Pollution of lakes and rivers: a paleoenvironmental perspective by John Smol celebrates the contribution of paleolimnological investigation to our knowledge of water pollution. This text book was first produced in 2002 and its reissue reflects the growth in lake sediment studies and the proliferation of paleoenvironmental university courses. The author of Pollution of Lakes and Rivers John Smol is a Professor in the Department of Biology, at Queen’s University, co-director of the Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL), holds the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change and has been named as one of the 2008 Environmental Scientists of the Year by The Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

John Smol’s paleoenvironmental perspective on aquatic pollution contains a review of the vast array of physical, chemical and biological methods used in an attempt to distinguish the provenance of source materials and their processes. The author acknowledges that with such an array of techniques interpretations of pollution are rarely clear-cut and the strongest inferences come from the use of a variety of techniques. A new chapter on climate change and examples of new research developments have been included in this edition. The book content is organised in 17 chapters. Lake sediment methodologies are included in chapters 2–6, while chapters 7–16 outline key case studies under major pollution topics from eutrophication to deposition of atmospheric contaminants. The review of dating techniques is comprehensive but requires the perusal, as acknowledged by author, of additional texts for a fuller understanding. Each chapter synthesises a number of case studies which are informative, well linked with key outcomes highlighted and augmented with recommendations for future research directions. Chapter 9 highlights the irony of our success in synthesising large numbers of organic compounds that have helped our society but are increasingly recognised as accumulating in non-target organisms. This is an increasingly common issue that funding agencies are seeking answers to and is an area of great potential for tracking using lake sediments. Chapter 10 highlights a unique study of Annak lake on the Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay where the lake was used as an oxidation pond for native Inuit sewage and liquid domestic waste. Paleo-studies provided compelling evidence of bioaccumulation of mercury, lead and cadmium. In the light of recent monitoring cutbacks John Smol’s recommendation of a 4-year sampling rotation of surface sediments (Chapter 11) as a means of long-term monitoring is an interesting suggestion. The use of paleolimnology as an indirect monitoring approach could potentially generate large amounts of data at a fraction of the monitoring costs. A new chapter on greenhouse gas emissions (Chapter 14) highlights how climate influences, directly and indirectly, every water quality problem.

The increasingly topical applications of paleolimnological studies have resulted in an increasing number of academic modules being delivered to a broader student base. Liberal Arts and Education students are now being exposed to physical science subjects e.g., Reconstructing Past Environments. These student cohorts are large in number relative to the sciences and it can it can be particularly challenging to engage these relatively non-specialist students. This book represents a very accessible format and writing-style for the committed and minimally committed student. The use of a simplified table of contents is beneficial but the book would also have benefited from the addition of a second more detailed outline of contents enabling more intensive use and searches, particularly from a students perspective. Undoubtedly space restrictions limited the number of case study figures that could be included; however, this serves to stimulate curiosity and hopefully will whet the appetite of the more inquisitive student to consult the original source material. The author has the gift of clear writing which is evident in terms of the fluidity and clarity of the book content. Students will enjoy the use of analogies e.g., medical history analogous to ecosystem health, self-cleansing ovens and LOI, closed lake basins similar to a pot of soup left on a cooker set at low heat. The use of personal interjections by John Smol mid-text e.g., “I feel we are lucky”, “With the benefit of hindsight”, serve to enliven the content and clearly show the authors wealth of experience and knowledge of this area. An interesting change of style is included in Chapter 6 with the use of question/answer format (p. 84). This helps brighten the text and make surface sediment calibration datasets more accessible and interactive for students. Unfortunately this format is only used once in the book.

A 3rd edition of this book would benefit from the use of colour in the figurative drawings and more standardisation throughout to enhance the professional production of the book. There is an unfortunate miss-spelling of Lough Neagh (the largest lake in Ireland) but the phonetically correct use of ‘Neah’ will at least ensure perfect pronunciation by all readers of this book.

It is impossible to assimilate and keep up with the wide range of paleoenvironmental research let alone research into the ever-expanding topic of pollution. Therefore book reviews such as this are of particular importance. During our wettest Irish summer in living memory (with average monthly rainfall falling in a single hour) I had ample opportunity to read this book from cover to cover. The text helps the working paleolimnologist revisit some very basic questions that are sometimes taken for granted e.g., data presentation in relative abundance and/or concentrations, niche ranges for training-set taxa and the ‘trap of reinforcement syndrome’ where interpretations are skewed to reinforce each other. The book provides many welcome examples of both classical and new studies which will act as useful examples for inclusion in future lectures. John Smol also generously made key book illustrations available in slide format (via the paleolimnology web site) for use in lectures with the aim of ensuring consistent and clearer acknowledgment of authorship of key figures and drawings.

Finally, if I could speak with fluidity and clarity in my lectures as consistently as John Smol writes my students would be very grateful. In the meantime I can happily recommend this book knowing that my enthusiastic attempts will be more than well supplemented.