In my review of Ecotoxicology: A Comprehensive Treatment by Michael C. Newman and William H. Clements in the last issue (vol. 4, no. 4), I attributed the concept of satisficing to Julian Simon. Actually, it was developed by a more illustrious economist with the same last name, Herbert Simon. Herbert Simon won the Nobel Prize for his development of decision theory for organizations, including the concepts of bounded rationality and satisficing and the application of path analysis. He also made major contributions to artificial intelligence, including codeveloping the first reasoning computer. Julian Simon is best known for arguing against the need for either conservation of resources or population control and for winning two public bets with Paul Ehrlich. My apologies to the readers for any confusion that resulted from my mental lapse. If anyone is interested in learning more about the more illustrious Dr. Simon's contributions, I recommend Hunter Crowther-Heyck's biography Herbert A. Simon, published in 2005 by Johns Hopkins University Press.
Also, some readers interpreted my presentation of alternatives to two ideas in the Newman and Clements text as an attack on the quality of the book itself. The presentation of contrasting views was meant to highlight the fact that the book presents potentially controversial concepts that could prompt useful debate and deeper consideration of concepts associated with ecotoxicology. As I concluded in the review, I recommend that readers buy the Newman and Clements text if they want a conceptual approach to ecotoxicology. For an academic's review of the book, see Limnology and