Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage
by Cullen Murphy, William L. Rathje
List Price:
Our Price: $7.19
You Save: $15.81 (69%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.93 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Cullen Murphy, William L. RathjeEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1992-06
ISBN: 0060166037
Number of pages: 250
Publisher: Harpercollins
Book Reviews of Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage
Book Review: There is a link between owning a cat and reading "The National Enquirer"!
Summary: 4 Stars
"Rubbish" is a highly academic book about "The Garbage Project" at the University of Arizona's Anthropology Department. The main idea behind "The Garbage Project" is to gain information about society by analyzing garbage patterns in various locations.
Despite being a book about garbage, the contents of the book are quite diverse. The book is divided into 4 parts. The first section, An Introduction to the Garbage Project, gives the background of "The Garbage Project", why it started, what they do, and what they hope to accomplish. This section also discusses how anthropologists use garbage to learn about ancient civilizations. The second section, The Landfill Excavations, discuss the basic theories of landfills, how the team takes samples from landfills, and discusses why biodegradation does not work in landfills. The third section, Interlude: Diapers and Demographics, I found to be highly entertaining. This section has a fascinating chapter on estimating the population of a neighborhood (as well as sex and age) based on the garbage collected from this neighborhood (a study done to initially help the Census Bureau). This section is also filled with useless information such as "There is a link between owning a cat and reading "The National Enquirer"". There is also a detailed discussion about disposable diapers in landfills. The final section, Garbage and the Future, was the most educational by far. This part discusses the serious shortcomings of citywide recycling programs and side effects people never hear about. There are also discussions on alternate garbage disposal methods, such as high tech incinerators used to generate electricity, as well as several other attempts at using technology to turn garbage into a useful product. The section and the book end with a chapter on reducing and addressing garbage disposal.
I think this book will not be for everyone. The book reads like a Master's Thesis at times, rather long and seems to ramble. However, some parts of the book are exceptional (such as the chapter on recycling or "Closing the Loop") and are really an eye opener.
I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in Environmental Sciences. Also, if you can manage to wade through pages of various scientific theories and facts, I'd highly recommend picking this book up! While a little slow reading at times, it is quite informative and I think a real eye opener.
Summary of Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage
An investigation into the geography, history, composition, mythology, demographics, and misperception of garbage discusses what human waste says about human beings' politics, economics, population, size, age, sex, and more. National ad/promo.Economics Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Economics Books
The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in Its First Age of Terrorby Beverly Gage
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-01-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.33
Price in other shops:
Coal: A Human Historyby Barbara Freese
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2004-01-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Econometric Models and Economic Forecastsby Robert Pindyck, Daniel Rubinfeld, Robert S. Pindyck, Daniel L. Rubinfeld
McGraw-Hill/Irwin; Published: 1997-07-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $88.50
Elements of Dynamic Optimizationby Alpha C. Chiang
Mcgraw-Hill College; Published: 1992-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $375.84
Macroeconomicsby Campbell McConnell, Stanley Brue
McGraw-Hill/Irwin; Published: 2006-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $30.00
Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power (P.S.)by John Steele Gordon
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-10-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.25
Price in other shops:
A Term at the Fed: An Insider's Viewby Laurence H. Meyer
HarperBusiness; Published: 2006-01-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.10
Price in other shops:
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Harper Business Essentials)by Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras
HarperBusiness; Published: 2002-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops:
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisionsby Dan Ariely
Harper; Published: 2009-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.38
Price in other shops:
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000by Paul Kennedy
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 1989-03-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.65
Similar Books and other products
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Thingsby Michael Braungart
North Point Press; Published: 2002-04-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.90
Price in other shops:
Mongo: Adventures in Trashby Ted Botha
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2004-06-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.16
Price in other shops:
What Anthropologists Doby Veronica Strang
Berg Publishers; Published: 2009-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.00
Price in other shops:
Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trashby Elizabeth Royte
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2005-07-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.68
Price in other shops:
Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient Worldby Roger Atwood
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2004-12-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.28
Price in other shops:
The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies (Second Edition)by Chris Scarre
Thames & Hudson; Published: 2009-06-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $51.77
Waste and Want: A Social History of Trashby Susan Strasser
Metropolitan Books; Published: 1999-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $29.66
Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeologyby Kenneth Feder
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; Published: 2010-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $47.84
Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbageby Heather Rogers
New Press, The; Published: 2006-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trashby Elizabeth Royte
Back Bay Books; Published: 2006-08-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.90
Price in other shops: