John Harte is Professor of Energy and Resources at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is author of "Patient Earth" (with Robert Socolow, 1971), "Consider a Spherical Cow" (1975) and "Toxics A to Z: A Guide to Everyday Pollution Hazards" (with Cheryl Holdren, Richard Schneider, and Christine Shirley, California, 1991). "Toxics A to Z" has been named Outstanding Reference Book of 1993 by the American Library Association.