J Soils Sediments (2012) 12:1207–1208 DOI 10.1007/s11368-012-0536-7

BOOK REVIEW

Stefan Fränzle, Bernd Markert, Simone Wünschmann: Introduction to environmental engineering Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, Germany, 2012, 433 pp., EUR 60.00 (printed copy), ISBN 978-3-527-32981-6 Elena Maestri

Received: 8 May 2012 / Accepted: 9 May 2012 / Published online: 22 May 2012 # Springer-Verlag 2012

This book has an intended audience of students and lecturers in the field of environmental engineering, and this is clearly reflected in the text and in the structure. The presence of glossary and footnotes is obviously very helpful for this kind of audience, stimulating learning activities and even prompting some curiosity outside the topics. Particularly appreciated are some tables which summarise important concepts. In the book, it is easy to follow how the authors have planned a complete course on environmental engineering, culminating in studies and practical applications incorporating some of the authors’ work. It is evident that the three authors have a long experience in teaching the subject, but they are also familiar with advanced research. And this is why the book can be of interest also for operators in the field, who will find here no detailed descriptions of technologies and methods, but rather a critical approach to decisions in view of sustainability and interactions between environment compartments. The Preface by the authors is very clear on this, detailing what can be found in the book and the logic behind the authors' decisions. The four main book chapters are over 370 pages, including more than 100 figures and 27 tables. The chapters are followed by (1) glossary of terms, (2) long list of references, (3) list of chemical elements in alphabetical order, and (4) analytical index. All chapters are accompanied by footnotes, clarifying the concepts and providing additional reference, e.g., to websites.

E. Maestri (*) Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 33A, 43124 Parma, Italy e-mail: [email protected]

The topics of the four main chapters are the following: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Definition and history of environmental engineering Properties of the compartments of the environment Description of innovative technologies Analysis of case studies

The first chapter starts with the history of environmental sciences and engineering from prehistoric times to the present age, followed by a comprehensive description of environmental chemical substances, their properties, transport in the environment, toxicity. Sub-chapter 1.4 is a description of techniques and methods for assessing pollution by chemical substances. Sub-chapter 1.5 is about the elements in biological systems, their toxicity or essentiality, and bioavailability. The end of the chapter summarises ethical and social aspects of knowledge, learning, and communication processes. The chapter is highly heterogeneous, and it could have been divided further, but still it provides a solid background for the rest of the book. Figures and tables are very effective and useful in communicating many important facts. The second chapter deals with the three environmental compartments, air–water–soil. Indeed, the first sub-chapter on comparative planetology is quite surprising in the context of environmental engineering, but it is an interesting read. The description of the three compartments encompasses their properties, dynamics, chemistry, in particular with a view towards the possibilities for fighting pollution and remediating it. In these three sub-chapters, tables and figures are also very useful and important. At the end, the interactions, similarities and differences of the three compartments are summarised. The third chapter, entitled “Innovative technologies” starts with a brief introduction concerning sustainability, legal issues, and economic considerations for innovation

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and invention. But the third chapter essentially describes the chemical behaviour of compounds, from precipitation to partition, chemical reactions, oxidation, catalysis, and equilibria. The technologies are rather described in the fourth chapter, together with specific examples. In this third chapter, some bases are given for the understanding of “chances, limitations and reaction mechanisms pertinet to environmental engineering”, as the authors declare. Probably, a reader looking to this chapter for a description of, for instance, phytoremediation or photooxidation would be disappointed. The fourth chapter describes specific studies as examples of real applications of environmental engineering, and the description is structured according to the compartments of environment. For each application, the description includes definition of the specific problem, the technological possibilities, practical examples and concluding remarks. For the atmosphere, biomonitoring and bioindication are described with great detail, also based on previous work by the authors, and storage and sequestration of CO2 is addressed. For soil, phytoremediation is described with some useful graphics and figures. An additional subchapter deals with ethylenediamine tetracetic acid application and remediation. For water, the authors describe reactive walls and a specific example of pharmaceuticals in the environment. A possible source of confusion here is that some sub-chapters deal with

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technologies, whereas others deal with specific contaminants. The conclusive sub-chapter addresses energy production, renewable energies, and nuclear power plants. This also ends the whole book, without any final remarks or recommendations. The body of accompanying material, glossary, index, and references, is useful for readers and users of the book. It must be noted that some of the glossary items could have been left out and substituted with footnotes, as they are non scientific. Some of the footnotes indeed communicate interesting facts, even not strictly related to science and technology, but it is easy to imagine how these can be of interest to the student audience during lectures. References are updated and most of them are accessible to most readers. They include also nonscientific literature, which can help students. The authors rely heavily on their own published works, and in fact it must be said they have been quite active in this area. In conclusion, many readers of the Journal of Soils and Sediments can find interesting topics in this book, which deals with soils and sediments and with their interactions with water and atmosphere. Teachers can find here interesting materials in support of lectures, and additional references. Operators in the field can be intrigued by some non-orthodox points of view on environmental technologies proposed by the authors.