Recommended Reading

The GPS Department has cultivated a list of recommended books, readings or multimedia materials (that may or may not be required for courses) to serve as additional resources that students may find helpful and meaningful. These are categorized below by relevant classes the department offers.

Some of the readings on this list are available in the Campbell Library. Titles available will be noted.

Foundations of Planning

• The American City: What Works, What Doesn't - Alexander Garvin³
• Cities and Natural Process: A Basis for Sustainability - Michael Hough⁵
• Contemporary Urban Planning - John M. Levy 
• The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Throughout History - Spiro Kostof 
• Urban Transportation Planning in the United States: An Historical Overview - Edward Weiner⁵
• The Color of Law - Richard Rothstein²
• The Death and Life of Great American Cities - Jane Jacobs^{1 & 2}

General Planning and Geography Books

• A Geography of New Jersey: The City in the Garden - Charles A. Stansfield, Jr. (former Rowan professor)⁴
• Our Angry Earth - Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl³
• Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean - Les Standiford
• The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson²
• Deep Economy - Bill McKibben²
• Simon Winchester has several good books on physical geography
  • A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906²
  • Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883²
  • The Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology³

Earth People and Environment

• Big History - DK, foreward by David Christian
• Origin Story: A Big History of Everything - David Christian
• What to Expect When No One's Expecting - Jonathan V. Last⁵
• Upside - Kenneth W. Gronbach⁷
• Don't Panic (film) - Hans Rosling⁶
• Guns, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond²
• Longitude - Dava Sobel³
• A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking³
• Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks - Ken Jenning⁵

Environmental Impact Statement

• Cradle to Cradle - William McDonough and Michael Braugart³
• Silent Spring - Rachel Carson  
• Toms River - Dan Fagin (local)

Campbell Library Access

1. Course Reserves, 1st floor
2. 3rd floor stacks
3. 4th floor stacks
4. Special collections
5. Available through Ebook Central
6. Available online through Alexander Street Press
7. Available through several ebook platforms