Customer Reviews

The Mechanics of Earthquakes and Faulting (2nd Edition)

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Christopher Scholz has written a welcome update to the classic 1990 edition of his book, and if you thought that Crustal Deformation was a field where nothing exciting happens, think again! Substantial chunks of the book have been re-written and re-organized to bring the text bang up-to-date with the cutting edge of tectonics and rock mechanics research.
The beauty of this book is that Scholz, along with his students and research associates, basically has been the cutting edge of research in this field for the past 30 years. The book therefore reads as a guide to the evolution of ideas and a personal memoir of scientific exploration, while allowing the reader to follow the same thought processes, and more fully understand what we currently think regarding these subjects.
The text is a monograph, quite different from the usual condescending tone found in textbooks, and can be understood and appreciated by readers of widely differing abilities, from interested laymen to fellow researchers. Thorough explanations are given for each topic, with examples taken from actual scientific papers, putting the reader in touch with the original papers, a glaring omission in many other textbooks. The language is never more complicated than it needs to be, and Scholz's straight-forward explanations and no-nonsense style make comprehension almost too easy, leaving the reader a real feeling that one has learned something at the end, which will come as a breath of fresh air to any student that has suffered through a horribly dull and irrelevent lecture, only to remain scratching their head at the end.
The book is a tribute to the intellect and longeivity of the man's career, blessed as he is with a happy knack for being proven "right" by the passing of time, and continuing accumulation of research results. A classic text, and again, a must-read for anyone with a desire to know more about the planet we live on.

Prof. Scholz of Columbia summarizes the science of rock mechanics.

This book is the easiest way to gain a first foothold in the physics of how faults behave. In fact, as far as I know, it may be the only way, short of attempting a PhD in geophysics. I've read it (and hope I remember at least a fraction of its contents), used it in class, and even given away a copy or two to students.

If only more scientists could write as well. As a side light, Chris has also written a book for the general reader on the excitement of discovering the tectonics of Africa, Fieldwork: A Geologist's Memoir of the Kalahari, which I highly recommend.

It came on the last possible day of the given range, but it was in very nice condition. No complaints.