readable and thorough analysis of cities as people actually experience them. One of her most recognized observations was the importance of 'eyes on the street' for cities to succeed as human environments. This book first showed the fatal design flaws of the high rise public housing so popular in the United States among the liberal advocates for the poor after the Second World War.

Mumford, Lewis, The City in History, 1961.
Brings together a wide array of evidence--from the earliest group habitats to medieval towns to the modern centers of commerce to show how the urban form has changed throughout human civilization. This book is what turned me on to city planning.

Mumford, Lewis, The Culture of Cities, 1938.
This offers the first broad treatment of the city in both its historic and its contemporary aspects. His positive view of high rise public housing now seems sadly dated.

Lynch, Kevin, The Image of the City, 1960.
This small book (120 pages of text) by an MIT professor and urban theorist obscures its thesis in academic jargon and confusing verbage. It is a real chore to ferret out the lesson the author was trying to communicate. I had originally come across the book in graduate school and wondered why I remembered nothing of its contents. A most unsatisfactory reread when I found it buried on my bookshelf clarified this memory gap. Such a difference from Sitte's book translated from the 1889 German edition.

Sitte, Camillo, City Planning According to Artistic Principals, Dover, 1986 (Original in German, 1889, Translated by George R. Collins & Christiani Crasemann Collins).
Clearly presented text description supported by excellent grapics and photos on what design characteristics makes a city we love and cherish. Amazing that it was originally published in German in 1889. Realized that the distruction of the medieval city in his day did not lead to human progress. Most influential on European city planning. Sadly this excellent translation is out of print. I had to go to the city's main library to read the book.

Wheeler, Stephen, Smart Infill, Greenbelt Alliance, Spring 2002
Well written and illustrated booklet showing how to create successful infill development in the Bay Area. Ideas could apply other places.

New Urbanism - This link provides a comprehensive list of sources for the new urbanism.

Wilderness

Butler, Tom, ed., Wild Earth, 2002.

Foreman, Richard T. T., Land Mosaics - The Ecology of Landscapes & Regions, 1995.

Mittermeier, Russell A., Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier, Patricio Robles Gil, and John Pilgrim, Wilderness: Earth's Last Wild Places, 2003.

Soule, Michael E. and John Terborgh, eds., Continental Conservation - Scientific Foundations of Regional Reserve Networks, 1999.

North America

Bakker, Elna, An Island Called California - An Ecological Introduction to its Natural Communities, 1971.

Foreman, Dave, Rewilding North America, 2004.

Hill, Mary, California Landscape - Origin & Evolution, 1984.

Kays, Roland W. and Don E. Wilson, Mammals of North America, 2002.

Megafauna

Donlan, C. Josh, Restoring America's Big, Wild Animals, Scientific American, June 2007.

Lange, Ian M., Ice Age Mammals of North America, 2002

Martin, Paul S., Twilight of the Mammoths - Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America, 2005.
Readable scientific presentation on the history and human related causes of the extinction of megafauna in America and elsewhere. Makes a strong case for the benefits of reintroducing these species where they have been extinct for 500 years (New Zealand), 10,000 years (North America) and longer to bring back an essential aspect of the ecological composition.

Outer Space

General books on the Solar System and space are continually being made obsolete by the newest discoveries.

Sagan, Carl, Pale Blue Dot - A Vision of the Human future in Space, 1994.

Space Habitats

Heppenheimer, T.A., Colonies in Space, 1977.

O'Neill, Gerald K., The High Frontier, 1978

Habitable Planets

Dole, Steven & Isaac Asimov, Planets for Man, 1964.

Terraforming

Lewis, John S., Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets, 1996.

Oberg, James Edward, New Earths - Restructuring Earth & Other Planets, 1983.

Zubrin, Robert, Entering Space, 1999.

Mars

Hartmann, William, A Travelor's Guide to Mars, 2003
Magnificent resource for the Mars enthusiast.

Morton, Oliver, Mapping Mars, 2002

Zubrin, Robert, The Case for Mars, 1996.

Extra-solar

Kiang, Nancy Y., The Color of Plants on Other Worlds, Scientific American, April 2008. Potential plant colors will vary depending on primary star luminosity and type of light.

Lin, Douglas N.C., The Genesis of Planets, Scientific American, May 2008. Various ways planets may be created around other stars.

Villard, Ray and Lynett R. Cook, Infinite Worlds - An Illustrated Voyage to Planets Beyond Our Sun, 2005.
Well written and illustrated book on discovered and potential planets in orbit around stars other than our sun.