Author: Chris Turney
By Palgrave Macmillan

The mysteries of time revealed, 2007-12-29
In this series of evocative essays, Turney explains how our continually changing concept and use of time affects how we view the world and ourselves. Using a sprightly prose style, he opens with a description of various calendar systems developed by the ancients. It was difficult for them to reconcile the irregularities of lunar month, solar year and constantly changing heavens. Egypt, Babylon and Rome all struggled to maintain some control over the calendar. Many forms of adjustment were implemented but precision was difficult, if not impossible. The device of the "Leap Year" to adjust for the lack of precision was the best humans could do until the invention of the atomic clock.

The atom, with many versions and intricacies, has proven an effective tool in time-keeping. From measuring split seconds to granting us some insight on circumstances billions of years ago, "atomic clocks" in their various forms have provided many solutions to long unresolved problems. Turney's chapter on the Shroud of Turin is but one example of a practical application. Its status as a forgery went undetected for centuries until radiometric measurements revealed its true age.

A grander sweep of time, yet one with significant implications for today's world are the chapters on the eruption of Santorini in the Mediterranean and what led to the Ice Ages. Thera has been described as the cause of the elimination of the Minoan Empire. Based on Crete four thousand years ago, the Minoans operated an intricate network of trade routes in the region and were a highly sophisticated and successful people. Yet, they disappeared almost instantly around thirty-five hundred years ago. The author examines the evidence that Santorini might have been responsible. Further back in time, he reviews another threat to society in the form of invasive glaciers. Atoms play a role even in ice as accumulations of oxygen isotopes tell the story of climate change events. Even though some of those shifts rely on Earth's orbit and tilt relative to the sun, their signature rests with those oxygen atoms.

Human societies have their own fluctuations, as Turney notes in other chapters. The dating of hominid fossils has contributed a great deal in deriving both the time and place of our origins. Rocks surrounding bones tell us when the fossils lived, and tiny grains of pollen indicate the type of environment they lived in. One of the enigmas of science is why there is but one species of upright-walking ape remaining - us. There have been competitors for living space, most notably the Neanderthals. But at least one other species co-habited the planet with us. The "Hobbit" fossil found on an Indonesian island resided there only 18 thousand years ago, as Turney's own dating research revealed. The possibility that there may be remnant populations yet to be found raises compelling questions.

Turney's book may seem light-hearted at first glance, but it rests on serious work by dedicated workers. Dating the rocks was a difficult science in the 18th and 19th Centuries, but technology has provided astonishing new insights on our world. There's much to be learned and the author's effective presentation makes this book a stimulating introduction to this field. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Author: Barbara Hand Clow
By Bear & Company

I loved this book!, 2002-01-28
This book has much information to get your head around, densely packed with ideas, it is fluidly written and i read it in just 2 days, i just couldn't put it down. I like the way Barbara is mindful to remind the reader that her book is a collection of ideas and these ideas are not necessarily complete truths. I think the delivery is handled with responsibility. Thank you Barbara for all your work. This book has changed the way i think , and the way i choose to live my life.

(((R)))

Author: Kenneth Addison
By Geographical Association

Author: B.W.D. Yardley
By Prentice Hall

Author: Robert Stoneley
By OUP Oxford

Excellent Introduction to Hydrocarbon Exploration, 2001-06-25
Stoneley's book is a good beginner's guide to the facinating world of finding and evaluating oil and gas. The book is written with clarity and has copious illustrations. It is written for non-geologists. What this means is that it is written by exploration geologists. Hence, sometimes there is more geological detail provided than necessary and perhaps not enough engineering detail. For example, the drilling and logging section could be beefed up. Nevertheless, as an introductory text I feel the extra detail on some aspects of geology issues is a bonus and that the engineering detail is more than sufficient.

This text accompanies the eponymous JAPEC training course. See http://www.japectraining.org for details.

Author: Douglas H. Erwin
By Princeton University Press

Resetting the clock, 2006-05-30
Any scientist who opens [and closes!] a book by saying "We [I] don't know!" is worthy of your attention and respect. Too many others have taken up a theme and defended against all comers. Erwin's examination of the catastrophic close of the Permian Age is complete, admirably researched and exquisitely written. Within its pages, this work examines the various ideas on the massive loss of life 250 million years ago. These days, not to have heard of an meteor's killing off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago suggests you've lived hidden in a cave for a generation. Erwin opens with a brief overview of that event, reminding us that extinctions, particularly "impact events", have loomed large in discussions of the history of life ever since Walter and Luis Alvarez proposed the idea.

