Customer Reviews

Physical Geology: Earth Revealed

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

 

 

I used this text for my Geology 101 class. The testing your knowledge and the terms for each chapter help even the geologically challenged understand the material. The text is beautifully illustrated and will be the first college text I won't sell immediately after the semester ends.

Attending a Geology class, my Professor gave a 5 minute insight on course materials. The course required Earth Revealed 11-12th edition, and he was genuine enough to explain 'editions'. He told us if we have a earlier edition of the book it would suffice just fine. That 'editions' is what keeps the author in business which is usually the same exact information with new book cover art and small changes. In some circumstances they'll rearrange chapters and add modern events replacing old events as analogies. With this said, it doesn't mean you can attend a 2010 class and use a edition from the 18th century he joked; use common sense.
The whole college book thing is a scam in my opinion. The modern version of the book was 160$ which I rented a *used* copy for $63. After returning the book I found a 5th edition on Amazon, a good used book for $5. I remembered what the professor said and decided to see for myself. Clicked, added to cart, and removing from mailbox a few days later I was amazed. The exact same information was there, with a few minor differences. Some of the differences included events. Example the fifth edition (2003) had a photo from Taiwan's 1993 earth quake while the recent edition published in 2009 showed a photo of the Tsunami in 2006. Another difference was the art work, just like Professor stated. Example, the introductory chapter page for each chapter, had river rocks bordering it while the newer edition had like a mountain scene. You might find a few different diagrams between both, but depicting the same theory. In fifth edition I found paragraph titles colored, 'convergent plate boundaries' was bold and purple while it was bold and black in newer edition. In all honesty, I find the fifth edition more easy to digest and more aesthetically pleasing.

Don't be afraid to purchase a class book a few editions earlier, especially a introductory book. Don't be afraid to ask a professor if it's ok to use a certain edition; you'll probably find all of them saying it's ok. You won't be doing any class reading from the book except listening to lectures and the reading is solely your responsibility. These types of books often included a free weblink to the book where you'll find updated information/animations/etc. The link for this book is [...] You can click the 'what's new' and see what's been added to the book or revised.

Physical Geology: Earth Revealed, by Diane Carlson, is a very informative and complete geology textbook. The book is full of excellent photos that really bring the subject matter to the forefront. One of the books true hi-lights are the various "Reading Boxes" included with each chapter. These reading boxes take more in-depth looks at the various topics in the books. The textbook is well-written and somewhat enjoyable. It is organized in a very easy to follow manner.

This text is very thorough and the explanations are given in great detail. I found the material to be very interesting and presented in an easy-to-understand format.

I is an excellent textbook; however, I was under the understanding that I would be getting the 7th edition , not the 4th edition. I kept it anyway, since 95% of the information is still current. It also came with 2 excellent CD ROM's.

Being a textbook, this was not exactly a "wanted" purchase, so I decided on a used book. This was listed as a used book, but it is abosulutely perfect. It looks brand new. I am very happy with the book I received and the amount I paid. Thank you very much for the opportunity to save money and receive a great looking product.

I recieved a like new text book for a great price and recived it good time. Thanx!

It took me over 2 weeks to receive my purchase. I got an email 1 week and 1/2 after I purchased the item saying they had lost my mailing address. I didn't have my book for one of my test for college and received a poor grade do to it. I would recommend buying from this seller.