Product Description
The brief, paperback version of the best-selling Earth Science, this book offers a user-friendly overview of the physical environment. It retains the hallmarks expected from Fred Lutgens and Ed Tarbuck—a reader-friendly writing style, carefully crafted art program, and coverage of the most recent current events. For the first time, each copy of the book comes packaged with the GEODe: Earth Science CD-ROM.Discusses key topics such as Earth materials, earth's external and internal processes, Earth's history, the global ocean, and the atmosphere.For anyone interested in Earth Science. ... Read more

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This handbook presents an indispensable compilation of fundamental facts and figures about the Earth. It brings together reliable physical, chemical, biological and historical data in a series of 145 easy to read tables, supplemented by maps, charts and color plates. Eleven sections cover topics spanning the Earth's geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, with one section focusing on other bodies in the Solar System. Full references for the original data sources are provided to enable users to access further detail, and the appendix provides practical information on units and conversion factors. Compact and easy to use, this handy book provides a time-saving first point of reference for researchers, students and practitioners in the Earth and Environmental Sciences. It allows scientists easy access to basic information on topics outside their specialization, and is also a convenient resource for non-scientists such as economists, policy makers and journalists. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Great read but could use more photos to illustrate concepts
This is a superb volume.It`s interesting to read, well organized, gives a broad overview of the field, and presents illustrations of how geologists are able to contribute meaningfully to our understanding of the human past.

The authors cover a broad range of subjects, including the development of the consiliance (Wilson would be proud) between archaeology and geology, that is between what might be seen as basically a "social science" and a so-called "hard science."They discuss some of the background of both disciplines, which really arose as official fields of endeavor in the 19th century, although both have significant roots in the 17th and 18th centuries.(Thomas Jefferson in the 18th century comes to mind as do Steno and Hutton).

The subject of petrology---igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic---and how it contributes to an understanding of the stratigraphy of a site is very informative.The particular character of the paleoenvironment that encouraged humans to occupy a site in the first place is also very illuminating.The authors also point out the contributions ofpaleoclimatology, palynology, zooarchaology, fluvial systems, and other types of earth history studies that help give the reader a clearer understanding of the pre-historic and ancient historic worlds.

What I found particularly interesting was their discussions of the effects of upstream erosive processes on various segments of rivers, since these are still actions in force today.The human effects on terrain become very obvious here.While the data were drawn mostly from the rivers in the United Kingdom, some material on German and French rivers and on the US Mississippi are also included.The effects of the earthquakes of 1812-1813 in New Madrid, Missouri on the Mississippi were especially amazing.(An interesting discussion of this particular event is found in When the Mississippi Ran Backwards : Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes.


Information on conservation of sites provides a much clearer understanding of the problems involved in preserving a site once it has been found and its material remains exhumed.They discuss water-logged material, bog material, and modern day environmental effects on site preservation.A description of the leaning tower of Pisa and its issues was especially illustrative, since it reveals the effects of substrate on ancient buildings.Theirpresentation of geological data on Maya temples and the karstic substrate on which they are built made more sense of their abandonment than many other theories.The effect of site choice without an adequate understanding the effects of substrate are particularly obvious in their mention of a modern building in Mexico which has sunk several feet because of the "built" land underlying it.


Like the book Alluvial Geoarchaeology: Floodplain Archaeology and Environmental Change (Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology), which I also read and reviewed, this one relies heavily on schematic illustrations to clarify concepts.While these put the basic ideas across, they do not really provide a very clear understanding of what the worker is likely to find in the field.Here too, I would suggest more photos of sites that illustrate what is being discussed, so that beginning geoarchaeologist or archaeologist has a better handle on what to expect.Seismic features, discontinuities, unconformitities, fining up and fining down, the different soil horizons and the types found in different climates need more than a diagram for the novice to really grasp some of these features as they are commonly seen in the field.I suspect a field trip with this in mind would be very useful.

