Customer Reviews

Upheaval from the Abyss: Ocean Floor Mapping and the Earth Science Revolution

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When I teach plate tectonics to my high school students, I ask them to consider the difficulty of building a comprehensive theory of the surface of the Earth when you don't know what three quarters of that surface looks like. I also mention how amazing it is that Alfred Wegener got as far as he did with continental drift without the detailed knowledge of the sea-floor that led to the modern theory of plate tectonics. David Lawrence has done a supremely good job at telling the adventurous and exciting history of plate tectonics in his book Upheaval From The Abyss. This book has got it all: ships, submarines, sonar, scientific [and emotional] arguments, sea-floor spreading, subduction, explosives and so much more. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to go deeper into the history of plate tectonics than does the standard cardboard cutout version found in most textbooks, and especially for those interested laypeople not ready to dive into Naomi Oreskes' excellent, but highly detailed The Rejection Of Continental Drift. I really enjoyed Upheaval From The Abyss and feel that others will, too.