Amazon.com Review
From
aa to Yellowstone, if it's got anything at all to do with earthquakes or volcanoes, you're likely to find within the pages of this updated encyclopedia from science journalist David Ritchie and Rutgers geology professor Alexander Gates.
The 1,000-plus alphabetical listings range from historical volcanoes and quakes (both famous and obscure) to entries on specific seismic phenomena (everything from parasitic cones to jökulhlaup) and general geological principles, including a few excellent in-depth discussions on topics like plate tectonics and seismic wave types. The encyclopedia also contains a lengthy bibliography, a list of Internet resources, a chronological listing of notable quakes and eruptions, and a handful of unforgettable eyewitness accounts (after the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, apparently Pliny the Elder's party went out "having pillows tied upon their heads with napkins; and this was their whole defense against the storm of stones that fell around them").
With its clear, newspaper-style entries, the Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes will be navigable even to geo-newbies, but its a-to-z organization makes it more useful as a reference than as a stand-alone text. (Then again, given its liberal cross-referencing, you can easily find yourself led to a long, enjoyable read.) --Paul Hughes
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up—More than a simple discussion of the phenomena of the title, this compact but detailed work describes, clearly and accurately, many of the forces that create the Earth's surface features. This edition has approximately 1500 entries, including 200 new ones that provide expanded historical and geographic coverage, events up to 2006, and more on tsunamis. It opens with a necessarily complex, but excellent, essay on the science of plate tectonics, the foundation of modern geology. Next are alphabetical, cross-referenced entries of place names (with information on activity in all U.S. states, as well as expected entries on places like Vesuvius); scientific terms; notable events, such as "Banda Aceh: earthquake and tsunamis" (unfortunately not listed under "tsunami" in either the main encyclopedia or the index); and other short essays ("aviation and volcanoes"). The work benefits from details that are often omitted as too obvious; for example, it explains why the land under the oceans is lower that the rest (it is lighter and more susceptible to gravity). Entries are enhanced by numerous clear, black-and-white maps, diagrams, photographs, and tables. Appendixes include a chronology of earthquakes and volcanoes, with approximate death tolls; eyewitness accounts of major disasters, even describing Vesuvius in A.D. 79; and tables comparing the strengths of various eruptions and quakes. There are no other similar works. Textbooks covering the same information are too dense for this audience; other relevant works are too juvenile.—
Henrietta Thornton-Verma, School Library Journal Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
