GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL

Geol. J. 37: 347350 (2002)

BOOK REVIEWS
UNDERSTANDING EARTH, 3rd edition, by Frank Press
and Raymond Siever, W. H. Freeman Co., New York,
2001. No. of pages: 620. Price: 28.95 (soft covers). ISBN
0 71674 117 2.
Since its first publication in 1994, Understanding Earth has
become one of the standard reference books used by students following A level geology courses or first year undergraduate courses in Earth sciences or physical geography.
This new edition has kept to the original four-part division
into sections basically dealing with understanding the Earth
system, surface processes, internal processes and their external effects, and the range of Earths energy and material
resources. The book also retains many of the distinctive features of previous editions. These are the high quality colour
photographs, the clearly annotated diagrams, useful end-ofchapter summaries, lists of key terms and concepts, exercises linked to each chapter, proposed thought questions
and suggested reading. Although these features give the
book a feeling of familiarity, significant changes have been
introduced making this edition even more accessible and
relevant to students lives.
The authors have removed some of the more outdated
information and have concentrated on giving greater emphasis to Earth systems and plate tectonic theory. Chapter outlines at the start of each chapter give the reader an
introduction to the material covered and each chapter
includes chapter goals and boxes giving information about
Earth policy and interpreting Earth and its systems. The first
of these includes items such as asbestos as a health hazard,

BRITISH SILURIAN STRATIGRAPHY edited by R. J.

Aldridge, David J. Siveter, Derek J. Siveter, P. D. Lane, D.
Palmer and N. H. Woodcock, Geological Conservation
Review Series, volume 19, 2000. No. of pages: 541. Price:
76.00. ISBN 1 861 07478 6.
It is probably fitting that the Silurian System was first named
within Britain, an area exceptional in the diversity of Silurian rocks present. Exposed rocks deposited within three
basins and their associated platform areas represent
sedimentation in palaeoenvironments ranging from fluvial
to oceanic, controlled by a range of tectonic mechanisms.
It is not surprising that, in all, seven British sites have been
chosen as Basal Boundary Stratotypes. The historical and
stratigraphical importance of the British Silurian should,
therefore, not be underestimated. The production of this
publication is, therefore, highly significant in representing

soil erosion and the environmental threat of radon. The second covers topics such as charting the seafloor by satellite,
ice-core drilling and the politics of global warming. There
are 33 of these information boxes in the whole book and they
provide an insight into how geology has an impact on the
lives of all of us. A range of new topics is included. These
include the role of biology in weathering, cold water carbonates, real-time earthquake hazard warning, calculations of
the duration of magnetic reversals and new discoveries
about the coremantle boundary.
Many of the line drawings have been revised and there are
a number of new diagrams as well as at least 70 new photographs throughout the text. Another addition is the media
questions section at the end of each chapter. The questions
in these sections encourage students to use what they have
learned from the interactive virtual reality field trips on the
CD-ROM that is provided with the book. Some of the figures
in the text are also related to these interactive exercises and
these are clearly marked by a mouse icon to encourage students to use the CD-ROM. Other figures in the text that have
related animations and videos are also clearly identified. The
animations and videos are designed to help students to better
visualize key geological processes and can be viewed on the
Understanding Earth 3.0 CD-ROM and on the Web at:
www.whfreeman.com/presssiever.
M. E. Williams
Published online in Wiley InterScience
(www.interscience.wiley.com).
DOI: 10.1002/gj.892

the first attempt at producing an extensive compendium of

the important British Silurian field sites.
This publication attempts to identify and describe the
most significant sites as selected for the Geological Conservation Review. This forms part of a publication series that is
intended primarily as a definitive catalogue of the most
important geological localities within the British Isles. In
this respect the series constitutes a worthy study and important source of data.
It is unclear whether there is any real intention that the
Geological Conservation Review publications would be
purchased more widely than by a small number of libraries
and conservation bodies. Despite this, it is likely that this
volume will be of more general interest to an international
audience than some others in the series, as many of the sites
included are of global significance and, therefore, important
as comparative sites. The inclusion of concise and well
Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.