Rocks: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #502

by Jan Zalasiewicz

Rocks, more than anything else, underpin our lives. They make up the solid structure of the Earth and of other rocky planets, and are present at the cores of gas giant planets. We live on the rocky surface of the planet, grow our food on weathered debris derived from rocks, and we obtain nearly all of the raw materials with which we found our civilization from rocks. From the Earth's crust to building bricks, rocks contain our sense of planetary history, and are a guide to our future.

In this Very Short Introduction Jan Zalsiewicz looks at the nature and variety of rocks, and the processes by which they are formed. Starting from the origin of rocks and their key role in the formation of the Earth, he considers what we know about the deep rocks of the mantle and core, and what rocks can tell us about the evolution of the Earth, and looks at those found in outer space and on other planets.

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Science, Geology, Nonfiction, Nature, Geography

160 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2016

Reviews

[Gustaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tydligt skriven kortfattad introduktion till geologi som fick en att vilja lära så mer. Innehåller ett 30-tal svartvita bilder vilka inte räcker hela vägen som pedagogiska hjälpmedel. Jag kände mig tvungen att Google en del för att få en tydlig bild av de olika mineralerna, bergarterna och de geologiska processerna.

[Luke Gompertz · Rating 3 out of 5]

If my read-time (2 days) is any indication, this was an engaging book, and to be fair it probably was. The later chapters on extraterrestrial rocks and human-made rocks were fun. I think overall it didn't really manage to present a unified theory of rocks (or comment on whether such a thing exists).

[Anjan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is poorly organized and suffers for it. author is capable of writing engagingly but is prone to digressions that distract the reader. better organization could also help the reader learn and understand more within the constraints of the word count.

The "very short introductions" are uniformly thin 5" x 3" (ish) texts that can be excellent replacements for textbooks. it takes skill to convey the breadth of a subject With a minimum of words.

At their best the series reads like coffee shop conversations with a learned expert. except, unlike coffee shop conversation they tend to be well organized. This is not.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rocks: A Very Short Introduction (2016) by Jan Zalasiewicz. The book title seems self-explanatory. Zalasiewicz introduces us to the world of rocks, or more precisely to the universe of rocks. So far, geologists have mostly studied the rocks of Earth, including rocks that fall to Earth from outer space, or retrieved from the Moon (and recently, from asteroids) by space missions. But rocks exist in many parts of universe, mainly in planetary systems, which are now known to be quite common. The book has eight chapters:

Chapter 1: Primordial rocks - how rocks form from condensing clouds of interstellar gas and dust, as part of the process that creates stars and planets.
Chapter 2: First rocks on a dead Earth - the kinds of rocks that formed on Earth before there was any life on Earth.
Chapter 3: Sedimentary rocks - rocks that form as a result of erosion and deposition processes.
Chapter 4: Rocks transformed - how the process of metamorphism changes sedimentary rocks into very different kinds of rocks.
Chapter 5: Rocks in the deep - how rocks change as a result of spending time far below ground.
Chapter 6: Living rocks, evolving rocks - how rocks have changed as a result of biological activity.
Chapter 7: Rocks on other planets - the rocks on other rocky bodies in our own Solar System, and in other planetary system.
Chapter 8: Human-made rocks - rocks that result from human activity.

The book is very readable, although it unavoidably contains many technical terms from geology. This could be troublesome if you're reading a paper copy without access to the Internet where you can look things up. Although the book defines most of the technical terms it uses, you may not memorize all of them instantly, and you could do with more photographs than the book contains.

The book overlaps considerably with other books in the Very Short Introductions series, such as Geology, Plate Tectonic, Planetary Systems, Stars, Evolution, and so on.

The book mentions lithophones, a term I don't think I'd heard of before. YouTube has several videos showing people playing songs on lithophones.

Zalasiewicz also mentions how we are effectively eating rocks, in the form of phosphate-rich fossils from bone beds to make fertilizer. Given that these convenient deposits of ancient bone and teeth are limited in supply, humans will eventually run out of them. We'll then either have to extract phosphates from lower-grade deposits (at higher cost), or do what Nature does and recycle our own bodily wastes to make fertilizers instead of flushing them into the oceans.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice review!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehh … it did have a decent ending

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Understood and nailed the assignment.