A Short History of Planet Earth: Mountains, Mammals, Fire, and Ice (Wiley Popular Science) [Paperback]

J. D. MacDougall (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471197033 | ISBN-13: 978-0471197034 | Publication Date: March 30, 1998

"A splendid introduction to geology and paleontology for the lay reader. To compress Earth's history into a single, lucidly written volume is a major achievement."--Publishers Weekly, starred review.

"Few people have both the knowledge and the writing ability to capture such a long and varied history in a compelling manner. In A Short History of Planet Earth, J.D. Macdougal demonstrates that he is one of the few."--Earth.

This exhilarating survey of the four and half billion years of Earth's history charts both the geological and biological history of the planet. It moves from the origin of the earth's iron core to the formation of today's seven continents, and from the primordial building blocks of life to the evolution of the human form.

J.D. MACDOUGALL (San Diego, California) is a professor of earth science at the Scripps Oceanographic Institute of the University of California, San Diego, the premier center for earth science research in the U.S. His work has appeared in Scientific American and the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This survey of four-and-a-half billion years of Earth's past is a splendid introduction to geology and paleontology for the lay reader. MacDougall, a professor of earth science at the Scripps Oceanographic Institute (UC-San Diego), takes us step-by-step through the geologic time scale. Clues to the past lie in rocks, in oxygen isotopes and on the ocean floor. MacDougall traces the rise of continents and the origins of life in each era. He discusses tectonic plates, the major extinctions and their probable causes, climate and the Ice Ages, and he speculates on the future of our planet. To compress Earth's history into a single, lucidly written volume is a major achievement. Illustrations.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA. A short, succinct course in geology, ideal for first-year students or anyone else who has a lay interest in the subject. Full of charts, graphs, and illustrations, this excellent resource explains all of the elements needed for a fuller understanding of geology in a concise and understandable way. With its full index, this offering is a good supplemental text or research tool.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (March 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471197033
• ISBN-13: 978-0471197034
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Doug Macdougall is a geologist and educator who worked on the faculty of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego for over thirty years. His books on geology and the earth sciences are aimed at general readers and have been translated into seven languages. He currently lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he spends most of his time writing. His idea of heaven is paddling his old prospector canoe in his native Ontario.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars clear, comprehensive and concise, June 12, 2005

By 

C. Brown (Evanston, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Short History of Planet Earth: Mountains, Mammals, Fire, and Ice (Wiley Popular Science) (Paperback)

This book is not only a great way for the layman to get an understanding of the history of our planet, it's also a testament to the way science works. MacDougall writes clearly, avoids jargon, and doesn't hesitate to explain the reasoning behind statements about events in geological history. He doesn't leave loose ends nor does he make unsupported statements. He draws together different threads of evidence, allowing the reader to see how ideas come together to reinforce a statement about what happened millions or billions of years ago. He seems to anticipate questions a reader might ask and answers them. Far from a boring account, you could get excited not only about geology but about science in general from this book. I've read it twice and keep it on the shelf for future reference. Many drawings give clarity to the written account. There is no attempt to entertain the reader with gratuitous humor, so common in explanatory books these days. This isn't "for dummies" or "an idiot's guide." Instead, your intelligence, curiosity and scepticism are assumed. It isn't easy for creatures who live less than 100 years to grasp events that occur over millions of years but I found this book allowed me to conceptualize the earth's 4.5 billion year story in a very satisfying way.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Popular Book on Earth History and Geology, December 22, 2005

By 

R. DiNitto (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Short History of Planet Earth: Mountains, Mammals, Fire, and Ice (Wiley Popular Science) (Paperback)

Ok - as a geologist myself, I love to read books on geology even if they cover a lot of material I already know. But this book surprised me in being very thorough on earth history including many very recent scientific discoveries and developments that I have only seen in scientific journals. He does a very nice job of covering the breath of earth history without being overly technical for the lay person, but yet engrossing enough for the professional geologist. Hey even we cannot know everything in the geology world - thus the reason I read this.

MacDougall does a good job of providing the reader with both the rock history but also the history of life on earth, from the earliest bacterial forms through the amazing trilobites, dinosaurs and trees and grasses and such. He also does a good job of relating many of the geologic features around the US and the world to plate tectonics and the interplay of the environment that produces the rocks and features we see today

For those budding young rock hounds or the adult wanting to brush up on an area that you could use more info on, or perhaps a geologist who wants to brush up on their earth history, I whole-heartedly recommend this book.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well organized, well written! Heir to Carl Sagan?, January 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Short History of Planet Earth: Mountains, Mammals, Fire, and Ice (Wiley Popular Science) (Paperback)

My title above pretty much says it all! There is a good flow to the way one paragraph flows into another. I am a layman with an interest in the integrated "big systems" of science--how processes studied by several disciplines come together and attempt to explain how our planet works. This book does that to the point I may want to go on to more specialized, in-depth works. Chapter Ten, "Global Catastrophes" is the clearest account I have ever read of mass extinction theories. I had not realized that the now very famous K-T boundary event of 65 million years ago (the dinosaur killer) is the only extinction event uncovered in the last 600 million years where the "smoking gun" of extraterrestrial iridium can be found in enough abundence to point to a comet or asteroid impact. I had thought that there was evidence to show that there were incoming impactors every 26 million years or so and that this had caused other mass extinctions including the biggest one at the Permian-Triassic boundary some 250 million years ago. These other mass extinctions may very well have come about because of purely earth-bound processes such as plate tectonics and rising and falling sea levels. Fascinating stuff to say the least! Drawings and diagrams are well done and to the point also. I recommend MacDougall as heir apparent to the Late, Great Carl Sagan as a popularizer of the great realm of science! Enjoy!