Air Quality, Fourth Edition

The review I was going to write is almost exactly like the first review posted giving it 4 stars, so I will just second everything mentioned. Good air quality primer for the environmental professional, but if you are already an air quality scientist or specialist, you may find it a little basic. Excellent overall quality and information on all the air quality issues affecting North America today.

This book provides a good foundation in air quality issues bringing together the basic meteorology, chemistry, biology, and political/regulatory information needed to understand the field. The book assumes some basic science background but Godish presents technical information clearly enough for environmental managers and nontechnical professionals to get a basic understanding of air quality issues. Godish could make the book more accessable to introductory students by spending more time defining and explaining some of the technical terminology in the book. As it is, some students may have to spend more time with the dictionary than they are used to. Air quality professionals will find this book a good refresher but those looking for a technically advanced book should look elsewhere. The treatment of regulatory issues emphasizes the US. Non-americans will still benefit from the bulk of the book. For an introductory student looking for a start in the field, I would give the book 4 stars, for an environmental manager looking to gain a better understanding of air quality or an air quality professional looking for a good refresher, I would give the book five stars, for an air quality professional looking for a technical reference, I would give the book 2 to 3 stars.