Earth

by Nicolas Cheetham

From Earth we have looked deep into the universe, embarking on a journey of discovery that has revealed the cosmos to be richer than we could ever imagine. But what happens when we reverse the process, when we look back on Earth from the heavens? We see a familiar planet from a new perspective. We are presented with the atlas of an invisible Earth - an Earth that lives and breathes around us but one which, paradoxically, we are too close to see. With the satellite's all-seeing eye we can follow a thread of gold weaving its way through a mountain range; we can uncover cities swallowed by shifting sands or dense jungle; we can gaze into the eye of the hurricane or the maw of the volcano; we can watch forests disappear and ice sheets melt. Often possessing an abstract - almost alien - beauty, such vistas are the landscapes of the information age. The book travels the world in four Earth, Water, Air and Fire. Earth flies us over mountains, forests, deserts and tundra. Water follows rivers and coastlines, explores ice fields and seas before plunging into the abyss of the deep ocean. Air examines storms, hurricanes, wind-sculpted patterns and atmospheric phenomena such as the aurora borealis. Finally, Fire ends the book with volcanoes, asteroid impacts, forest fires, pollution and man's impact on the environment.

Genres: Science, Astronomy, Nonfiction, Photography, Reference, Nature

192 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2006

Reviews

[Am Y · Rating 1 out of 5]

Decidedly underwhelming. The various images (mostly satellite) of earth's surface were nothing special at all, not pleasing to look at, and if not for the text accompanying each of them, would not warrant a second glance.

The book is divided into air, fire, water, earth. Under "air" for instance, you would see cloud formations viewed from above, and under "water", you would see things like seas, rivers, etc; under "fire" would be images of volcanoes & such, and the "earth" category would have mountains and other land formations. The last chapter if I remember correctly had manmade structures and showed cities and similar things. None of them were interesting in any way. You would just look at an image and think, "Oh, another impact crater. Ohhhkay." Or, "A big cloud. Alright." And maybe, "So it's another mountain range. Aaaaannnd???"

I'm not quite sure what made any of the featured images special. They are just all your run-of-the-mill examples of plate tectonics (which the book mentions at the beginning) - except for the impact craters of course. But then again, you see one impact crater, you've seen 'em all. At least, that's what the book leads you to believe, because nothing in the pictures or captions of the several impact craters featured suggested that they were something we should take particular note or be in awe of.

My one emotion after finishing this title was, "BLAH."

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe some day my research (or at least my image data) will be in a remote sensing coffee table book. :) I just wish it gave more information about the images. (Which sensor acquired the image (some of this is in the photocredit page at the back), what bands are displayed, etc.)