Reading the Earth: Landforms in the Making [Paperback]

Jerome Wyckoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2003 | ISBN-10: 0967407508 | ISBN-13: 978-0967407500

Written for earth science teachers, civil engineers, photographers, archaeologists, park rangers, hikers, and nature enthusiasts of all kinds, this comprehensive guide to landforms and landscapes provides rich illustrations and detailed captions of some of the most beautiful places on the planet. Natural features including mountains, volcanoes, rivers, glaciers, plains, plateaus, and deserts are covered, with examples from around the world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A marvelous reference for anyone concerned with natural resource protection." -- Marie Curtis, New Jersey Environmental Lobby

"Clearly written . . . eye-catching . . . sound . . . for home, office, or field." -- Journal of Geoscience Education

"Excellent . . . rich illustrations, graceful writing, useful for Reference . . . good index . . . recommended." -- Geotimes

From the Publisher

When Mr. Wyckoff asked us to become involved in this project, we were delighted! He's an extremely knowledgeable and widely traveled gentleman - in the true meaning of the word - whose pleasure in the world's beauty shines through on the pages of this book. He's also a formidible author, with over a million book sales in seven languages to his credit and a reputation for fine work in publishing science for laypeople.

Many of the photos in Reading the Earth are Mr. Wyckoff's own, taken all over the globe during a lifetime of international exploration. The book is packed with page after page of stunning landscapes in full color (over 500!), each clearly illustrating different types of landforms and the geological forces that make them as they are. Between the photos you'll find a text that's clear and easy to read, imparting interesting information with generosity and an easy flair. All of us who worked on this book are seeing the landscapes around us with different eyes these days.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Jerome Wyckoff (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967407508
• ISBN-13: 978-0967407500
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #786,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Pretty Picture Book But..., June 5, 2005

By 

C. A. SMITH (Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Reading the Earth: Landforms in the Making (Paperback)

The idea behind this book is commendable. Apparently the concept was to give brief, non-technical discussions of the geological processes which cause landforms and to illustrate the results of these processes with hundreds of beautiful color photographs and a few simple diagrams. Unfortunately, the only part of the concept which was well executed was the photographs. The accompanying text is poorly written and riddled with errors. The errors range from the numerical to the conceptual to the geographical. This was particularly disappointing since an apparently qualified geologist, Donald R. Coates, is listed as the book's technical advisor. The number and types of errors in the book cause me to wonder if Coates, or any other geologist, even read the text. Due to the high level of errors, this book is totally inappropriate for its target audience, non-geologists with an interest in landforms and the geological processes behind them. Geologists who want to thumb through the photographs may find the book interesting, but hardly worth the substantial price.

I'll give few examples of the errors that I noted during what began as a thorough read but which soon became a page flipping scan, since I did not want to devote the time to reading such a poorly executed text. Many of the errors are numerical in nature, some perhaps caused by incorrect conversions from metric to English measurements. On page 41, the author correctly gives the grain size distribution of sedimentary particles, using the metric system. Sand size particles are correctly given as ranging from 1/16 to 2 mm. However, on page 271, sand size particle are said to range from 0.01 to 0.25 inches. Doing the English to metric conversions, one finds that this is in error by a factor of more than three!

Another major numerical error is in the book's statements of the thickness of the earth's crust. On pages 10 and 11, the thickness of continental crust is given as either 125 miles, as much as 120 miles, or one thirtieth of the earth's radius, or about 135 miles. Oceanic crustal thickness is given as 65 miles. The best current estimates for crustal thicknesses range from a maximum of 70 km (about 45 miles) for continental crust to about eight km (about 5 miles) for oceanic crust. That means that the book's figures are in error by a factor of three for continental crust and a whopping factor of 13 for oceanic crust. More confusion is evident on page 211, where the crustal thickness of the Colorado Plateau is given as the more or less correct value of 25 miles, but the author states that this is "very thick". How could 25 miles be "very thick" when he gives the typical crustal thickness as 125 miles? Actually, the thickness of the Colorado Plateau is average for the Continental US.

