Atmospheric Pollution: History, Science, and Regulation , Mark Z.Jacobson Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2002. $110.00, $50.00 paper (399 pp.). ISBN 0-521-81171-6, ISBN 0-521-01044-6 paper

Scientific and political interest in atmospheric pollution, as well as attempts to regulate it, have expanded from local to regional to global scales over the three decades since the passage of the US Clean Air Act of 1970. Acid deposition, ozone depletion, regional-scale smog, and global warming— unknown or little understood before 1970—-are at the center of atmospheric research, domestic regulation, and international affairs. With regard to international affairs, witness the broad effect on US–European relations of the Bush administration’s rejection of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

Atmospheric pollution emerges from almost every form of human activity, so it is clear that attempts to limit pollution must be comprehensive. Efforts to extract an understanding of the causes and consequences of pollution, particularly global warming, reach backward into the earliest epochs of Earth’s history and project forward a century or more.

Mark Jacobson’s new undergraduate textbook Atmospheric Pollution: History, Science, and Regulation captures important parts of the vast panorama of science and human experience related to the atmosphere. Jacobson is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University. His recent work on the role of soot in global warming is groundbreaking. His book covers a field so large that no previous text has satisfactorily reflected the full array of problems and issues, particularly as an introduction for science majors. Jacobson’s book also falls short of that objective, but may be the best available.

Starting with a basic introduction to Earth’s geologic history, atmospheric structure, composition, and chemistry, Jacobson discusses the origins of smog, its effects, and global efforts to regulate it. Some details of smog chemistry are discussed at too great a length, but the narrative is clear, the figures have strong pedagogic value, and the photographs are thoroughly engaging. Too little is said about regional smog and its long-range transport, a problem that now assumes transcontinental scale, and too much is said about aerosol-related air pollution. The latter is understandable because aerosols are at the center of Jacobson’s recent research.

The text is highlighted with interesting stories that dig deeper than most anecdotes. For example, similar books often note that Thomas Midgley Jr invented both tetraethyl lead and chlorofluorocarbons. The use of tetraethyl lead as a gasoline additive was responsible for widespread lead poisoning in children and chlorofluorocarbons cause ozone depletion. Some books note the irony that this prolific inventor, who suffered from polio later in life, died by entanglement in a hoist he had designed to lift his body upright in bed. But few, if any, have delved into the interesting, relevant, and unfortunate details of the decision, by Midgley and others, to pursue tetraethyl lead over other, possibly safer, alternatives. Such historical notes richly complement the scientific details.

After a discussion of meteorology that is advanced enough that it may confuse some beginners, Jacobson moves on to comprehensive chapters on indoor air pollution, acid deposition, ozone depletion, and acid rain. The strongest of these chapters treats ozone depletion. The weakest, on global warming, contains only a skimpy discussion about the impacts of temperature increase and other climate changes. More problematically, the scientific details in that chapter are sometimes outdated.

Overall, the book carefully builds a framework for understanding atmospheric issues, and that framework provides a solid basis for examining what might be done to address those issues. The problems at the end of each chapter are simple, yet instructive. The text doesn’t condescend with oversimplification and is only occasionally too difficult for a beginning science major.

My one disappointment is that regulation too often receives cursory treatment. The subtitle of the book suggests a balance in the content that is not really achieved. In particular, only one sentence addresses the landmark emissions trading provision of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. Furthermore, little in the sections on ozone depletion and global warming reflects the potential impacts of proposed or implemented policies. Atmospheric Pollution is not a resource for understanding air-pollution policy, but it is a well-rounded introduction to problems of the atmosphere and offers rich material for students contemplating their solutions.