Earth: Portrait of a Planet

by Stephen Marshak

New

Genres: Science, Geology, Nonfiction, School, Textbooks, Reference, Earth Sciences

984 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[Xander · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent introduction to geology as a science. As always with these books: it is crammed with facts, most of its contents are repeated throughout the book (in different forms: text, illustrations, examples/case studies, etc.) and not all of the material is equally useful and/or interesting.

I used this book primarily as additional source material when I was studying evolutionary theory back in 2016. Evolution, especially in its earliest forms (Darwin, Huxley, etc.) was intertwined with geology and hence, geology has to be understood to fully grasp Darwin's ideas. Part 4 of this book is primarily focused on geological history - in other words: the biography of our planet. It explains very clearly how paleontology works and does an amazing job at describing all the phases that our planet went through in 4.5 billion years. Additionally, in part 1 of this book the genesis of our solar system - and more broadly our universe - is explained.

I found the rest of the book not that interesting (relative to my original purpose). I read part 2 of the book, on the basics of geology (e.g. the different types of rock and the interconnectedness the 'rock cycle') and part 5 on the most important resources that geology enabled us to use in our daily life: (1) resources like oil, gas, coal, nuclear power, bio fuel and solar and wind power, and (2) resources like metals.

The rest of the book I didn't use or read, so I can't comment on those parts. I found the material highly accessible and the use of (very worthy) illustrations to explain difficult processes is impressive. Also, at the end of each chapter is placed a huge illustration, called 'Geology at a glance' in which the main themes of the chapter are summarized in a picture.

I don't know if this book is very interesting for lay people; I can recommend it as a reference work for other purposes, though.

[Pearse Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I am so glad I bought the fourth edition instead of the fifth: they are essentially the same but had a MASSIVE price difference. This textbook was skimmed by me, mostly, for GEOL 120, but it really helped solidify ideas from Karla's lectures, and had a fair (read: could've used more) number of diagrams and pictures to explain basic geological processes. I really like geology. Thanks, education.

[Henrik Haapala · Rating 5 out of 5]

2022-04-05
Who is the author?

Stephen Marshak is a Professor Emeritus of Geology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he taught for 35 years.

The best one volume summary of geology for general and science students.

[Victoria Engström · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for anyone who is into geology and nature geography.

[Hildur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. At the beginning of every chapter it starts by giving out really basic information on its subject and then slowly gets into more complicated things so that the reader doesn't get left behind, no matter what his/her background is. The book is abundant with great illustrations that explain concepts very clearly. Marshak often uses stories from real life as examples of geological phenomenons like with Pompeii (of course) and the interesting story of the 1986 Lake Nyos disaster.

The book tells you where to look if you want to learn more about some of the subjects online, which is definitely giving something extra for the students (although this is not a part I took advantage of).

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've only read the first 120 pages so far. I picked it up to help me understand the recent scary swarm of earthquakes near my LA home. It's an introductory geology text aimed at advanced HS or lower division college students. The book is very lucid, well-written and illustrated. Actually, the book explains concepts twice; once in words and then again in pictures with captions. It works for both left and right-brained people.

Now I finally understand plate tectonics and sea floor spreading. I think that DH has to take me back to Hawaii for more field research on volcanoes and coral reefs. http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/200...

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm excited about this course aside from the fact that millions and billions of years will be mentioned. I feel like I want to take the class, and then research the Creationist standpoint and then write a paper for my teacher, even though I'm not required write one. ;)

*Edit* Now that the semester is long over, I should put this on the shelf (virtually, of course :P). It was very informative and helpful although we completely skipped over the whole section about soils. It's crazy to believe that less than 4 decades ago, people didn't know that the earth moved on tectonic plates!

[Marcus Laurén · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as part of GE2020 / Tellus I - Physical Geography at University of Stockholm, and I’m sure I would’ve liked the book at least as much even without the course. A lot of the things I’ve learnt in high level or picked up myself throughout the years, but getting the solid background is really appreciated. This definitely made me want to continue the geology track!

[Violetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about 70% of this book for my course.
It was structured well and I like the summaries, the figures are pretty and straightforward. The book covers many fundamental concepts in geology and it does so well.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is surprisingly engaging to read, considering it is a textbook.

[Quinox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geology primer.

[Maja]

i won't be giving this a rating since i read most of it for a class in uni, but for being a part of my assigned reading list it was very enjoyable! will for sure be going back to this in the future, just for fun

[Ciel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The text is too small and my ADHD goblin brain kept getting lost. Other than that, yay cool rock. Never actually 'finished' it tho, I read like three pages and was done for the semester

[Loke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read about 50%.

[Stan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know that those striking mountains rimming Yosemite Valley are the remnants of lava frozen within volcanoes, seen now because the volcanoes themselves have eroded away? Or that much of California is the result of island chains smacking into the west coast of North America and sticking? Or that the Himalayas rose because India collided with Asia in the remote past? This book describes those events and many more. I am proud to have finished this 800-pager, ostensibly a college textbook, but to tell the truth, I found it endlessly fascinating. Marshak has a gift for explaining things, and I'm sure he is a life-changing teacher. He has written this book in a way that makes it very readable, enjoyable and interesting. He uses a technique in which he will initially present a subject to get a basic understanding of it, and then later will come back and delve deeper into it. The book is loaded with clarifying illustrations, and also has links to Google Earth which allow the reader to observe actual geological formations on the earth's surface. Geologists have their own vocabulary, but things are so well explained that even a sentence like, "Exotic terranes may collide with the convergent margin and accrete to the orogen" comes to make perfect sense. I read through it the first time, just enjoying the learning, and now I am re-reading it and taking some notes. Highly recommended to anyone with any interest in geology and earth processes.

[Sami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, let's see how I'd put this.. Well,.. this is the most romantic science textbook that I've ever read. I know how strange that sounds, yet it was like reading a novel, except everything was real.
Did I just have a book boner?


*Just done final exam on Engineering Geology today. Such a bittersweet feeling. :)

[Nicollette Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

In college, it was the first textbook that I enjoyed reading and that I found engaging. If it were not for this book I might not have found my niche in the geology department at my school.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disliked the subject matter.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite introduction to geology textbook. Hope to use this one again the next time I teach the class!

[軒 王 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just want read.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textbook

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required reading for my Geology class, I learned quite a lot.

[Lexi]

Definitely not a favorite of mine, but I learned some pretty cool things!

[Harrywaters]

Via boek over hutton