Customer Reviews

Evolution of the Earth

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What I like most about this book is its readability. The tone is very engaging and makes you want to read on. The illustrations (almost all in color) are plentiful and are an invaluable accompaniment to the text.

I would agree with other reviewers that the biggest drawback to this book is its price. The price is way too high, in my opinion, particularly for a paperback book. For that kind of money, I want something sturdier, that will stand up to years of use. This is the only reason I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5.

My only previous exposure to geology or geophysics came from books/classes about the solar system where the Earth is taken as just one example of a planet. This is the first book I've read dedicated to the subject and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

At a high level its coverage includes, the origin of the Earth, geologic time scales, the Earth's interior, the origin of the Earth's magnetic field, volcanoes, plate tectonics, how the continents have varied with time, the interaction of the oceans with land masses and past climate fluctuations.

This book actually covers a lot more material than I expected, including paleobiology and ecology (which I enjoyed reading, but sometimes found it a little too political). There is actually quite a lot of material on paleobiology. It does overlap a fair amount with one of the authors other books, 'Bringing fossils to life', but it wasn't excessive and was well done. There is an appendix with some very nice high-level cladograms.

Although this book doesn't require any particular background, it covers a lot of material and requires some effort to learn it. The authors put in some effort to actually teach the subject and the book illustrates some very interesting science. It also provides some nice illustrations of how science is done.

One nice thing about this book is that it has a lot of color photographs and drawings. That's somewhat unusual among the (non-astronomy) science books I've seen at this level. I found it made the appearance much nicer.

Overall, I liked it a lot and learned a lot from it.

Overall a good introduction to historical geology. Most subjects are presented in an appropriate manner, with colorful illustrations to supplement the concepts discussed. Only concerning the formation of dolomite rocks does this book fall short of maintaining a thourough examination of historical geology concepts.

The only disadvantage that this book has is its price, which is probably due to the amount of illustrations.

I used the first edition of this book by Dott and Batten as an earth science major back in the early 70's, and thought it excellent. I don't know how the new edition stacks up, but the original book was as fine a piece of writing for a textbook as I had ever come across, and geology boasts better than average writers for such things. For example, there is the redoubtable Arthur Beiser, whose many books maintain both a high level of readabilty as well as scholarship.

One major change in the content of the book would no doubt be in regard to the theory of orogenesis, or mountain-building. The first book placed great emphasis on the geosynclinal theory and orthostatic rebound mechanisms. This one is sure to emphasize plate tectonics as the geosynclinal theory seems to have waned in popularity.

The original version of this text was one of the best science texts I ever used in college. If this later edition is half as good it will still be better than 90% of the others.

This book is an easy read more for the visual learner. Has lots of images and great language, this is not for anyone under the age of thirteen and is a written well.

This book is gives you clear and concise knowledge of how evolution works. If anyone questions evolution, they will come out clearly understanding it after this book. It is full of pictures to help you understand the information. It is a clear journey through time

The eighth edition of "Evolution of the Earth" is an excellent summary of earth history, with few typos. The book should include a higher proportion of more current illustrations and diagrams; too many of them are pre-1980's.

This is the most recent edition of a very useful book for students and teachers of paleontology and geology.

This books did not teach me anything worthwhile about geology. I am not my professor chose this book because it is the best tool for learning about geology. I suspect he chose it because it aligns with his views on historical geology.
The authors are in love with a few interpretations of earth history, and bash any other views. This was a poor help for students trying to understand various geological theories for the first time. Most of the students at this level do not have much experience studying rocks, and instead of guiding the learner towards a better understanding, they insist on generalizing complicated processes and stereotyping others.
NOT RECOMMENDED.

The book is in perfect condition just as described. New book at used price. What a deal! Highly recommend.