The Evolving Earth

"'The Evolving Earth' is a higher education geology textbook, aiming to teach evolution to non-majors. The book will emphasize popular topics such as dinosaurs, mass extinctions, ice ages, climate change, and the origins of Earth and life"--

Prothero and Dott's classic Evolution of the Earth is a seminal work in the field. Changing curricula have created a need for a more accessible historical geology text that will assume no pre-requisites and be pitched appropriately to non-majors. The book is written in a lively and entertaining style similar to that employed by Dr. Prothero's many trade books. It will employ his trademark themes of evolution and "why and how we know what we know". In keeping with its more accessible approach the book will emphasize popular topics such as dinosaurs, mass extinctions, ice ages, climate change, and the origins of Earth and life.

Kent C. Condie

Earth’s Evolving Systems: The History of Planet Earth, Second Edition is an introductory text designed for popular courses in undergraduate Earth history. Written from a “systems perspective,” it provides coverage of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, and discussion of how those systems interacted over the course of geologic time.

Questions about the origin and nature of Earth and the life on it have long preoccupied human thought and the scientific endeavor. Deciphering the planet's history and processes could improve the ability to predict catastrophes like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, to manage Earth's resources, and to anticipate changes in climate and geologic processes. At the request of the U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Geological Survey, the National Research Council assembled a committee to propose and explore grand questions in geological and planetary science. This book captures, in a series of questions, the essential scientific challenges that constitute the frontier of Earth science at the start of the 21st century.