The Economy of Nature

Book was in fairly good shape and the previous owner sent it in a timely fashion.

I admit, at first I could feel my eyeballs melting from the pedantic aura that radiated from the Economy of Nature. The text followed a simple, formulaic method of teaching: each chapter began with a generalization, usually relating chapter concepts to a current issue, before dissecting the topic from the easiest to most difficult concepts. The material was essentially mathematical based on the graphs and equations normally associated with ecology, and the section on population growth is particularly helpful if you're a bit rocky with incorporating all the rates to calculate the net growth. It was boring, boring, boring, but it was concise and saved my arse on final exams. If you're taking intro bio, I would recommend this as supplementary reading. It's definitely not as wordy as the average bio textbook, but you'll learn loads more about ecology and the math involved isn't tricky. The formulas are explained well, so even if you find it challenging you'll get the hang of it in no time.

This is a decent textbook as an introduction to ecology. It contains alot of good information and integrates quite a bit of mathematics and graphs into the material being presented. However, I am convinced that ecology is not a real science.