Earth System, The [Paperback]

Lee R. Kump (Author), James F. Kasting (Author), Robert G. Crane (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0131773879 | ISBN-13: 978-0131773875 | Publication Date: March 3, 1999 | Edition: 1

The first textbook of its kind that addresses the issues of global change from a true Earth systems perspective, The Earth Systems: An Introduction to Earth Systems Science offers a solid emphasis on lessons from Earth history that may guide decision-making in the future. Designed for the Global Change and Earth System Science courses.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The first book that addresses the issues of global change from a true Earth systems perspective,this new book offers a solid emphasis on lessons from Earth history that may guide decision-making in the future. Offers an innovative systems theory approach that allows for a new way of organizing information from a variety of disciplines as well as of predicting responses of systems to disturbance. Utilizes an Earth history perspective that links the Earth sciences closely with modern global change problems. Includes two boxed features throughout the book that address topical issues related to the material in the text, of high appeal and that discuss advanced, especially quantitative, treatments. Features several computer modules available on the World Wide Web and free when packaged with the book. For Earth scientists who would like a formal introduction to Earth Systems Science.

About the Author

Lee R. KumpGeology and is now editor of the Virtual Journal of Geobiology and associate editor of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. He is a fellow of the Geological Society of America, and received the Distinguished Service Medal from the Geological Society of America in 2000. Dr. Kump's research interests include the behavior of nutrient and trace elements in natural environments, the evolution of ocean and atmosphere composition on geologic time scales, biogeochemical cycling in aquatic environments, and environmental change during extreme events (mass extinctions, extreme warm periods, glaciations) in Earth history.

James F. Kasting is a Professor at Penn State University, where he holds joint appointments in the Departments of Geosciences and Meteorology and is an affiliate of the NASA Astrobiology Institute and Penn State's ESSC. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in Chemistry and Physics and did his PhD in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Michigan. Prior to coming to Penn State in 1988, he spent 7 year§ in the Space Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center. Dr. Kasting is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life. His research focuses on the evolution of planetary atmospheres, particularly the question of why the atmospheres of Mars and Venus are so different from that of Earth. Dr. Kasting is also interested in the question of whether habitable planets exist around other stars and how we might look for signatures of life by doing spectroscopy on their atmospheres.

Robert G. Crane received his PhD in Geography from the University of Colorado, Boulder. After working as a Research Associate in the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the World Data Center-A for Glaciology in Boulder, he spent a year teaching at the University of Saskatchewan before moving to Penn State in 1985. Dr. Crane's research has been on microwave remote sensing of sea ice, ice-climate interactions, and, more recently, regional-scale climate change, climate downscaling techniques, and climate change and variability in southern Africa. He is coeditor of a text on the applications of artificial neural networks in geography. Currently Dr. Crane holds the position of Professor in the Department of Geography and an affiliate of the ESSC. He also serves as the Associate Dean for Education in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div; 1 edition (March 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131773879
• ISBN-13: 978-0131773875
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Geophysics

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best textbook for earth system science, December 6, 2002

By 

Less High Fructose (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth System, The (Paperback)

Earth System Science is a new field, one that evolves much more quickly than textbooks can be revised. This one is as current as you can expect, and it approaches the field of science in a much better way than any other textbook I have seen. In particular, most earth system texts approach the field by morphing from a traditional discipline. Usually, it's a geology textbook revised to include atmospheric, oceanic, and climatic studies. But earth system science requires an interdisciplinary approach from the start, a problem based approach. Our global environmental problems need this approach, and this book covers them in a reasonably detailed and accurate manner.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of how our earth works, December 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Earth System, The (Paperback)

I used this book for an introductory environmental studies course. The book is full of information I had never before discovered. The chapters clearly describe how smaller cycles and feedback mechanisms relate the health of the earth as a whole.

If you are curious about global warming this book has great factual information to start an understanding of the concept.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad textbook, April 11, 2001

By 

Yi-Jien Hwa (Lewiston, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth System, The (Paperback)

I used this book for my Environmental Geology class. Overall I think it's an ok text. It's not as readily understandable an reader friendly as some of the other introductory geology texts on the market that I have read--it's somewhat obsecure at times. I think that it's rather overpriced as well for a black and white paperback textbook.

It does however cover a large selection of material in a succint manner, yet with enough detail to satisfy the curiosity of the interested student. Some of the stuff in this textbook is not common to geology texts--principally the aspects that have to do with the biosphere.

Overall, it's a reasonable textbook, besides the cost, which I think is inflated. Textbook prices are inflated in general in any case!