Another type of error is in the incorrect use of simple geological terminology. For example, on page 39 there is a photo of a sample of vesicular basalt which the caption describes and amygdaloidal. (Amygdules are mineral-filled vesicles). In the area of simple geography, which looking at a basic atlas would correct, we are told on page 220 that the river partly encircling the Spanish city of Toledo is the Ebro. At least the Ebro is in Spain, but it is located hundreds of kilometers north of Toledo, and flows into the Mediterranean. The river at Toledo is called the Tajo (Tagus in English) and flows into the Atlantic.

I could go on but the above gives an idea of the factual and conceptual errors contained in this book. The number and type of errors tell me that they are caused by more than just sloppy editing. They must stem from a profound lack of knowledge of the subject matter on the part of the author. They render what could have been an excellent pictorial explanation of landforms into a book that is worse than useless, since it delivers so much false information to its intended, and unsuspecting, lay audience.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading the Earth: Landforms in the Making, March 24, 2003

By 

Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Reading the Earth: Landforms in the Making (Paperback)

Reading the Earth: Landforms in the Making written by Jerome Wyckoff is a richly appointed book with pictures explaining why there are so many different features on the Earth that we tread upon. This book is illustrated with 556 photographs and 75 drawings and has and extensive index of over 6,000 page entries that makes information easy to find.

If you are interested in rock formations and tectonic plate activity, volcanoes and mountains, seacoasts and limestone caverns you'll fall in love with the easy prose and well-explained information in this book. There is information on glaciers and deserts, soluble rocks and sculpures by running water. Not to mention, there is extensive information about our changing planet from ancestral earth, inside the earth, crustal plates in motion to regimes of climate, weathering, and gravity movements.

This is an excellent book for high school aged children and older who have an interest about the ground we all walk upon. The prose are engaging and fascinatingly captivating and the author explains the workings of all of the Earth's systems.

I found that I read and reread this book several times and it is a welcome addition to your natural history self in your home library. This book is well worth the money spent as you'll find yourself referencing it many times. For instance there are references for lateral and terminal moraines, drumlins and fluting, and eskers these are explained well with illustrations so you can see what these parts of a glacier activity look like.

This is an excellent book for understanding why the earth is shaped as it is where it is.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book !, October 3, 2000

By 

Ellen Wohl (Colorado U., Ft. Collins, CO.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reading the Earth: Landforms in the Making (Paperback)

Jerome Wyckoff is the author of several very successful books on geology, including `The Story of Geology' and `Rock, Time and Landforms.' `Reading the Earth' adds another excellent volume to the collection of books available to people who may have little or no formal training in geology, but who are curious about the landscapes that surround them. Its introduction describes `Reading the Earth' as a nonspecialist's guide to landforms and one that focuses on specific kinds of landforms rather than on the complex systems that control landform evolution. From there, the reader gets an introduction to geology (timeframe, rock cycle, plate tectonics); petrology (rock types); and weathering -- along with descriptions of the landscapes created by or associated with gravity movements, hillslopes, rivers, igneous activity, structures, mountains, plateaus, plains, glaciers, deserts, karst and coasts. The book's organization is slightly different than the organization geologists usually see in various geomorphology texts, but the structure is, nonetheless, appropriate and effective. Each chapter is a logical progression of ideas and information. The content of the chapter builds on that of the other chapters, or each chapter can stand alone as a source of information on a particular type of landscape. `Reading the Earth' is accessible to the geologist and non-geologist alike, combining rich illustrations with graceful writing. Technical explanations are balanced with poetic, evocative prose and appropriate metaphors and examples that should hold the reader's interest. Wyckoff explains technical terms well enough that they should not provide barriers to a reader who is not a geologist. Populating the book are 556 photographs and 75 line drawings, all both beautiful and effective, illustrating landforms and landform processes from around the world. Above all, the author's obvious appreciation for landscape will enhance the reader's appreciation. It is accessible to readers interested in geology and landscapes, or to students in an introductory geomorphology or landforms course. `Reading the Earth' is also useful as a reference; it has a good index with no errors or inaccuracies. The book's format is attractive, and it is a bargain. I have already recommended `Reading the Earth' to friends who are not geologists but are interested in geology, and I recommend it to any `Geotimes' reader who is fond of good photography and good prose.

Ellen Wohl

Geotimes Magazine review - July 2000 Wohl teaches in the Department of Earth Resources at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colo.