Product Description: This is the first study of the changes tectonic plate theory forced upon classical geology. It is a crucial text in the history of science. Franz Kossmat's "Palaogeographie" is a remarkable book that discusses the relation between classical geology and plate tectonic theory...read more

Climate change is a major topic of concern today and will be so for the foreseeable future, as predicted changes in global temperatures, rainfall, and sea level continue to take place. But as Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams reveal in The Goldilocks Planet, the climatic changes we are experiencing today hardly compare to the changes the Earth has seen over the last 4.5 billion years. Indeed, the vast history that the authors relate here is dramatic and often abrupt--with massive changes in global and regional climate, from bitterly cold to sweltering hot, from arid to humid. They introduce us to the Cryogenian period, the days of Snowball Earth seven hundred million years ago, when ice spread to cover the world, then melted abruptly amid such dramatic climatic turbulence that hurricanes raged across the Earth. We read about the Carboniferous, with tropical jungles at the equator (where Pennsylvania is now) and the Cretaceous Period, when the polar regions saw not ice but dense conifer forests of cypress and redwood, with gingkos and ferns. The authors also show how this history can be read from clues preserved in the Earth's strata. The evidence is abundant, though always incomplete--and often baffling, puzzling, infuriating, tantalizing, seemingly contradictory. Geologists, though, are becoming ever more ingenious at deciphering this evidence, and the story of the Earth's climate is now being reconstructed in ever-greater detail--maybe even providing us with clues to the future of contemporary climate change. And through all of this, the authors conclude, the Earth has remained perfectly habitable--in stark contrast to its planetary neighbors. Not too hot, not too cold; not too dry, not too wet--"the Goldilocks planet."

Product Description: Time Matters provides an invaluable insight into the background behind some of the key concepts we use in Earth science today. It shows the historical context in which these ideas were developed, the important contributions of individual scientists and thinkers, and how these ideas continue to shape our view of science and the world in which we live...read more

Product Description: This intriguing and instructional picture book takes readers on one rock's geological odyssey through time. Gorgeous, full-color illustrations and a detailed timeline of a rock's journey teaches students about earth science and the geologic cycle...read more

Shakespeare's comic play about the separation and eventual reuniting of twin brothers

Presents Shakespeare's text accompanied by a collection of thematically arranged historical and cultural documents and illustrations.

Product Description: This book provides a unique perspective on the destruction - both natural and human-caused - of coral reef ecosystems. The text combines principles of geophysics, paleontology, and marine sciences with real-time observation and offers strategies for restoration and management of ecosystems...read more

Cengage Learning's HISTORICAL GEOLOGY brings course concepts to life with interactive learning, study, and exam preparation tools along with comprehensive text content for historical geology courses. Whether you use a traditional printed text or all digital CourseMate alternative, it's never been easier to better understand the the geological and biological history of Earth and the underlying principles and processes that have shaped our planet.

Product Description: 181pages. 21x14x1cm. Broché.