Blacksburg, Va.-- Bruce Wallace, Virginia Tech Distinguished Professor of Biology Emeritus, has provided more than 90 free copies of his book, "The Environment: As I See It, Science Is Not Enough" (Elkhorn Press, 1998) to be placed in each room and cottage of the Mountain Lake Hotel.
"I don't want to replace the Gideon Bible," Wallace says. "I just want to give people something about the environment to read."
Wallace's gift came as a result of talks with Jeffrey Slack, executive director of the Wilderness Conservancy at Mountain Lake, which was looking for ways to give guests of the resort current information on environmental issues. "By making copies of your book available for our guests, you have helped us achieve a part of our mission and address a recent concern that was identified by the board of directors," Slack wrote to Wallace. Many guests, Slack said, "have stopped by my office and the front desk of the hotel to express their appreciation for our making the book available."
In addition, where most books have a warning from the publisher that they are copyrighted and that no portion can be reproduced, etc., Wallace's book tells readers just the opposite: " 'Permission is hereby granted for the publication of these essays either singly or in serial form by anyone'." Wallace asks only that the source of the essay be acknowledged and a copy of the re-published essay be sent to his publisher, Elkhorn Press in West Virginia.
Why would a world-renowned geneticist give away his essays and books? For
Wallace, it is part of a life's mission: to get people to realize that saving
the world's environment is going to take a lot more than technological advances
and the work of a few. The underlying theme of Wallace's books is that the
issues that threaten the world's environment are much too complex to be solved
by a single discipline. He argues that we need to plan carefully and put into
place an educational system that will make everyone a part of t
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Contact: Bruce Wallace
540-951-2464
Virginia Tech
31-Aug-1999