I would recommend this book to any beginning earth history, archeology, or basic geology class, certainly as a reading list entry.Brown's book is a more depthy discussion specifically of fluvial systems and is a little more difficult to stick to, but since many sites, especially prehistoric sites, are buried by river deposition and revealed by aggradation, an understanding of the behavior of rivers and their effect on archaeological sites and materials is especially useful. I would suggest that the two books be read together.Certainly they reinforce and augment one another.

A great read, but it could have used more photos.

The "other" five stars book on Geoarchaeology
I have previously reviewed the book "Practical and Theoretical Geoarchaeology" by Goldberg and Macphail and I've given it 5 stars. This one is anoother five-stars book on geoarchaeology, especially since this second edition has been considerably expanded by about 80 pages.

The two books are both excelent, but they possess diferent strenghts: Goldberg&Macphail's book relies heavily on landscapes, sediments, soils, stratigraphy, soil chemistry and especially soil micromorphology; it also is excelent due to coverage of field and laboratory methods.

Although this focus is excelent (the book covers these topics extensively) it lets out a lot of other topics; for example, environmental studies in a archaeological context are left out (the authors consider it a separate field of study done by a separate team), and so are Archaeometric studies which the authors also consider to be out of the field of Geoarchaeology (they dedicate a chapter to some archaeometric studies, but the coverage is not only incomplete but the information is also very sparse).

On the other hand, Rapp's book, although beying relatively brief in coverage of the multiple topics does cover everything that the geosciences can contribute to Archaeology, from the same topics covered by Goldberg&Macphail's book, to environmental studies and Archaeometry (like, for example, provenance studies involving trace-element patterns and stable isotopes, etc). Rapp's book is by far the most complete in terms of coverage (especially this second edition) but it is also the most brief and succint; Goldberg&Macphail's book does not cover all the ground Rapp's book covers and leaves a lot out, but on the other side it its coverage of the featured topics is much more comprehensive.

All in all, two execelent books in Geoarchaeology that deserve to be each in the 5 stars pantheon; nevertheless you should be aware of the different strenghts of each one when you make your choice. If you're like me, you'll buy both.

Geoarchaeology: The Earth Science Approach to Archaeological Interpretation
Excellent guide to geoarchaeological interpretation and processes. A must have for beginners and practisioners of archaeology. ... Read more

Product Description
Over the last decade, the study of cycles as a model for the earth's changing climate has become a new science. Earth Systems Science is the basis for understanding all aspects of anthropogenic global change, such as chemically forced global climate change. The work is aimed at those students interested in the emerging scientific discipline.
Earth Systems Science is an integrated discipline that has been rapidly developing over the last two decades. New information is included in this updated edition so that the text remains relevant.
This volume contains five new chapters, but of special importance is the inclusion of an expanded set of student exercises.
The two senior authors are leading scientists in their fields and have been awarded numerous prizes for their research efforts.

* First edition was widely adopted
* Authors are highly respected in their field
* Global climate change, integral to the book, is now one of the most important issues in atmospheric sciences and oceanography ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Good Book
This looks a great book with lots of useful ideas. It was in good shape and no problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Really can't say.
Have not read this book entirely.It looks like it was written for younger readers. ... Read more

Product Description
Featuring easy-to-read and -understand chronologies, biographies, glossary entries, and charts, measurements, and formulas, students, teachers, and general readers will consider these books primary one-stop resources for quick answers to frequently asked science questions. Among the topics covered are: acid rain, air pollution, Antarctic Circle, archoen eon, asteroids, barrier reefs, common rocks. Biographies include: Aristotle, Nicolas Copernicus, Charles Darwin, René Descartes, Galileo Galilei, Edwin Hubble, Sir Isaac Newton, Ptomely, Carl Sagan, Leonardo da Vinci. Tables, charts, and diagrams include: Beaufort wind scale, cloud chart, comparative oceans chart, dinosaur classification, geologic table, Ice Ages, major hurricanes, periodic table. ... Read more

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Focus on earth science ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good choice
Book was in fairly good shape.I bought book as a backup for home usage becuase of textbook shortage at my son's school.