It's easy to rattle off the numbers: when the dinosaurs "went West", perhaps 75% of life was also extinguished. When the Permian ended, over 95% of living things disappeared. Erwin asks: "How do we know this? What life forms disappeared? Did they all go at the same time? How long did it take to recover?" Most important, of course, "What killed them off?" Instead of dull statistics, Erwin asks the important questions. Acknowledging that "Triassic rocks are boring", he explains why this is so. Fossils are scarce is the obvious answer, but why they are missing is his quest. With most of his attention focussed on ocean life, he details what causes shifts in benthic populations. The seas rise and fall - for a variety of reasons. Glaciation takes up sea water and leaves continental shelves high and dry. Oceans need to "turn over" an oxygen supply. What is the result of that failing? Carbon, with its various isotopes, passes through life selectively. Tracing that path provides insights into where it's been - and where not. When did the Siberian "traps" form? How much lava spewed from that rift, and what other products did it bring along or destroy? Finally, is there evidence that Earth was pelted by another bolide to provide an easy answer to all those questions? That reply is almost surely negative.

Erwin would like to couch this narrative as a detective story, but it doesn't really work. There are too many victims - unless you count life as one entity. There is also a phalanx of detectives all trying assiduously to solve the case. If you thought there were too many cooks spoiling the broth, wait until you meet this mob. Nearly all of them have an agenda and they have a disturbing tendency to trumpet a single tune. Erwin should have portrayed them as an orchestra, with himself as conductor. Van Kariajan would go emerald with envy. Each investigator supplies a theme, striving for a solo performance. Erwin cautiously assesses the tune, fits it nicely into a grander theme and produces a symphony instead of a cacophony. It's quite a performance. To keep himself from the sin of hubris, he points out his own flaws in a previous effort. The strain wasn't discordant, but the composition needed refinement.

Erwin fastidiously acknowledges his contributors. Jack Sepkowski comes in for deserved accolades, as do Bruce Rubridge, Yugan Jin and many others. Their methods, results and further work - including that incomplete but "promised" - are given a full hearing. Even those whose suggestions are highly suspicious, such as Luann Becker's Bedout "crater" are given a respectful hearing. Nobody's work is chastised or rejected. "We need more investigation" is the running theme of Erwin's account. The reason the ongoing search is important lies in understanding what is happening around us today. Are we, in Dave Sepkowski's words a "Dead Clade Walking"? Or can we glean enough information from the rocks to find the means to succeed through the extinction we seem to be part of - and likely creating? The "95%" means life had to restart the clock after the Permian. There were a few "Lazarus species" that re-emerged after the cataclysm. Will the human species manage to revive itself when so much life around us has been decimated? No more pertinent question confronts us. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Author: R. E. Sheriff, L. P. Geldart
By Cambridge University Press

Author: W.A. Deer, R.A. Howie, J. Zussman
By Prentice Hall

excellent student textbook, 2001-09-20
Some of the 696 pages were beyond me, but the majority of the content was excellent background material for an undergraduate course. The indexing and cross-referencing are good. The organisation is good, with a consistent approach to subdivision of material. The major divisions are Ortho- and ring- silicates, Chain silicates, sheet silicates, framework silicates, non-silcates. Choosing chlorite as a typical example, the subdivisions are (general summary table of properties, 14- line general introduction), structure, chemistry, optical and physical properties, distinguishing features, paragenisis (metamorphic, igneous, sedementary rocks). This description of chlorite is supplemented with two tables and seven diagrams. I have found answers to nearly all my questions relating to the study of minerals, on an undergraduate course.

Author: Martin Redfern
By Oxford Paperbacks

Author: Philip Ball
By Phoenix

Billed as "A Biography of Water", Life's Matrix would seem to have taken a nearly insurmountable challenge. Yet author Philip Ball, science writer and consulting editor for Nature, covers the very interesting chemistry and physics of the substance and our species' long relationship with it without losing the reader--after all, each of us is mostly made of the wet stuff. From the ancients' conception of water as an element, recognising its importance and primacy among terrestrial matter, to our current understanding of the intricate dance of hydrogen bonds that give water its unique, life-giving properties, Ball always finds the right angle to keep the story compelling. Chapters covering the nuts and bolts of water, which the reader might reasonably expect to be a bit dry, consistently remind us of its crucial role in so many aspects of our lives, from ocean currents to irrigation to tears. Some of the cutting-edge scientific reports are weirdly fascinating--the discovery of several different conformations of liquid and solid water and their odd behaviour will provoke plenty of brow-furrowing, even if none of us will ever find ice-nine cubes in our cocktails at happy h...
An interesting read covering many aspects of water, 2000-12-06
Philip Ball takes the reader on a magical mystery tour of the science of water, written in an easily readable style for the lay person. Topics covered range from the physical structure and properties of water through to the crucial roll of water in life, evolution, and a discussion of the 'strange' forms of water, covering chemistry, biology, physics, geology, weather etc. in a thoroughly enjoyable read. One possible criticism is that the book at times appears to jump around between topics. The book ends with a fascinating account of scientific deception and fraud, centered around the stories of cold fusion. An extremely interesting book for anyone with any curiousity about the substance that makes up over 90% of their own body weight and covers much of this planets surface - as well as possible the interiors of others - another topic discussed in some detail.