nature and ecology

I used the first edition of this book by Dott and Batten as an earth science major back in the early 70's, and thought it excellent. I don't know how the new edition stacks up, but the original book was as fine a piece of writing for a textbook as I had ever come across, and geology boasts better than average writers for such things. For example, there is the redoubtable Arthur Beiser, whose many books maintain both a high level of readabilty as well as scholarship.

One major change in the content of the book would no doubt be in regard to the theory of orogenesis, or mountain-building. The first book placed great emphasis on the geosynclinal theory and orthostatic rebound mechanisms. This one is sure to emphasize plate tectonics as the geosynclinal theory seems to have waned in popularity.

The original version of this text was one of the best science texts I ever used in college. If this later edition is half as good it will still be better than 90% of the others.

Overall a good introduction to historical geology. Most subjects are presented in an appropriate manner, with colorful illustrations to supplement the concepts discussed. Only concerning the formation of dolomite rocks does this book fall short of maintaining a thourough examination of historical geology concepts.

The only disadvantage that this book has is its price, which is probably due to the amount of illustrations.