Earth: The Biography

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After four and a half billion years, our planet is approaching old age—the perfect time to look back on an extraordinary life. In Earth: The Biography, renowned science writers Iain Steward and John Lynch use groundbreaking imagery and the latest scientific discoveries to tell the epic story of Earth’s birth, life stages, and distant future demise.

Each chapter examines one of the five essential forces—meteor impacts, plate tectonics, the ocean, the atmosphere, and ice—that ...

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More About This Book

Overview

After four and a half billion years, our planet is approaching old age—the perfect time to look back on an extraordinary life. In Earth: The Biography, renowned science writers Iain Steward and John Lynch use groundbreaking imagery and the latest scientific discoveries to tell the epic story of Earth’s birth, life stages, and distant future demise.

Each chapter examines one of the five essential forces—meteor impacts, plate tectonics, the ocean, the atmosphere, and ice—that drive and shape our planet and determine its destiny. New imaging techniques and spectacular graphics combine to reveal hitherto hidden information about these forces, depicting them in action today as they keep the Earth alive and going back in time to show how cataclysmic events played roles in the planet’s development. More than 200 full-color photographs and illustrations present the familiar in a striking new light, while the authors’ straightforward style brings an engaging clarity to advanced scientific concepts.

The National Geographic Channel television series to which Earth: The Biography is the companion volume is expected to reach a viewership of 100 million people. A timely publication as our planet adapts to a warming climate, this accessible, authoritative, and richly visual exploration is a valuable home reference for every family.

A reference book dealing with the earth, its atmosphere and weather, geology, volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains, lakes, and other geographical features.

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Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature
If I were in grades two to five and needed to do a report on one of the planets, I hope my teacher or librarian would point me to the "Exploring Planets" series. The books were developed using the National Science Education Standards, and the quality shows. This title flows well, with one concept and almost always an excellent photograph gracing each page. There are dozens of interesting facts about Earth—its surface is three-fourths water, it spins on its axis at more than 1,000 miles per hour—and about those who continue to research it. There is information on how to use the Internet for additional research, a science experiment, glossary, an index, a quiz and a table comparing the features of all nine planets. This is a book, and series, well worth adding to your science-focused bookshelf. 2004, Weigl Publishers Inc, Ages 7 to 11.
—Kris Sauer
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781426202360
  • Publisher: National Geographic Society
  • Publication date: 4/29/2008
  • Pages: 240
  • Sales rank: 825,650
  • Product dimensions: 8.76 (w) x 11.11 (h) x 0.96 (d)

Meet the Author

Iain Steward is a Senior Lecturer in Geology at the University of Plymouth School of Earth, Ocean, and Environmental Sciences. He hosted the popular BBC/PBS geology series From the Center of the Earth. His follow-up series, Journeys into the Ring of Fire, focused on geology and culture around the Pacific Rim. He is co-author of the book Walking with Cavemen.

John Lynch, executive producer of this book’s companion television series, is currently head of the History and Science unit of the British Broadcasting Corporation. He produced numerous films for Horizon, including coverage of the eruption of Mount St. Helens. His credits as an author include Wild Weather and, with Iain Steward, Walking with Cavemen.

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Table of Contents

What makes up the Earth? 6
Early ideas about the Earth 8
A cocoon of gas 10
Climate in the past 12
Watery planet 14
The properties of water 16
Realms of ice 18
The building blocks 20
Investigating rocks 22
Igneous rocks 24
Sedimentary rocks 26
Metamorphic rocks 28
The challenge of the ocean 30
Modern oceanography 32
Continental drift 34
Plate tectonics 36
The formation of the ocean floor 38
Exploring the interior 40
Earthquakes and seismology 42
Volcanology 44
Mountain building 46
Plateaus and rifts 48
Weathering processes 50
Life from rock 52
Erosion 54
Deposition 56
Glaciation 58
The age of the Earth 60
Naming the Earth 62
Index 64
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