Great Earth Science Textbook
This textbook makes a potentially dull subject interesting. Thanks to Amazon.com for making textbooks available at reasonable prices. ... Read more

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Presents a collection of the thoughts of some of the most forward-looking scholars from the Earth sciences, philosophy and public policy on the topic of Earth sciences changing role in society. Softcover. DLC: Earth sciences--Philosophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Primary Reconnaissance
To any serious observer and critic of the current `State of the Earth'-this book is a crucial resource.Carl Mitcham, in a review that also lives on this site, has done an even-handed job of highlightingparticular articles and their merits.I would agree with and refer youback to his observations, but for one point. Mitcham's own essay is not aweak link in the collection, but, in fact, brings up the central concern ofthe volume eloquently:

"Rather than being hyperactive cheerleaders forthe future or sullen critics of the present we must attempt to think it, torecognize ever more clearly what has happened and what is at stake--inpart, through a studied dialogue with ancestors and alternatives..."

"Earth Matters" provides a quality forum for studied dialogue, alternativeways of thinking through and naming things, and collapsing traditionalboundaries in search of progressive, adaptive and compassionate responsesto what most see as a precarious state in environmental affairs.Readingit is entering the forum and participating in the dialogue, for many of thequestions begin with an examination of self.These authors are indeed `theadults-in-the-room'-deeply respected and serious writers from acrossseveral disciplines.There isn't a hint of brash extremism here, butrather, a disciplined, contemplative and often poetic approach to subtleand complex issues.

Thinking the geosciences
First, in the interests of full disclosure, I should note that an essay of mine is included in this volume.However, I think my contribution is among the weaker in the book, and I give this volume the rating I do because ofthe high quality of the other contributions.Also, I am one of two peopleto whom the editor graciously dedicated the book, a compliment for which Iam grateful but which I have tried to set aside as an influence on thisreview.

What makes this book outstanding is its attempt to advancephilosophical reflection on the earth sciences.Martin Heidegger once madea remark to the effect that the sciences do not think, they simply analyzeand re-present.This book attempts to move beyond Heidegger by engaging ininterdisciplinary philosophical reflection on the nature and meaning of thegeosciences.These reflections range from hydrologist Victor Baker'ssemiotics of the earth sciences and philosopher Kristin Shrader-Frechette'scritique of positivist epistemology in geological modelling to BruceFoltz's careful phenomenological attention to how the geosciences can helpprovide human orientation in the world and Albert Borgmann's expressions ofconcern for the implications of the digitalization of information ingeology.Christine Turner provides an introduction to the experience ofthe field sciences.Daniel Sarewitz critiques excessive attempts to relyon objectivity.Scott McLean, Eldrige Moores, and David Robertson examinehow geology is manifest in the poetry of Gary Snyder.Alphonso Lingisexamines "ecological emotions."And more.This is, truly, amost remarkable book, that advances not just the development of aphilosophy of the geosciences but the philosophy of science.

Weaknesses:The book deserves a much more robust and programatic introduction; and agood annotated bibliography would have been a very serviceable addition. ... Read more

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If you’re looking for the most fun on Earth…

• Make your own fossils (pg. 39)
• Create a tsunami in your bathtub (pg. 45)
• Watch a volcano erupt (pg. 47)
• Follow the path of a mini-glacier (pg. 73)

Customer Reviews (4)

The Earth Science Book:Activities for Kids
Although, at first glance this title looks too simple for my Middle School students, I must revise that opinion because the demonstrations and the labs I have been able to draw from this book have been exciting and will help greatly in this years classes. I believe that some of the material in this book will create an excitment in the classroom and help develop a much better understanding of many concepts for students who learn visually and by hands on experiences. I highly recommend this book to all teachers, parents, and students who have an interest in the Earth Sciences.

The Earth Science Book
Excellent book for young, great for Cub Scouts, too.I may have to buy two so I can give one to my grandson.Perfect for home schooling.

Good for Elementary Use
I bought this book for use in my sixth grade classroom, it is a little to basic for my students but there are a few good demonstration and activity ideas.I bought the book looking for a large number of activities, and I found that this book has a little too much explanatory information on some subjects (1 activity every 2-3 pages in the book).I just wanted activities, not another textbook! I can see that for a self contained elementary classroom it would be a good resource and it should be marketed K-5.

It's OK but where are the foldables
I had an earlier book that Dinah Zike had written about Earth Science ideas and foldables.I thought this would be the same.Since I allowed someone to borrow that book (and they never returned it), I am lost.

This book isn't anything like her other book.This is like the Janet Van Cleave books.Which is are OK, but I already have 1000s of activities.I needed the foldables to go with the activities I already have.

I was disappointed.But since it would cost almost half of the price of the book to return it....I just kept it and think it will be a good present for a brand new science teacher. ... Read more

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Never HIGHLIGHT a Book Again!Virtually all testable terms, concepts, persons, places, and events are included. Cram101 Textbook Outlines gives all of the outlines, highlights, notes for your textbook with optional online practice tests. Only Cram101 Out ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Reviewed by an Earth Science Teacher
This textbook is ideal for New York students, but students outside New York and the general reader will appreciate it as well. It is clearly written. It covers all topics which should be taught in a modern Earth Science classroom. The content is up-to date. The chapter introductions useful. The content is relevant to students and to general readers. The activities are useful. The chapter questions are thought provoking. The reading level is appropriate. The photos and illustrations are helpful and well done. My only complaint would be that there are no color illustrations. We just ordered our first set of one-hundred.
-Charles Burrows, Spring Valley HS, East Ramapo CSD, New York. ... Read more

Product Description
This leading dictionary--now in its third edition--offers wide-ranging and authoritative coverage of the earth sciences and related topics. In more than 6,250 clear and accessible entries, it covers geology, oceanography, paleontology, mineralogy, volcanology, and planetary science as well as climatology, geochemistry, and petrology. The third edition is fully updated and includes additional coverage of process geomorphology and physical geography, plus more than 50 new line drawings to accompany descriptions of forms and processes. The new edition also features web links accessed via a companion website, featuring additional information that is regularly updated to ensure that it stays fresh. Finally, the book has a revised bibliography and a number of appendices that include a revised geological time scale, stratigraphic units, lunar and Martian time scales, wind-strength scales, and SI units. It is an essential reference for students of geography, geology, and earth sciences and in related disciplines. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Helpful, but not perfect
Using to support the study of Geology for this years High School academic decathlon.I haven't found all the terms used in our study guide, but it has been quite helpful.

Great reference for all knowledge levels
I am a geologist but there are always new terms and no one seems to be consistant on old terminology so I got this for a quick reminder reference. Some of my other dictionaries ( I have at least 4 others as well) have definitions that are never relative to my subject or make sense. This one does and has each meaning or usage of the term! highly recommended!

Review of the 2nd edition (1999)
While not an earth sciences person myself, I have had to plow through quite a number of environmental science dictionaries and textbooks over the years as references for various aspects of projects at my job (which has to do with environmental modelling, representation, and simulation). It'd be a shame to let all that "how would an educated layperson cope with this book" experience go to waste...

The authors themselves make clear in their prefaces (that for the first edition is also included) what the intended use of the book is - as a dictionary of words and terms in current use, in order to explain that usage (*not* to express an opinion on what a correct usage should be). (In compiling any sort of dictionary/glossary across multiple disciplines, believe me, it's *very* difficult to agree on The One True Definition (TM) of any term.)

The DICTIONARY isn't intended as a textbook, but might be a useful supplement. There are occasional diagrams, but not many relative to the number of entries.

A DICTIONARY OF EARTH SCIENCES doesn't *just* tackle geologic terms - if it did, it'd be titled differently. The scope includes "terms from climatology, meteorology, economic geology, engineering geology, geochemistry, geochronology, geomorphology, geophysics, hydrology, mineralogy, oceanography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, palaeogeography, palaeontology, pedology, petrology...planetary geology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, structural geology, tectonics, and volcanology."

Having such a broad scope, it's good for general / introductory knowledge, on the whole, but don't expect *too* much of it for more specialized areas.

It passes my personal, idiosyncratic acid test; it not only defines the Udden-Wentworth scale of particle size (which is used to grade sands, silts, gravel, etc.), but gives both its common names. (Far too many textbooks seem to assume that the scale fell out of the sky and don't even give its name.) So it's reasonably good at defining very common terms and tools that are often assumed to need no explanation.

Differences from the first edition: all terms were reviewed, many updated. There were a few removals of terms no longer considered relevant, and a great many additions (this last generated mostly by planetary exploration both in space and for natural resources).

Good Undergraduate Reference
I found this dictionary very useful for my geology, climate, and meteorology classes as an undergraduate.

Very helpful
Being an Earth Science major in school, I found this book helpful for most general Earth Science terms, but when it gets down to the more advanced terms (ie for mineralogy, petrography, etc), this book is somewhat lacking. Overall helpful with general knowledge. ... Read more

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This is an outstanding overview of the history of the Earth from a unique planetary perspective for introductory courses in the earth sciences. The book approaches Earth history as an evolution, encompassing the origin of the cosmos through the inner working of living cells. Earth:Evolution of a Habitable World tells how the Earth has come to its present state, why it differs from its neighboring planets, what life's place is in Earth's history, how humanity affects the processes that make our planet livable, and contemplates human influences in the context of natural changes on Earth. This book brings a fresh perspective to the study of the Earth for students who wish to learn how our planet evolved to its present form. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

perfect book for reference
If you're looking for a book that is a great read and even a better reference book about the geosciences, this is the one.I refer to it often in my scientific education.The references at the end of each chapter arealso a great way for people to get further information on each subject, ifthey need it.

The evolution of our planet from a new perspective
Earth, Evolution of a Habitable World by Jonathan I. Lunine

Review by Philip Eklund

Dr. Lunine is a Professor of Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona, and a NASA advisor. His new book describes Earth'sevolution in a fresh perspective, in relation to its sister planets,particularly Mars and Venus. This 319 page textbook covers Earth's origin,the development of its atmosphere and oceans, the variations of its orbitand climate, and at what point we are enmeshed in its long and livelyhistory. The reader can see how we can be unwittingly in the teeth of anice age and why the number of species has crescendoed now, in our time.

The vast territory that Lunine succinctly covers is all that anyone witha bit of gumption needs to become an authority on the state of our planet.Guideposts to this territory include the sciences of measurement(basically, math, the metric system, and dating methods), and of physics asapplied to geology and biology (and some chemistry). Unfortunately Luninesometimes lapses into off-topic diversions of astronomy (Doppler shifts,lunar phases, Stonehenge, eclipses, and aging planets by the density oftheir craters). Also, there is no glossary, but the index is adequate. (Afew undefined jargons, like "cratonization", sneak in.)

Thebook is profusely illustrated by Jonathan's wife, Cynthia. There is a colorsection, mostly of refugees of some astronomy book showing various wondersof the universe. But one color map of the Southwest occupied my attentionfor a long time. It compares vegetation regimes during the Pleistocene andthe Present, the ancient record being derived from pollen countsmeticulously gleaned from old packrat middens. I amused myself by examiningthese data to see whether elephants could be reintroduced into Arizona.Another color figure shows fantastic computer sequences on how the moonmust have been formed by an impact between Earth and a Mars-sized billiardball.

The description of the origin of life is a gem. Lunine's compellingprose springs out as lively as the quasi-stable whirlpools of life hedescribes (basically an autocatalysis model describing a mode of lifeexisting before reproduction). An alternative model depicting an RNA originof life is provided mainly for comic relief. Although the role of biologyin forming Earth's almost explosive atmosphere covers several subsequentchapters, life is depicted as along for the ride, and the Gaia"biofeedback" theory is dismissed in a sentence.

