Wonderful book for those who wonder about the geology they drive by.
580490
I love this book.  I take it on trips and it answers my geology questions as we drive down the road; no need to look it up later.  So happy I have it.
1084821
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author writes in a style that is informative and easy to absorb.  The author takes the reader on a journey from the California Coast to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, telling the history of the geology and also how that geology helped shape the western expansion of the the United States. The frequent illustrations are extremely helpful in getting the author's points across to readers unfamiliar with current geological theory. As someone who has travelled extensively in the western US, I have a new appreciation for the landscapes I've seen and am looking forward to revisiting some of these places with a new appreciation of how they came to be.
4151977
It's fascinating to experience the world through the eyes and mind of a writer with particular knowledge.  In this case, geology very specifically drives the plot. The characters and their circumstances could be a bit more fully formed, but the book is fairly represented as a novella introducing them. What a pleasure to read a mystery without spelling, usage and grammar errors.
1856779
This  fascinating book, written in language easily understood by non-geologist, yet full of scientific facts that a geologist can appreciate reads like a detective story; describing in detail how the geologic history and formation of the Columbia River was finally understood. It can be used as a road guide and has many maps and photographs showing exact locations of features discussed in the book. A MUST READ FOR ANYONE TRAVELING THROUGH THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE IN OREGON!
This book is one that has provided geologist with many of the keys and clues that are presently being used to understand the large flood features seen on Mars.
2600511
I love natural history and the study of our biological and geological past. This book is easy reading for the interested and well read layman and gives a wonderful glimpse into a time in ancient history when most life mysteriously vanished. The techniques, trials and tribulations, and successes of American and international paleontologists are well discussed and made more interesting and personal by the authors own experiences. The history of paleontology and geology is also well discussed. My one disappointment, and not really the author's fault, is that I wasn't at all convinced that we know the cause of the end Permian extinction.  So I learned a great deal of paleontology, geology and history, making this book well worth the time and effort. But I'm no at all convinced that we currently know exactly what happened all those millennia ago. But I am convinced that something did!
4712183
Well written by a man that truly loves Baja, but best for anyone that is already interested in geology. Recommended for frequent Baja travelers.
445568
I love this book. I had old addition of it but I had lost that. Now I am happy to  have its new addition. It provides  a  foundation to understand limestone  microfacies and to interpret depositional environments. I have no hesitation to say that this book is a milestone in my professional career as a carbonate petrographer.
1819184
I haven't read the paperback, but I just came across my copy of the 1956 hard cover and devoured it with renewed interest. Professor Lobeck selects 72 examples of geography and on the facing page illustrates the geological activity that resulted in that geography. New York harbor, Long Island, the Florida peninsula, the Great Lakes, the island arcs of the Pacific and the Caribbean are among the many mapped and explained geologically. A great book for the student of earth science and the traveller interested in maps and why the our earth is so different and interesting.
2802827
I originally acquired this book from my mother in law after she passed away. I somehow lost the book while camping. This book was so interesting to read and browse through, I had to get another copy for my library. Even though it is not a recent publication, it is still a great read for those intersted in geography and geology.
4483471
I love this book! I have been suffering a fair amount of "road trip envy" - Imagine riding along with Kirk Johnson to learn about fossil hunting, and Ray Troll for a unique perspective on the adventure! Except for the whining inside my head about wanting to go look for fossils, I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable read, laced with an impressive amount of information.
4192207
Well written with expert treatment of geology and lots of facts from local histories.  This author should be a professor!
3043092
I am not an anthropologist, but as a geologist, I find that I have a deep interest in that area.  The information in this book will be of assistance when ever I am seeking more information concerning puzzles that are presented in other books on the Amazon River area.  I will be referring to it time after time.  I think it is a great book.
1129223
My 7 year old loves geology so I decided to get this book for him. As it turns out, he is a bit beyond this particular book (though he enjoyed looking at the photographs of rocks incorporated into the illustrations). My 4 year old, however, LOVED the book when I read it to her. The author does a good job explaining the science in a way that young kids can understand. For the benefit of new readers she also includes pronunciations of the more difficult words (metamorphic, sedimentary, etc.)

Recommended for science-loving kids aged 3-4 to 6-7.
3682088
The general reader can hardly do better than J.D. Macdougall's concise history of our planet. Helpfully organized in chronological order, this work synthesizes the best current thinking by scientists in an easily understood fashion regarding our geological past.  The time charts at the beginning of each eon discription keep the reader oriented to the events relationships.  The use and choice of charts & graphs prove helpful without being overdone.  The author's detour into the techincal aspects of dating rocks and plate techtonics could be a bit boring to the general reader, but are situated in the text so that they can be skipped easily. The author brings you right up to the present day and delivers some thoughts as to how the cycles of the past may effect our future.  I feel the author is very impartial when addressing "hotbutton" issues such as global warming, etc. There is also a helpful glossary in the back and suggestions for further reading for those whose appetite on this subject is wetted.
1927731
I'm pretty sure that this is the best book on isotope geology. It gives you insights not only on igneous and metamaorphic rocks, but also on sedimentary rocks, with informations that usualy lack in many other books. I consider this product an obligatory reading for anyone interested in isotope geology.
4912484
I'm a professional engineering geologist in California.  I graduated with my BS in 1990.  I was taught "modern" geology, based on the acceptance of Plate Tectonics among other things.  My best friend is also a professional engineering geologist, but he graduated in 1976.  He laughs when he describes having to write papers pretending to still accept "Isostacy" just to keep his "old school" professors from failing him.  They would have none of that "Continental Drift" rubbish.  This is how I became interested in learning about the science of geology BEFORE Plate Tectonics or Continental Drift.  Lyell's "Principles of Geology, Volume 1" is one of a few references I'm collecting to learn more about this "old school" geology.  Pirsson's "A Text-Book of Geology, Part 1-Physical Geology" (1915) is another landmark reference; Hutton's "Theory Of The Earth" (1788) is another.  Lyell's (1830) bridges the gap between those other two.  So about this book:  As the description generically says, the pages of this book are black and white scans of the pages of Lyell's original book.  The description sort of describes the apparent case that this version of Lyell's book is actually a compilation of pages from a few different copies of Lyell's original.  They apparently took the best pages/scans from all the originals they used and put them together in this book in an effort to make as complete a reproduction as possible.  Everything is in order, and I've only found one missing page so far.  Some pages look near perfect, others are a scan of what must have been a torn, stained mess in the original.  Most are of good quality.  For those of you who are as nit-picky as I am, it looks like they had the contrast turned way up on the scanner or printer; everything is either black or white, not grayscale.  I think they scanned it in text mode, not photo mode.  And it looks like there's a bit of a margin around each scanned page.  Basically it's readable, and it looks like a black and white scan of the original.  It's not beautiful; it's nice.  Short of spending thousands of dollars trying to talk some national library out of their original copy, this is the best you'll find.  I like it; it's very interesting.  If you're interested in Lyell's book enough to read this review, you'll probably like this book.  The price is certainly right.  Cheers!
3828435
One of my favorite books on the Grand Canyon that I have read. There is a little geology a little personal history of when the author hiked the Canyon. You feel as if you're hiking with him. He tells great stories of the people who lived, worked and for some grew up below the Rim of the Canyon.