Earth Science

Earth Science answers the need for a straightforward text that excites readers about the world around them. Perfect for individuals with little-to-no background in science, the text covers geology, oceanography, meteorology, and astronomy clearly and without technical jargon.

This leading dictionary - now in its fourth edition - offers wide-ranging and authoritative coverage of the earth sciences and related topics in over 7,500 clear and accessible entries. Coverage includes geology, planetary science, oceanography, paleontology, mineralogy, and volcanology, as well as climatology, geochemistry, and petrology.

Over the course of the twentieth century, scientists came to accept four counterintuitive yet fundamental facts about the Earth: deep time, continental drift, meteorite impact, and global warming. When first suggested, each proposition violated scientific orthodoxy and was quickly denounced as scientific--and sometimes religious--heresy. Nevertheless, after decades of rejection, scientists came to accept each theory. The stories behind these four discoveries reflect more than the fascinating push and pull of scientific work. They reveal the provocative nature of science and how it raises profound and sometimes uncomfortable truths as it advances.