Unfortunately, the origin of sentience, an event indisputably moreprofound than the origin of life, is not mentioned. However, the fossilevolution rise of humanity, particularly the Neanderthals, is wonderfullycovered. Lunine mentions the "blitzkrieg" theory of his neighbor,Dr. Paul Martin, who postulates the extinction of American megafauna, suchas the great elephants and saber-tooths, as being the result of theinvasion of "native" Americans with spears. A nice contrast tothe increase in American bio-diversity that accompanied the post-Columbianinvasion of technologically advanced humans.

Lunine was identified byTime magazine as one of its 1994 "50 for the Future" list ofemerging American leaders. Lunine himself would prefer the term"policy-maker" to leader, in the sense of presenting knowledgethat self-led individuals can organize into principles of purposeful andlong range action. The power of a comprehensive book such as this is thatcurrent issues such as global warming can be put in the perspective of past"atmosphere crises" of Earth, such as the super-high greenhouseprevailing at the end of the dinosaur era.

The penultimate chapter,titled "Limited Resources" fails this potential, being anecdotalwithout the factual rigor of the preceding chapters. (I was told that thischapter was written at the last minute at the request of the publisher.)Lunine starts by treating limited resources and overpopulation as arbitraryassertions, in defiance of his tradition of listing the assumptions ofevery dating method or limitations of climate modeling.

On the plus side,Lunine does take a rational stand against the Luddites. But where are thecharts on air pollution, famine frequencies, human fertility, wetland orforest land acreage, etc. over time? The charts that do appear, onprojections of population, energy use, kilos of grain per person, and"undiscovered" oil, have none of the error bars, validation, orcontext of previous chapters. Bemoaning the tiny amount of land urbanizedeach year to support farmers moving to the cities as a result of aworld-wide food glut is an example of the surreal non-sequitor grab-bag ofalarmist insinuations of which fill this chapter.

Particularly nasty isthe bromide that less industrialized nations need a "reasonable"standard of living, with the implication that the U.S., (which creates mostof the resources that feed and run the world), somehow deprives them ofthis even as the U.S. demonstrates the technological and politicalblueprints on how to achieve abundance. Since humans are too greedy orstupid to be allowed the freedom to despoil their own nest, only coerciveregulation, or supra-governmental "cooperation" is required totell their citizenry what is in their own best interests at gun-point. Thenadir of these politics is an inexcusable sanction of coercivesterilization in China.

Other than the coverage of our most recentmillennium, Lunine has written a tightly integrated and ambitious book.Particularly evocative is the imagery of the continents, floating andjostled into each other like froth on the churning oceanic plates of theEarth, teeming with a surprisingly robust and assertive biologicalcomponent, laughing yet seesawing through cosmic disasters, extinctions,and self-induced crises of a scale that reduces the palimpsest of humanintervention to ripples from a plunked stone.

This beautiful and vigorousaccomplishment surmounts what has heretofore been a dry subject, and itliterally groundbreaks the placement of our planet and ourselves in theobjective context of existence and history. ... Read more

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Product Description
This series shows readers how to research and create their own science projects with examples building in complexity.Each title provides an overview of the scientific method with tips as to how a student can best create a science project. Each experiment includes planning, preparation, skill level, materials needed, cost and details of the project with a list of print and digital resources for background research. This title addresses the analysis and interpretation of experiments and the importance of safety. All experiments highlight the importance of scientific enquiry and the scientific method. ... Read more

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Describes the process of erosion, including how the power of wind, water, and glaciers have changed the Earth's surface. Includes information on fossils. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good General Reference
I received the book originally in 1984 as a gift when I started my undergraduate degree in Earth Sciences. I made use of it as a reference and study guide throughout my university career and now my wife uses it for her lecture materials. The text is easily readable and not too technical for the layman. The plates and diagrams are appropriate and easy to follow. The overall organisation of the book is well thought out. A pity it is out of print, but a worthy addition to any library. ... Read more