KEEPING OUR CITIES CLEAN

by Ross R. Olney ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 16, 1979

A few generalizations and a few specifics each on street cleaning; solid waste disposal; snow clearance; auto-accident, disaster, and fire clean-ups; and lastly sewage--all of which goes to show why kids are addicted to encyclopedias, which get down to business and don't waste words. Here, the arrangement follows no logical order; the expansion permitted by the book-form is squandered in describing equipment (compactor boxes, roll-off boxes) that isn't illustrated; complex processes--like sewage treatment--are explained in such broad terms as to make them meaningless; incidental topics--such as disaster-clean-up--are included (and padded with information that isn't germane) while the basic subject of solid waste disposal is inadequately treated. (One skimpy sentence disposes of incineration.) And the lack of rigor isn't compensated for by attention to children's interests: we hear, for example, that workers ""sandblast"" graffiti--without explanation or illustration--and nowhere do we learn how the refuse from a parade or other mass-gathering is removed. A much more personable book--for an enlargement on the reference staples--is Rona Beame's What Happens to Garbage? (1975).

Pub Date: April 16, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Messner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION