Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before

Book Description

A visual odyssey that will change the way we see our planet, this remarkable book, companion to the acclaimed Discovery Channel/ BBC series, is an enduring and awe-inspiring record of one of the most ambitious natural history projects ever undertaken. Using the latest aerial surveillance, state-of-the-art cameras, and high definition technology, the creators of Planet Earth have assembled more than 400 stunning photographs of wondrous natural landscapes from around the globe, including incredible footage of the rarely spotted, almost mythical creatures that live in these habitats. Many of the images reveal inaccessible places that few have seen and record animal behavior that has never been filmed or photographed before. With the help of this highly advanced technology and the world's premier wildlife photographers, the book takes us on a spectacular journey from the world's greatest rivers and impressive gorges, to its mightiest mountains, hidden caves and caverns, and vast deserts. Planet Earth captures breathtaking sequences of predators and their prey, lush vistas of forests viewed from the tops of towering trees, the oceans and their mysterious creatures viewed from beneath the surface, and much more--in a magnificent adventure that brings unknown wonders of the natural world into our living rooms.
Copub: BBC Worldwide Americas

Customer Reviews:

Planet Earth........2007-08-14

Wow!!! my 8 year old loves this DVD. Very interesting to watch. Does have some parts that my 8 year old has a trouble watching, this is the section of life and death in the food chain. Otherwise highly recommended, in HD DVD is Awesome....

Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before.......2007-08-10

I have not had a chance to even break the seal on this new book as yet. I skimmed this book at a bookstore, and then decided to buy it. If you saw the mini-series on Discovery or Animal Planet, you will be impressed with this book as well. For those with children, this book is a must.

A Great Coffee Table Book.......2007-08-04

A great companion book to the dvd series.

magnificent.......2007-07-30

Amazing photos and wonderous facts regarding everything imaginable to the unusual. Our family has enjoyed this educational and spellbinding photography.

Glorious.......2007-07-27

Beautifully photographed and informational, this book should be on every nature lover's shelf. The "Planet Earth" series, which I watch weekly on Animal Planet, is even more jaw-dropping. I thank the generous and unbelievably courageous people who have the cojones to make this possible!

Julie Townsend
Metairie, LA

Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology (8th Edition)

Average customer rating:

Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology (8th Edition)
Edward J. Tarbuck , Frederick K Lutgens , and Dennis Tasa
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0131148656

Book Description

To understand timely issues such as natural disasters and environmental challenges—and to evaluate solutions to related problems—the average citizen needs a basic awareness of the scientific principles that influence our planet. This trusted book makes an often-complex subject accessible to readers with a strong focus on readability and illustrations. Offers a meaningful, non-technical survey that is informative and up to date for learning basic principles and concepts. Includes a revised and expanded GEODe Earth CD-ROM. Updates and revises art and illustrations to include dozens of new high-quality, photographs carefully selected to aid understanding and add realism. Provides a wealth of new special-interest boxes, including "Earth as a System," "People and the Environment," and "Understanding Earth." A useful reference for anyone interested in learning more about Earth's geology.

Average customer rating:

A good guide from start to finish
Learn a lot
very good all-around reference
Difficult to follow!
A Must Have Pub

Land Development Handbook (Handbook)
The Dewberry Companies
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0071375252

Book Description

Successfully navigate the confusing maze of land development

If you're looking for cutting-edge blockbuster coverage of the land development process, the search ends here! Written by one of the nation's premier consulting firms, this new edition delivers up-to-date coverage of planning, engineering, and surveying . . . all with over 700 illustrations, including diagrams, detailed drawings, plats, and reports generated at the various design stages, as well as charts, tables, and more.

