earth sciences

The subject of Physical Geography is challenging enough, the last thing students need is a poorly written text book.

I am a Teaching Assistant at UC Santa Barbara and relied heavily on Christopherson's text through 2 quarters of introductory physical geography. The book succeeds in its mission: it clearly explains the fundamental principles of the Earth's interacting atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and it does so in a geographic context. The theme of interacting systems holds the material together, allowing students to integrate the multitude of basic concepts into a big picture. Christopherson takes time to include material on how humans interact with the various earth systems, a very relevant topic today with disasters in the news and environmental problems abounding. The text works best for students with a solid high school background in science, but seems achievable even for students who "hate science" or have a poor background in it. At the same time, due to extensive, well thought out diagrams, side-boxes, web references, and many thoughtful pictures, the text is engaging enough to keep even the most advanced students (and T.A. graduate students!) reading. Geosystems is considerably more accessible than Strahler & Strahler's Physical Geography, although the latter book should be preferred for more advanced courses. The only negative point of any significance is the CD-ROM included with the book. Perhaps it was my PC, but I found it clumsy to use, with small pictures, little interaction and generally not worth anyone's time. Few students even tried it, and none found it helpful for learning the material. Hopefully this will be revamped in future additions. In conclusion, I should mention that in addition to its academic virtures, the text is one of the most beautiful textbooks I have ever had the pleasure of owning. I have heard that Christopherson essentially has devoted his career to the production and revision of this text, and it shows. It is the kind of book you can profitably keep on your shelf, coffee table, or under your seat during a cross-country road trip.