I promised to post a compilation of all suggestions to the list. Here it
is with title, author, and recommenders comments. Thanks to all who sent
their ideas!
Dave
Summer Reading Ideas from the Geo-Tectonics Listserve
Annals of the Former World
by John McPhee (includes McPhee's former books Basin and Range, In Suspect
Terrane, Rising from the Plains, and Assembling California, adding a fifth,
Crossing the Craton.)
The Behaviour of the Earth
by Claude Allegre
Ken McCaffrey: it is a very good read.
Can a Darwinian be a Christian? The relationship between science and
religion
by Michael Ruse (philosopher and biologist)
Frank Beunk: The 17 May issue of 'Nature' (vol. 411, pp 239-240) has a
favourable review
of [this] book
The Dark Side of the Earth
by Robert Muir Wood
How to Build a Habitable Planet
by Wallace S. Broecker
Frank Beunk: don't miss
Mechanics of Earthquakes and Faulting
by Christopher H Scholz
Roger Musson: Some passages may be a little heavy for
undergrads or amateurs, but there is so much good information there that it
has to be a strong contender.
New Views on an Old Planet
by Tjeerd Van Andel
Noah's Flood
by William Ryan and Walter Pittman
Walter Wheeler: geological investigations of catastrophic flooding of the
Black Sea
David Smith: I finally read this and it is an extremely well-written book,
showing the scientific process as well as illuminating an exciting new idea
The Origin of Continents and Oceans
by Alfred Wegener's (available as a Dover Publications reprint of an
English translation of the 1929 German edition).
Peter Eichhubl: Not only [were] many key ingredients ? in place in
the 1920ies, they were actually contained in [this] book
Paths from Science towards God: The end of all our exploring
by Arthur Peacocke (biochemist and theologian)
Frank Beunk: The 17 May issue of 'Nature' (vol. 411, pp 239-240) has a
favourable review
of [this] book
Plate Tectonics:, How it Works
by Allan Cox and Brian Hart
The Rejection of Continental Drift.
by Naomi Oreskes
Allen McGrew: Though I had imagined myself to be reasonably well-informed
about the early history of the continental drift hypothesis, I found myself
quite surprised at how many of the key
ingredients for a full-fledged plate tectonic theory were already in place
by about 1930 or so. Moreover, I thought she orchestrated an elegant
demolition of the idea that the key downfall of the theory was the lack of
a plausible driving mechanism, though in the end I felt less convinced of
her arguments as to the "real reasons" why American scientists so widely
dismissed this compelling theory.
The Stone Raft
by Jose Saramago
Jochen Mezger: Okay this is fiction; the Iberian peninsular separates
along the Pyrenees and starts drifting into the Atlantic, leaving Gibraltar
behind, and almost bumping into the Azores before coming to a halt. Not
really based on geological facts, but oh so funny.
T. Rex
by W. Alvarez.
Raffaele DiCuia: It tells the story of the theory of the big extinction at
the KT boundary, from the beginning. It is very well written, rich in
details but at the same time easy to read.
The Unauthorized Version
by Robin Lane Fox
Roger Musson: [this book] is an application of standard historical textual
analysis to the Bible considered as historical source document. The
conclusions he draws are very interesting in many areas.
Wandering Lands and Animals
by Edwin H. Colbert
Jochen Mezger: I have not read it yet, and it is probably very outdated
(1973), but it
may be a good historical introduction.
David Lee Smith, Ph.D.
Director of Academic Operations
Institute for Advancement of Mathematics and Science Teaching
Associate Professor of Geology, Environmental Science, and Physics
La Salle University, 1900 W. Olney Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19141
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