Günter Wagner reviewed the book in
Science, describing it as "an exciting read on many levels" due to Ginzburg and Colyvan's explanations throughout the book. He said that the book placing individual energy consumption at the centre of its theory was "novel" and that if Ginzburg and Colyvan were right about the practical consequences of their theory, "
Ecological Orbits ought to become an instant classic, one to be read by every professional and aspiring ecologist and environmental biologist." He also said that it was possible that "
Ecological Orbits may well turn out to mark such a transition from what was considered unthinkable—namely a rigorous and nontrivial theory of population dynamics akin to a law of nature—to a real scientific achievement." In
The Quarterly Review of Biology,
Charles J. Krebs said that the book "explores the analogy between planetary motion and population growth in a novel way that provides some exciting insights into the fundamental structure of theoretical population biology." He described Ginzburg and Colyvan's argument as "persuasive" and says his "only complaint" is that the term "maternal effects" was "used too loosely to mean all delayed effects by which one generation affects the biology of the following generations, rather than being restricted to the biological mechanisms". In a review of the book published in the
International Society for Behavioral Ecology Newsletter, Scott M. Ramsay questioned how novel the idea of time lags and maternal effects were in population ecology, saying that time lags are often included in ecology textbooks and that the maternal effect has been known about since the 1950s. He said that he was left wondering whether "it [is] fair that this book be criticized for being merely derivative, or should the authors be applauded for bringing attention to ideas that have resisted incorporation in population modeling?" He also felt that the analogy between population dynamics and classical mechanics was less strong than Ginzburg and Colyvan argue, saying that the data they present may be able to be explained by non-inertial models. Nonetheless, he thought the writing style "was generally quite good" and that the book "should be of obvious interest to theoretical ecologists" whilst also being accessible to graduate students and advanced undergraduates. In
Ecology, Robert P. Freckleton criticised the book for presenting a completely deterministic model of population dynamics that ignores
stochastic effects such as the effects of weather, saying that their model "must be regarded to be incomplete" as a result. Freckleton says that this is an important omission because stochasticity can provide an alternative mechanism for accelerated deaths in populations. Freckleton also argues that the book has a
zoological bias, focusing on the population dynamics of animals to the exclusion of the population dynamics of plants. He says that deterministic models have been successfully applied to plant populations but that population cycles are generally not observed contrary to what the maternal effect hypothesis predicts. He also felt that the argument in the book may have been more suited to a more succinct presentation in a journal article. He concluded by saying "[h]aving said all this, I enjoyed reading the book and I got food for thought." John M. Drake reviewed the book in
The American Midland Naturalist. He said that it presents "a fresh and stimulating perspective" that "challenges one to take seriously the problem that the conceptual foundations of our discipline are still to be questioned, interpreted, challenged and modified or approved." He thought that it was "a pleasure to read" and had a tone that was "disarming and engaging", making it accessible for undergraduates and interested non-scientists. However, he felt that the philosophical portion of the book focusing on whether ecology has laws was engaging in a "misguided" dispute and was "a bit tiresome". Serge Luryi reviewed the book in
Physics Today, saying "I recommend it highly as a true pleasure to read." He described Ginzburg "an eager and capable revolutionary" for his work in ecology and says that the philosophy in the book "should not scare away the prospective reader as it is presented in a very lighthearted way." John Matthewson reviewed the book in the
Australasian Journal of Philosophy, describing it as brief but dense and deep in its exposition of scientific and philosophical issues. Nonetheless, he thought that it could have been made longer so that some of the mathematical points could be explained more accessibly for lay readers. He also thought that this would allow some of the philosophical arguments, which he thought some readers may find "unsatisfying", to be developed in more depth. For example, he argues that the book's argument that laws of nature in physics and ecology are equally open to question could lead us to conclude that neither have genuine laws rather than that both do as Ginzburg and Colyvan argue. Furthermore, he says that there are differences between ecological and physical laws not considered in the book, such as physical laws being universal. Overall, he characterises these problems as "minor points given all that there is to enjoy in this book" and says that
Ecological Orbits is "a fantastic example of what can result when scientists and philosophers collaborate." == References ==