The Handbook of Geoscience
By (author) Frank R. Spellman, Melissa L. Stoudt
Not available to order
Publication date:
14 February 2013Length of book:
564 pagesPublisher
Scarecrow PressISBN-13: 9780810886155
Written in an engaging, highly readable style, it is ideal for students, administrators, legal professionals, non-science professionals and general readers with little or no science background, the handbook is a user-friendly overview of our physical, biological and ecological environment that offers up-to-date coverage of the major scientific fields that in combination form the structure of geoscience. Students who are enrolled in a geoscience course or one of its many subdisciplines will find this book to be an invaluable resource and reference to supplement classroom instruction and provide greater insight into many of the topics usually discussed. The emphasis is on readability, with clear, example-driven explanations refined by over 35 years of experience of instruction and student feedback.
This hefty handbook is designed by the authors as a 'user-friendly overview' of geoscience. They have defined the geosciences broadly, including in their coverage the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, pedosphere (soils), environmental science, geographic systems, geodesy, surveying, and cartography. The authors stress the 'readability' of the text, and it is indeed written in an attractive style. . . .The variety of topics in this single volume is extraordinary. It begins with the basics like measurements, units, and the scientific method, and then proceeds through the major disciplines of the geosciences, covering a little bit of almost every major topic. There are a good number of black-and-white photographs and several good . . . line drawings. Each section has an extended bibliography.