This edition includes regulatory changes; new data on open space areas for landscape architects; coverage of the latest advances in GPS and GIS technology; new perspectives on urban growth; and updated case studies, plans, and details. You'll find a thorough description of the design and approval process for residential, commercial, and retail land development projects and access to valuable bottom-line information on:

* Environmental issues, including erosion and sediment control, storm water management, environmental impact studies and assessments, and water quality
* Types of local regulations; where to get necessary project approval; what to expect during the process
* Site analysis and selection criteria for feasibility studies
* Technical information on the design of suburban infrastructure components such as water treatment and supply systems, sanitary sewer systems, storm drain systems, and roads
* The complete spectrum of surveying methods, including Global Positioning System Surveys and Geographic Information Systems

Customer Reviews:

A good guide from start to finish .......2007-07-24

As a general civil engineer in private practice this book has provided a good overview on the more abstract side of land development including financing, rezoning, and public involvement. All of which, are topics that typical engineers strugle with as it is not the enjoyable aspect of what engineers are trained to do. Nevertheless, these abstract components are just as real as the plans we develop. Of course, the book is excellent for hands on design and calculation support.

Learn a lot.......2007-05-13

As a novice developer, this book put me on the right track without all the confusion and terms I would have never understood. It was simple to understand and after reading it, I felt like I knew a lot more. Very interesting and satisfying. Great reference guide all the way around.

very good all-around reference.......2004-03-01

I primarily work as a structural-architectural engineer and am becoming more and more involved in civil-site work. This handbook is exactly what I was looking for in terms of something that would quickly get me "up to speed" in the fundamentals of civil-site design.
Of course, no single book could (or should) be thought of as a substitute for the experience and mentoring received from seasoned professionals in a design office, but this one has enough technical explanation and details to get you going with confidence.
I choose this one over the Colley book (reviewed both before making purchase) as Land Development Handbook has more of the technical info that engineers would seek.

Difficult to follow!.......2003-12-16

I am in a class at Community College of Baltimore County and we are using this book at this time. Our whole class along with the Professor find this book to be very difficult to follow. The book constantly repeats itself making it extremely boring to read and is not fluent at all. They have examples that reference charts that are 3-5 pages apart from the problem being discussed the formulas you almost have to figure out for yourself how they are used and there are alot of typos.
I recomend burning this book!!!!!!!

A Must Have Pub.......2002-07-04

Ever since I purchased this publication I can't stop using it. Every civil engineer should have this as part of their reference library, regardless of your area of specialty. It provides macro to micro scale explanations of general processes, design applications, etc in a very readable format. More times than I can remember I have looked to this book for an answer or at least for some guidance and was throuroughly satisfied. No it is not a definitive reference for civil engineers but its' breadth and usability overshadows any technical shortcomings. If I had to have just one reference book for my area of practice (general civil), this would be it. Yeah, yeah, the "Standard Handbook for Civil Engineers" is a more definitive reference, but I usually find out what I need in this pub.

ps - Almost everyone of my fellow employees that has used the book has purchased their own, find someone you know who has a copy and check it out for yourself.

Average customer rating:

The Worlds Oceans

An Introduction to the World's Oceans 8/e with bind in OLC card
Keith A Sverdrup , Alyn C Duxbury , Alison B Duxbury , Keith Sverdrup , Alyn Duxbury , and Alison Duxbury
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Laboratory Exercises in Oceanography

An Introduction to the World's Oceans

Understanding Weather and Climate, Third Edition

Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life

Physical Anthropology

ASIN: 0072945559

Book Description

An Introduction to the World's Oceans, 8/e is an introductory oceanography text intended for students without a background in mathematics, chemistry, physics, geology, or biology. It emphasizes the role of basic scientific principles in helping understand the processes that govern the ocean and the earth.

A major objective of An Introduction to the World's Oceans is to stimulate student interest and curiosity by blending contemporary information and research with basic principles to form an integrated introduction to the sciences of the oceans. To keep the text as current as possible, the authors conduct their own research and examine other findings such as analyzing satellite data and large-scale oceanographic programs. From this vast amount of data, they select interesting, relevant, and understandable examples that illustrate contemporary principles of oceanography.

An Introduction to the World's Oceans places greater emphasis on the physical and geological aspects of the oceans than on the chemical and geochemical properties, because the latter disciplines require more specific background knowledge. An ecological approach helps integrate the biological chapters with other subjects. Students are encouraged to look at oceanography as a cohesive and united discipline rather than a collection of subjects gathered under a marine umbrella. As with all previous editions, the authors continue to make each chapter stand as independently as possible, so that professors can assign chapters in the order that best suits their classrooms.

Customer Reviews:

The Worlds Oceans.......2006-08-31

It Looks great and cheap price!!!I never used a highlighter... Need to sell

The Nature and Properties of Soils (13th Edition)

Average customer rating:

Good, but weak about tropical soils
An Indispensable Reference
Good informative book will teach you a lot about soil
Simply excellent
A Fun, Readable, and Thorough Introduction to Soil Science

The Nature and Properties of Soils (13th Edition)
Nyle C. Brady , and Ray R. Weil
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0130167630

Customer Reviews:

Good, but weak about tropical soils.......2006-11-09

I'm an agronomist.Here in Brazil, I read this book.
This book is long and has many informations.
Every agronomist must read, a book such as this.
At least in ediction that I read, this book has a big failure.This book is weak about tropical soils.
For american reality, I think this book deserves 5 stars.
Well, I live in Brazil.I'll give four stars for it.

An Indispensable Reference.......2006-02-12

This is the 13th edition of a text that has been the standard in this field for 84 years. Its durability lies in its solid information; clear presentation; and graphics that are as rich as they are numerous. It is peppered with fascinating sidebars. You can dip into it as a reference and find just what you need (assuming you have a foundation in soil science). Even after I moved on to advanced coursework in soils, I found myself referring back to this.

If you have been assigned a soils text for a class, do not go with the abridged version of this, Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils. It is 1/2 the book for 3/4 of the price (and at discounters the books are priced identically). If you plan to continue studies in the natural sciences, you will want this unabridged version. It's indispensable.

Good informative book will teach you a lot about soil.......2005-08-09

I first bought this book when we bought a property with trashed-out soil. I've since grown attached to this book, which I find myself referring to. It's clearly written, well organized, and covers so much information. I really think that you can't go wrong with this book, if you want to know about soil (be warned: it doesn't really cover soil microbiology, the living aspect of soil - I'd recommend the book by Robert Tate III; the copy I have is Soil Microbiology 2nd Ed. (c) 2000)

With that said - I've gone through other books but haven't found one that I'd compare to this one. It's just really well done.

Simply excellent.......2005-07-09

The first time I ran into this book was at the public library, while serching reference material for my daughter's science project. I found the book so helpful that I checked it out again for my own use. The third time I said: "I have to have my own copy." The 13th edition is now on its way.

A Fun, Readable, and Thorough Introduction to Soil Science.......2002-06-12

My "Science of Soils" class at Stanford University (Autumn '01) used "The Nature and Properties of Soils" as our main textbook. It is clearly written, easy to read, and has lots of helpful figures (including graphs, diagrams, drawings, and black-and-white and color photos). The chapters are well organized, so that you can find exactly what you need to know. The authors include hundreds of websites for those who want more information, and make the book more readable by starting off each chapter with a quote and a "big picture" statement.

"The Nature and Properties of Soils" has a good mix of theoretical and practical information. Wherever possible, the authors do sample calculations and describe applications for agriculture, ecology, and engineering. They thoroughly cover every major topic in soil science, as well as delving into some more specialized ones (for example, symptoms of micronutrient deficiencies in plants).

Book Description

This book offers a general, interdisciplinary discussion of global environmental change oriented toward the non-specialist in science. The unifying theme of the book is consideration of aspects of both natural and human-induced global environmental change. The two part organization according to this distinction allows for easy reading on specific topics. This book is useful for anyone interested in learning more about Earth's systems.

Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology, Exploration, Drilling and Production (2nd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Great high level book
THE Book for Oilfield Newcomers
Excellent primer for anyone interested in the oi patch
Oil for Dummies - Even I got it!
Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology,Exploration ,Drilling and Production (2nd Edition) by Norman J. Hyne

Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology, Exploration, Drilling and Production (2nd Edition)
Norman J. Hyne , and Norman J. Ph.d Hyne
Manufacturer: Pennwell Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 087814823X

Customer Reviews:

Great high level book.......2007-08-28

This book is a good source of information about the oil industry if you are working in a different field, and curious to learn about the oil industry.

