ISSN 1948-6596 news and update provide more opportunities for the importation of exotic species. The convergence of air routes from these growing economies to other climatically similar regions depends, however, on the time of the year of transport. The model predicts that cli- matically sensitive organisms travelling by air will find their destination airports most hospitable by June 2010. This study provides a first assessment of the transportation risk associated with air travel, and permits the scheduling of surveillance priorities in both space and time for preventing the entrance of exotic species. Quantifying the levels of invasion and the potential invasion routes enables the identifica- tion of areas at risk of invasion, and therefore al- lows for targeted surveillance and control actions to prevent the movement and establishment of exotic species. The optimization of control opera- tions is necessary to allocate the limited number of resources available in the most appropriate way, and assure the efficiency of surveillance sys- tems in reducing the introduction and establish- ment of exotic species. References Chytrý, M., Jarosik, V., Pysek, P., Hajek, O., Knollova, I., Tichy, L. & Danihelka, J. (2008) Separating habi- tat invasibility by alien plants from the actual level of invasion. Ecology, 89, 1541-1553. Chytrý, M., Pysek, P., Wild, J., Pino, J., Maskell, L.C. & Vila, M. (2009) European map of alien plant in- vasions based on the quantitative assessment across habitats. Diversity and Distributions, 15, Hobbs, R.J., Arico, S., Aronson, J., Baron, J.S., Bridge- water, P., Cramer, V.A., Epstein, P.R., Ewel, J.J., Klink, C.A., Lugo, A.E., Norton, D., Ojima, D., Richardson, D.M., Sanderson, E.W., Valladares, F., Vila, M., Zamora, R. & Zobel, M. (2006) Novel ecosystems: theoretical and management as- pects of the new ecological world order. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 15, 1-7. Tatem, A.J. & Hay, S.I. (2007) Climatic similarity and biological exchange in the worldwide airline transportation network. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 274, 1489-1496. Tatem, A.J. (2009) The worldwide airline network and the dispersal of exotic species: 2007-2010. Ec- ography, 32, 94-102. Nuria Roura-Pascual Centre Tecnologic Forestal de Catalunya, Sol- sona, Catalonia, Spain e-mail: nrourapascual@gmail.com http://www.ctfc.cat/ Edited by Joaquin Hortal book review Science chic Don’t Be Such a Scientist: talking substance in an age of style, by Randy Olson Island Press, Washington, 2009, 260 pp. ISBN 978-1-59726-563-8 http://www.dontbesuchascientist.com/ Public perception of the value of science and sci- entists is overwhelmingly positive in the USA (Pew-AAAS 2009). However, the standing of sci- ence as the nation’s greatest achievement has declined significantly in the past decade. The most alarming aspect is that science’s decline is not simply an artifact of the rise of other achieve- ments; one-tenth of the population now recognize nothing as, or simply didn’t know what was, in- stead of science, the greatest achievement of the last 50 years (Pew-AAAS 2009). Studies in Europe indicate similar trajectories, and although interest in science is positively correlated with science lit- eracy the relationship breaks down in highly liter- ate industrialized nations (Bauer et al. 1994; Allum et al. 2008). These observations are consistent with perceptions that changing recreational habits (Kristof 2009) and the [US] news media are under- mining public understanding of science (Pew- AAAS 2009). Half of US scientists believe the me- dia oversimplifies scientific findings, half believe the general public expects results too quickly, and three-quarters believe the media doesn’t distin- guish between robust and tentative results. The © 2009 the authors; journal compilation © 2009 The International Biogeography Society — frontiers of biogeography 1.1, 2009