****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This book is superbly written, illustrated, and organized. It was a pleasure to read and is a reliable guide to the subject matter. My professor said first day of class that this book is what every other geology text should aspire to, and I heartily agree with him.The text reflects the newest scholarship, e.g. on mechanisms of plate tectonics, but is always concise and readable. Virtually every point is illustrated with charts, photographs, or drawings -- like having natural history museum exhibits right in the book. The large scale drawings showing, e.g. overall views of watersheds, or cut-away view of volcanoes or caves, are the best I have seen anywhere. This is important, because, as is the case with anatomy, this is an area where paintings are usually much clearer than photographs.The newest features keep the book up to date with links, e.g., to Google Earth images.In short, if your prof has assigned this book, be happy. If you are looking for a book to use to learn geology on you own, this is the one.