THE Book for Oilfield Newcomers.......2007-03-13

In attempting to get quickly up to speed on the oil business for the purpose of participating in a few wells as a (very) small investor, I bought about ten books of various sorts. This is one of them, and has turned out to be the one I refer to the most.

First, let me say that there are two different types of books on drilling for oil/gas. Broadly, they are books that concentrate mainly on the financial and legal structure of oil deals and books that concentrate on where it is and how to get it out of the ground. This book is of the second sort.

The "nontechnical" part of the title is only partly true. Some of the descriptions are sufficiently technical to impart a working understanding of the operations in the field. I, for instance, have been going to our rig (now drilling) and asking questions ("What's that blue thing?"), then coming home and reading about what I was told ("The jar is a section of pipe that either mechanically....").

Same with the drilling reports I receive.... I can look up that part of the drilling operation (ie, "sliding") and get a much better understanding of what's happening. A book comes in handy, after all, the tool pushers out on the rigs seem to be men of few words.

There is also a pretty good basic course in petroleum geology in the first thirteen chapters. And, the science (art?) of geophysics gets a good once-over, too, though I confess I've not paid much attention to it yet.

There are chapters on reservoirs, completion, offshore, production, workover, and more, all of which is written at the same level, and much of which I've not read in depth, only scanned. I'll read it as we get there out in the field.

This is a sufficiently information-dense book that actually sitting and reading it from cover to cover won't realistically happen for most folks, no matter how involved. It's more of a textbook and reference resource.

There are lots of diagrams and drawings and pictures (probably three hundred) and they help a lot. The lengthy glossary is OK, though I've not found a petroleum business glossary that seems to be truly comprehensive. (That was written before I found, and ordered, the comprehensive "Dictionary of Petroleum Exploration, Drilling & Production" by who else but Norman J. Hyne, Ph.D.,.... and nope, I have no axe to grind here; and yes, I have noticed that Norman seems to favor long titles). The folks in the oil business rely very heavily on their own language that is a combination of truly technical terminology, oilman slang and everything in between. A glossary is handy. Also be forewarned that the business uses lots of abbreviations, and they seem to change somewhat from company to company, so that a glossary won't ever have all of the abbreviations in use in the field.

There are some other books that do a pretty good job on a more basic level, including "Money In The Ground" by John Orban, III (which also includes deal structure), but, if you are looking for a book that is deep enough to give you a good understanding of the many various aspects of drilling for oil, this is the book.

Excellent primer for anyone interested in the oi patch.......2007-01-05

I am considering investing in onshore domestic oil and gas exploration, and sought a book to begin learning about the technical side of the industry. This is the book. Hyne does an excellent job reducing what is clearly a highly complex and tecnhical field down to near-layman's terms. Be forewarned; just like reading descriptions of meats, vegetables and seasonings won't make you a chef, this book won't make it any easier to make a go-no go decision regarding any particular prospect. It will, however, teach you some basic building blocks to help you understand where the risks come from, and really help you understand what a promotor or operator tells you. It is almost mandatory reading if you wish to drill down deeper into other, more technical texts. I have, and would have been lost if it had not been for Norman Hyne's book.

Oil for Dummies - Even I got it!.......2006-12-14

I work for a MAJOR oil company, but in Government Relations, not on the technical side of the house. Our company has courses such as "Refining for non refiners" and "Drilling for non drillers" meant to give an overview of the operations to people that need to be able to talk intelligently about the industry. This book gives among the finest overviews of the industry that I have seen and makes it easier to do my job. When I first joined I didn't know the difference between upstream and downstream, and the overviews offered in Mr. Hyne's book make me more able to speak intelligently to colleagues, management, customers and partners about our stake in this industry. A must read for anyone who works on the fringes of of oil production. After reading this book, I am somewhat amazed that gasoline does not cost three times its' current price considering all the work it takes to find it, drill for it, extract the stuff from rocks, and get it through a pipeline to a ship to a refinery and then to our gas tanks. This from a guy that gets dirty looks as I drive my Hybrid car into the parking lot of an oil company every morning.

Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology,Exploration ,Drilling and Production (2nd Edition) by Norman J. Hyne.......2006-11-05

An outstanding , very lucid, overview of the petroleum sciences ranging from petroleum generation, migration ,and entrapment , exploration technology ,land leasing , drilling and development , to reservoir estimation and enhancement technology . This book is highly recomended for those who have little or no understanding of the field ,for students and ,perhaps ,for some non geologist ie. geophysicists .

Resources of the Earth: Origin, Use, and Environmental Impact (3rd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Readable text- odd images

Resources of the Earth: Origin, Use, and Environmental Impact (3rd Edition)
James R. Craig , David J. Vaughan , Brian J. Skinner , and David Vaughan
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0130834106

Book Description

Extensively illustrated, balanced, broad-based, and up-to-date, this book explores the nature and critical issues of all major types of earth resources--energy, metallic, nonmetallic, water, soil--and the impacts that resource usage has on the earth environment. It provides geologic background of resource formation and occurrence of most of the various types of resources; offers an international perspective; discusses resources not only from the scientific point of view, but also from the point of economic, political, historical considerations; and considers how the extraction and use of the resources creates impacts--local or global, immediate or delayed, visible or invisible, singular or cumulative. Minerals: The Foundations of Society. Plate Tectonics and The Origins of Mineral Resources. Earth's Resources Through History. Environmental Impacts of Resource Exploitation and Use. Energy from Fossil Fuels. Nuclear Power and Alternative Energy Sources. Abundant Metals. The Geochemically Scare Metals. Fertilizer and Chemical Minerals. Building Materials and Other Industrial Minerals. Water Resources. Soil as a Resource. Future Resources. For anyone interested in earth resources.

Customer Reviews:

Readable text- odd images.......2006-10-29

I enjoyed reading about natural resources in this textbook format, and have gone back to re-read chapters repeatedly. I found this text's approach much more enjoyable and enlightening than my prep school or college geology studies. However, the page layout of the images seemed amateurish:some photographs images were distored to fit the page.

Average customer rating:

Decent--but Not cohesive...
Excellent textbook!
The Human Mosaic
Disappointed When Received
informative but biased

The Human Mosaic
Terry G. Jordan-Bychkov , Mona Domosh , Roderick P. Neumann , and Patricia L. Price
Manufacturer: W. H. Freeman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0716763842

Customer Reviews:

Decent--but Not cohesive..........2007-10-08

My main gripe about this book is that it is organized in such a fashion that it makes it difficult to outline. The chapters don't develop in a manner that lends itself easily to straightforward interpretation of main ideas. Instead, the authors rely primarily on providing definitions of terms, and then presenting information that is of secondary consequence.

The book is informative, but not linearly coherent.

To address the issues raised by another reviewer about Islam, after some more scrupulous reading of those sections, I believe the reviewer let his anger get the best of him. For example, on the section dealing with the "Sour Grapes" reaction, he automatically combined the imposition of pork-eating taboos with the "sour grapes" reaction, which the authors clearly didn't do. They develop the idea and geographical importance of pork-eating, and gives the "sour grapes" reaction as a possible explanation to the eschewing of pork--and they offer others as well. The idea was to show that we don't know where it began, from a cultural stance. The author attaches from an early stage that eschewing pork was part of Judaism, a much older tradition than Islam or Christianity, and makes the point that the distribution of the taboo follows in line with areas that pork isn't easy to cultivate, since a nomadic lifestyle is not suitable for pork farming.

Note that this is different than saying "Islamic people made conquered peoples eschew pork because Islamic people were jealous of those who raised pork." This statement is almost nonsensical, but if you were to simplify the claim raised by the other reviewer, this is what you get.

Did later islamic kingdoms impose the non-eating of pork in the regions of Babylon and those cities near rivers? Yes they did. The author was wrong to use the language of "for revenge," as it puts a slightly moral stance on the books position, and does paint Islam in a negative light--which a good textbook shouldn't do.

And in dealing with the oft-violent histories of all three monotheist religions, the authors spent a great deal of time on the christian enslavement and mistreatment of Indians by the sword here in the Americas--showing that Christians did bad things in the name of their faith, just as Muslims did.

