David I. Theodoropoulos, Las Sombras Biological
Preserve, Box 337, La Honda, CA 94020-0337 USA
(408) 236-3728
dt@dtheo.org
Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience
By David Theodoropoulos. Published by Avvar Books, Blythe,
California.
ISBN 0-9708504-1-7
Soft cover, 6 x 9", 237+xiv pp, $32.00.
To order a copy, click here.
"[T]he core of the book is an attack on prevailing paradigma of invasion
biology.... [T]he book contains many new points of view, and stimulating ideas, and I recommend it
for reading not only to specialists but also to general biologists." —Dr. J. Krekule, 2003.
Book Review. Photosynthetica, 41 (3):348.
"In this provocative work, Mr. Theodoropoulos uses a combination of detailed
bibliographic research, precise language, and skillful polemics to analyze invasion biology as a
pseudoscience... it is an organic work of great analytical force and bibliographic intensity.... The
credibility of the book's arguments is based in fundamental evolutionary ecology.... Critics may
dispute some of his analyses or judgments, but their own credibility would need to be measured
against Mr. Theodoropoulos's analytical rigor, clarity of expression, and transparency of agenda....
Mr. Theodoropoulos' ideas are, in this book, ecologically coherent, precisely conceived, and
effectively articulated." —Dr. D.L. Scarnecchia, Washington State University. Book Review, Rangelands
26(2), April 2004.
"Now it is invasion biologists' turn to face misguided invective.... [The
book is] faulty... inconsistent... incendiary... disingenuous... spurious, highly politicized...
invective, masquerading as an authentic scientific critique." —Dr. D. Secord, invasion
biologist, University of Washington. Book Review, Ecology 85(4), April 2004.
CONTENTS:
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART I Nature, Dispersal, and
Reaction
Chapter 1 The Origins of the Natural
Chapter 2 The True Causes of "Invasion"
Chapter 3 Case Studies
Chapter 4 Biotic Resiliency and Ecological Integration
Chapter 5 Extremism
Chapter 6 Unpredictability
PART II Why? Psychology,
Politics, and Pseudoscience
Chapter 7 The Multiple Psychopathologies of Nativism
Chapter 8 Structural and Conceptual Parallels: Old Poison in a New Bottle
Chapter 9 Pseudoscience
Chapter 10 Politics and Exploitation
Chapter 11 Unanswered Questions
PART III Humanity and Diversity
Chapter 12 Dispersal, Evolution, and Diversification
Chapter 13 Towards a New Theory of Anthropogenic Dispersal
Recapitulation and Conclusion
Afterword
Other Resources
Literature Cited
Index
"The sneakiest form of literary subtlety, in a corrupt society, is to speak the plain truth.
The critics will not understand you; the public will not believe you; your fellow writers will shake
their heads."
—Edward Abbey