earth sciences

Obviously written by authors who have a deep appreciation for this subject and a desire to pass on their knowledge, this text is useful not just for students of physical geography, but for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of geopolitics, area studies, anthropology, world history, etc. For example, I would have no clue about the culture, history and politics of Central Asia/Afghanistan and vicinity (my area of interest) without having a comprehensive understanding of the physical terrain and climate of this region--and how its inhabitants have adapted to it. I would not have gained this understanding without reading this text.

My only complaint is that I had hoped for more emphasis on environmental issues. The authors may feel that this is beyond the scope of an introductory text; but problems such as the shrinking Aral Sea and tropical rainforest destruction are so widely catastrophic that I believe they deserve greater attention and understanding even at the introductory level.

I remember this book from when I was an undergraduate, lo these many years ago (OK, so it was an earlier edition)! I'm glad to see it is still available and updated -- I enjoyed it then and I am using it now in answering the questions my children throw at me.

This is an excellent resource book. I probably wouldn't pick it up as a light read at bedtime, but if you are interested in this topic you could do far worse than to get _Physical Geography_.

Suffice it to say, this text is awful, an arduous task to understand and conceptualize. I'm taking a lower level geography course with this book as the primary text and find myself ready to punch a wall when attempting to read.