As far as religions go however, the treatment of buddhism and hinduism is even more sparse than it is on Islam, though I have yet to read a western-written book that covers eastern traditions in an interesting fashion. Most of them have a sudden style-shift from seeming interested in the subject matter to suddenly seeming more like an encyclopaedic regurgitation of well-known facts.

This book is guilty of this as well. Docked one star for its non-linear style, and one star for its poor treatment of eastern religions.

Excellent textbook!.......2007-09-29

I purchased this book for my university level cultural geography course and it's very up to date with excellent explanations of the many aspects of cultural geography. I highly recommend this textbook!

The Human Mosaic.......2005-09-23

Thank you for being so prompt. I am really enjoying the book and class.

Disappointed When Received.......2004-08-19

The condition was listed as "Very Good" but when received it was marked up with yellow highlighter along with other mark-ups. I feel the condition should have been rated lower. I have to say the book was received in a timely manner.

informative but biased.......2001-02-04

I took courses with Dr. Lester Rowntree during 1981 and 1990 at San Jose State University. I found him to be very knowledgeable except about Islam. This textbook which is co-authored by Dr. Rowntree contains misleading or inaccurate statements about Islam. For example, It stated in page 180 and 181 (fourth edition), that Islam spread by militaristic conquests while christianity spread by contact conversion. This is not accurate. In page 185 the authors contended that, despite the Muslims belief, the black stone in the Holy Mosque in Mecca is a meteorite. In the next page the authors stated, under the picture of the Ka'aba, that pilgrims come from afar to Mecca, for they believe that the black stone was sent down from heaven by Allah, the Islamic god. The problems with this understatement are, first: Muslims believe that Allah is the personal name of God the creator and lord of all creatures not just Muslims; second: Muslims come to Mecca not for the sake of the black stone, but because they were commanded in the Holy Quran to perform Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes. It is also appropriate to mention that the pilgrimage was first initiated at the time of the prophets Abraham and his son Ismail who built the Holy Mosque in Mecca long before the advent of Islam. Unlike the case with Judaism in page 191 this book ignored, in pages 192-193, the fact that the Islamic taboo on eating pork meat was also decreed by devine revelation in the Holy Quran. It stated that it was a "sour grapes" reaction to the inability of the Muslim nomads to raise and own pigs. Professor Rowntree and his co-author also stated in page 193 that in the seventh century A.D., the Muslim nomads imposed their religion, complete with the pork taboo, on the farming people of the river valleys as a final "revenge". In conclusion, this is a very informative and useful book. However, on behalf of the one billion Muslims in the world today, I strongly suggest rewriting the parts dealing with the Islamic culture. Thank you in advavce.

Average customer rating:

Great Earth Science Text
Great book
A great book covering everything

Earth Science (With CD-ROM)
Edward J. Tarbuck , Frederick K. Lutgens , Dennis Tasa , and Frederick K Lutgens
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0130353906

Book Description

Earth Science offers a reader-friendly overview of our physical environment for the reader with little or no exposure to science. The emphasis is on readability, with clear explanations and examples, superb illustrations by the renowned Dennis Tasa, and an incredible collection of full color photographs and topographical maps. Topics covered in this highly readable and interesting book are geology, oceanography, astronomy, and meteorology. For readers needing a basic informational book about Earth Science.

Customer Reviews:

Great Earth Science Text.......2007-08-27

This book was a wonderful resource for my Earth Science class. It has many colorful pictures, and great explanations.

Great book.......2007-08-18

This book was worth buying, easy to read. If you would like to purchase this book you can contact me through email.

A great book covering everything.......2001-07-31

This textbook is one of the best scientific books I have seen. Not only does it cover earth science (like geology), but astronomy and meteorology also. It covers every topic that you possibly want to know about. The authors leave no information out. I had to use this for Science Olympiad, and it helped me so much. The explanations are great, the images beautiful, and the diagrams very helpful. I would suggest this for anyone that has an interest in Earth Science or Meteorology. It is a great book.

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