This book is useful to students taking introductory physical geology to fulfill a science elective, as well as those contemplating a career in geology.

    A saga of bombs, ice ages and civilisations falling. Of ancient hunger, modern sicknesses and gastronomic delight. It features poison gas, climate collapse and a mind-blowing explanation of how rain is formed. For too long, we've not only neglected the land beneath us, we've squandered and debased it, by over-clearing, over-grazing and over-ploughing. But if we want our food to nourish us, and to ensure our planet's long-term health, we need to understand how soil works - how it's made, how it's lost, and how it can be repaired. In this ode to the thin veneer of Earth that gifts us life, commentator and farmer Matthew Evans shows us that what we do in our backyards, on our farms, and what we put on our dinner tables really matters, and can be a source of hope.

    A conservationist with the soul of a poet whose beat is Wild Michigan, Dennis is a kindred spirit of Aldo Leopold and Sigurd Olson. The Windward Shore---his newest effort---is a beautifully written and elegiac memoir of outdoor discovery. Highly recommended!" ---Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America   "Come for a journey; stay for an awakening. Jerry Dennis loves the Great Lakes, the swell of every wave, the curve of every rock. He wants you to love them too before our collective trashing of them wipes out all traces of their original character. Through his eyes, you will treasure the hidden secrets that reveal themselves only to those who linger and long. Elegant and sad at the same time, The Windward Shore is a love song for the Great Lakes and a gentle call to action to save them." ---Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water"In prose as clear as the lines in a Dürer etching, Jerry Dennis maps his home ground, which ranges outward from the back door of his farmhouse to encompass the region of vast inland seas at the heart of our continent. Along the way, inspired by the company of water in all its guises---ice, snow, frost, clouds, rain, shore-lapping waves---he meditates on the ancient questions about mind and matter, time and attention, wildness and wonder. As in the best American nature writing---a tradition that Dennis knows well---here the place and the explorer come together in brilliant conversation." ---Scott Russell Sanders, author of A Conservationist Manifesto If you have been enchanted by Jerry Dennis’s earlier work on sailing the Great Lakes, canoeing, angling, and the natural wonders of water and sky—or you have not yet been lucky enough to enjoy his engaging prose—you will want to immerse yourself in his powerful and insightful new book on winter in Great Lakes country.Grounded by a knee injury, Dennis learns to live at a slower pace while staying in houses ranging from a log cabin on Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Peninsula to a $20 million mansion on the northern shore of Lake Michigan. While walking on beaches and exploring nearby woods and villages, he muses on the nature of time, weather, waves, agates, books, words for snow and ice, our complex relationship with nature, and much more.From the introduction: “I wanted to present a true picture of a complex region, part of my continuing project to learn at least one place on earth reasonably well, and trusted that it would appear gradually and accumulatively—and not as a conventional portrait, but as a mosaic that included the sounds and scents and textures of the place and some of the plants, animals, and its inhabitants. Bolstered by the notion that a book is a journey that author and reader walk together, I would search for promising trails and follow them as far as my reconstructed knee would allow.”

    Weaving together the cosmos' history and our own in an expanding intellectual adventure story, Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs takes us from the mysteries of dark matter and our cosmic environment to the conditions for life on Earth.Sixty-six million years ago, an object the size of a city descended from space to crash into Earth, creating a cataclysm that killed off the dinosaurs, along with three-quarters of the other species on the planet. What was its origin? Randall proposes it was a comet that was dislodged from its orbit as the Solar System passed through a disk of dark matter that is embedded in the plane of the Milky Way. Her research challenges the usual assumptions about the simple nature of dark matter and demonstrates how scientists formulate and establish new ideas. In a sense, it might have been dark matter that killed the dinosaurs.With her unique and wide-ranging perspective, Randall connects dark matter to the history of the world in the broadest terms. Bringing in pop culture and social and political viewpoints, she shares with us the latest findings—established and speculative—regarding dark matter, the cosmos, the galaxy, asteroids, comets, and impacts, as well as life's development and extinctions. Randall makes clear how connected the planet is to the makeup of the Universe, but also how fragile our place in the Universe, which evolved over billions of years, might be.In this brilliant and fresh exploration of our cosmic environment, Professor Randall explains the underlying science of our world in the breathtaking tale of a Universe in which the small and the large, the visible and the hidden are intimately related. Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs illuminates the deep relationships that are critical to our world as well as the astonishing beauty of the structures and connections that surround us. It's impossible to read this book and look at either Earth or sky again in the same way.

