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We would like to thank the many people at Bedford, Freeman, and Worth who helped guide us through the publication process in both the first and second editions of this book. They have taught us a great deal and have been crucial to our book becoming greatly appreciated by so many people. We especially want to acknowledge:

Ann Heath, Jeffrey Dowling, Becky Kohn, Fred Burns, Janie Pierce-Bratcher, Kerry O’Shaughnessy, Julia DeRosa, Matt McAdams, Joseph BelBruno, Anna Skiba-Crafts, Aaron Stoler, Lucas Sanford-Long, Christine Buese, Vicki Tomaselli, Lee Wilcox, Jerry Correa, Beth Howe, Cindi Weiss, Karen Misler, Deborah Goodsite, Ted Szczepanski, and Cathy Murphy. We thank David Courard-Hauri, Ross Jones, and Susan Weisberg for contributions to the first edition of this book.

We also wish to convey our appreciation to the dozens of reviewers who constantly challenged us to write a clear, correct, and philosophically balanced textbook.

A large number of people have contributed to this book in a variety of ways. I would like to thank all of my teachers, students, and colleagues. Professors Robert Giegengack and Arthur Johnson introduced me to environmental science as an undergraduate and graduate student. My current and previous colleagues in the Environmental Studies Program at Dartmouth and elsewhere have contributed in a variety of ways. I thank Doug Bolger, Michael Cox, Rich Howarth, Anne Kapuscinski, Karol Kawiaka, Rosi Kerr, Nick Reo, Bill Roebuck, Jack Shepherd, Chris Sneddon, Scott Stokoe, Ross Virginia, and D.G. Webster for all sorts of contributions to my teaching and scholarship and to this book. Graduate students Chelsea Petrenko and Justin Richardson have also contributed. Emily Lacroix and Jacob Ebersole, Dartmouth undergraduates who have taken courses from me, provided excellent editorial, proofreading, and writing assistance. Many other colleagues have had discussions with me or evaluated sections of text including William Schlesinger, Ben Carton, Jon Kull, Nat Draper, Bob Hawley, Jim Labelle, Tim Smith, Charlie Sullivan, Jenna Pollock, Jim Kaste, Carol Folt, Celia Chen, Matt Ayres, Kathy Cottingham, and Mark McPeek. Since the time when AP^® Environmental Science was just an idea at a College Board workshop, Beth Nichols, Tom Corley, and many others, especially teachers I have since met at meetings and workshops, have introduced me to the world of Advanced Placement^® teaching.

I wish to acknowledge Dana Meadows and Ned Perrin, both of whom have since passed away, for contributions during the early stages of this work. Terry Tempest Williams has been a tremendous source of advice and wisdom about topics environmental, scientific, and practical.

I am grateful to Dick and Janie Pearl for friendship and support through the Richard and Jane Pearl Professorship in Environmental Studies. Finally, I thank Katie, Jared, and Ethan Friedland, and my mother Selma.

I would like to thank my family—my wife Christine and my children Isabelle and Wyatt. Too many nights and weekends were taken from them and given to this textbook and they never complained. Their presence and patience continually inspired me to push forward and complete the project.

I am also grateful to the many people at Bedford, Freeman, and Worth who helped guide me and taught me a great deal about the publication process. I would like to especially thank Jerry Correa for convincing me to join the first edition of this book.