    Here, for the first time, is the complete history of the quest to understand Earth’s magnetism—from the ancient Greeks’ fascination with lodestone, to the geological discovery that the North Pole has not always been in the North—and to the astonishing modern conclusions that finally revealed the true source.Richly illustrated and skillfully told, North Pole, South Pole unfolds the human story behind the science: that of the inquisitive, persevering, and often dissenting thinkers who unlocked the secrets at our planet’s core.

    Ten years after the Rapture, beautiful occultist Bethany Black and her pet runt demon Bloato embark on a road trip to the last open gateway to heaven, in hopes of befriending God and escaping hell on earth.

    It's a road trip full of surprises. Earthquakes. You need to worry about them only if you're in San Francisco, right? Wrong. We have been making enormous changes to subterranean America, and Mother Earth, as always, has been making some of her own. . . . The consequences for our real estate, our civil engineering, and our communities will be huge because they will include earthquakes most of us do not expect and cannot imagine--at least not without reading Quakeland. Kathryn Miles descends into mines in the Northwest, dissects Mississippi levee engineering studies, uncovers the horrific risks of an earthquake in the Northeast, and interviews the seismologists, structual engineers, and emergency managers around the country who are addressing this ground shaking threat.As Miles relates, the era of human-induced earthquakes began in 1962 in Colorado after millions of gallons of chemical-weapon waste was pumped underground in the Rockies. More than 1,500 quakes over the following seven years resulted. The Department of Energy plans to dump spent nuclear rods in the same way. Evidence of fracking's seismological impact continues to mount. . . . Humans as well as fault lines built our "quakeland."What will happen when Memphis, home of FedEx's 1.5-million-packages-a-day hub, goes offline as a result of an earthquake along the unstable Reelfoot Fault? FEMA has estimated that a modest 7.0 magnitude quake (twenty of these happen per year around the world) along the Wasatch Fault under Salt Lake City would put a $33 billion dent in our economy. When the Fukushima reactor melted down, tens of thousands were displaced. If New York's Indian Point nuclear power plant blows, ten million people will be displaced. How would that evacuation even begin?Kathryn Miles' tour of our land is as fascinating and frightening as it is irresistibly compelling.

    Packed with photographs and details on characteristics, distinguishing features, and more, Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks and Minerals makes identification easy.Designed for beginning and experienced collectors alike, this guide explains what rocks and minerals are, how they are classified, and how to start a collection. Look up different rocks and minerals, and find clear, annotated photography to pick out the key distinguishing features. Learn the differences between igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, and reference the glossary for many more technical and scientific terms.Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks and Minerals is filled with information about characteristics, colors, unique attributes, and more, making it one of the clearest identification guides for rock and mineral enthusiasts.

    And then, why couldn't they find the caldera or crater? Because, as an aerial photograph finally revealed, the caldera is 45 miles wide, encompassing all of Yellowstone. What will happen, in human terms, when it erupts? Greg Breining explores the shocking answer to this question and others in a scientific yet accessible look at the enormous natural disaster brewing beneath the surface of the United States. Yellowstone is one of the world's five "super volcanoes." When it erupts, much of the nation will be hit hard. Though historically Yellowstone has erupted about every 600,000 years, it has not done so for 630,000, meaning it is 30,000 years overdue. Starting with a scenario of what will happen when Yellowstone blows, this fascinating study describes how volcanoes function and includes a timeline of famous volcanic eruptions throughout history.

    Legendary geologist J Harlen Bretz was the first to explore the area, starting in the 1920s. This dramatic book tells the story of this scientific maverick — how he came to study the region, his radical theory that a flood of biblical proportions created it, and how a campaign by the mainstream geologic community tried to derail him for pursuing an idea that satellite photos would confirm decades later.

    They have destroyed cities and ended civilizations. John Dvorak, the acclaimed author of Earthquake Storms, looks into the early years of volcanology and its "father," Thomas Jaggar. Jaggar was the youngest of five scientists to investigate the explosion of Mount Pelee in Martinique, which leveled the entire city of St. Pierre and killed its entire population in two minutes. This explosion changed science forever, and Jaggar became obsessed with understanding the force of nature that could do this.A colorful cast of scientists wind their way through The Last Volcano, including an escaped slave who became the leading volcanic guide in Hawaii. But the focus is on Jaggar, who was so fixated on volcanology that he moved to a small house overlooking the lava lake of Kilauea, much to the derision of the scientific community.Falling in love a widowed schoolteacher who shared his passion, Jaggar devoted his life to studying volcanic activity and the mysteries beneath the earth's surface. From their precarious perch, this dynamic husband and wife duo would discover a way to predict volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, promote geothermal energy, and theorize new ways to study the ocean bottom.

    While some are drawn to the idea of practicing in total secrecy and solitude, others crave a group of like-minded individuals to learn from and worship with. Those who seek a structured, traditional form of Wicca to follow are likely to benefit from coven membership. After all, this is how Wicca began-as a group-centered practice taking place within a gathering of Witches for the purpose of conducting ritual and magic. In fact, the coven was the vehicle for the rise of Wicca, first in Europe and then in the United States and beyond. There are covens practicing today whose members can trace their initiatory lineage back to the mid-20th century, and will continue carrying on their traditions well into this century and beyond. Yet coven life is not for everyone. Some people work best within the looser structures of Wiccan circles, which are more informal but still offer a sense of belonging to a spiritual community. These groups can be a great place to acquire knowledge and experience, while marking the important Wiccan holidays - the Sabbats and Esbats - with rituals and celebrations. Still others opt for solitary practice, either because there isn't a Wiccan community in their vicinity or because they simply like to chart their own course in a completely independent manner. Those who choose this solo path have the most freedom and flexibility, yet they also face a wider range of decisions to make. If you're going it alone, do you still want to follow a particular Wiccan tradition? If so, where can you find information about what to do, and how and when to do it? And what does it mean if you prefer to develop a more individualized approach to your practice? After all, Wicca has always been a continually evolving religion, so to adapt traditions according to your own intuition is actually a sort of tradition in and of itself! A Traveler's Guide to the World of Wicca As you can see, there are many ways to understand and experience the core essence of Wicca, and it may take awhile for you to discover where your individual journey begins. Finding Your Path, by best-selling author Lisa Chamberlain, was created as an orientation to these possibilities. In this book, you'll be introduced to the wide spectrum of contemporary Wiccan practice, with tips to help you make well-informed decisions about where you want your journey to take you:The role of the coven in the birth and rise of Wicca The benefits and potential drawbacks of belonging to a coven The differences between covens and circles The pros and cons of solitary practice The differences between traditional and eclectic practices Introductions to the most widely-practiced Wiccan traditions: Gardnerian, Alexandrian, and Dianic, as well as a handful of other, less common forms How to find your Wiccan community, should you desire to join one By the end of this guide, you will have a solid understanding of the amazing diversity of the Wiccan religion. You will also, ideally, have a clearer view of what your own next steps along the path will be! If you're ready to start your journey, scroll to the top of the page and select the buy button. Readers will also be treated to an exclusive free eBook!

    It tells the story of Charles Sternberg and his life-long passion for dinosaur fossils. Sternberg writes vividly of his discoveries and of the hardships and dangers of collecting fossils in the wild West. His book is an extraordinary record of science in the rough and a unique view of life on the frontier.

    In The Ends of the World, Peter Brannen dives into deep time, exploring Earth’s past dead ends, and in the process, offers us a glimpse of our possible future.Many scientists now believe that the climate shifts of the twenty-first century have analogs in these five extinctions. Using the visible clues these devastations have left behind in the fossil record, The Ends of the World takes us inside “scenes of the crime,” from South Africa to the New York Palisades, to tell the story of each extinction. Brannen examines the fossil record—which is rife with creatures like dragonflies the size of sea gulls and guillotine-mouthed fish—and introduces us to the researchers on the front lines who, using the forensic tools of modern science, are piecing together what really happened at the crime scenes of the Earth’s biggest whodunits.Part road trip, part history, and part cautionary tale, The Ends of the World takes us on a tour of the ways that our planet has clawed itself back from the grave, and casts our future in a completely new light.

    In 2003, the Pentagon discovered, through the use of satellite technology, an anomaly beneath this ancient sphinx. This book chronicles the discovery of these modern day artefacts.