The variety of volcanic activity in the Solar System is widely recognised, yet the majestic sequences of magmatic processes that operate within an active planet are much less well known. Providing an exposition of igneous rocks, magmas and volcanic erupsions, this book brings together magnetic and volcanic data from different tectonic settings, and planets, with explanations of how they fit together. It systematically examines composition, origin and evolution of common igneous rocks, yet also examines a variety of rare magnetic rocks that play a crucial role in the global magma/igneous rock system. Read more

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This is a textbook covering the transition from energy releasing reactions on the early Earth to energy releasing reactions that fueled growth in the first microbial cells. It is for teachers and college students with an interest in microbiology, geosciences, biochemistry, evolution, or all of the above. The scope of the book is a quantum departure from existing “origin of life” books in that it starts with basic chemistry and links energy-releasing geochemical processes to the reactions of microbial metabolism. The text reaches across disciplines, providing students of the geosciences an origins/biology interface and bringing a geochemistry/origins interface to students of microbiology and evolution. Beginning with physical chemistry and transitioning across metabolic networks into microbiology, the timeline documents chemical events and organizational states in hydrothermal vents – the only environments known that bridge the gap between spontaneous chemical reactions that we can still observe in nature today and the physiology of microbes that live from H2, CO2, ammonia, phosphorus, inorganic salts and water. Life is a chemical reaction. What it is and how it arose are two sides of the same coin.Key FeaturesProvides clear connections between geochemical reactions and microbial metabolismFocuses on chemical mechanisms and transition metalsRichly illustrated with color figures explaining reactions and processesCovers the origin of the Earth, the origin of metabolism, the origin of protein synthesis and genetic information as well as the escape into the wild of the first free-living cells: Bacteria and Archaea Read more

Why an awareness of Earth's temporal rhythms is critical to our planetary survivalFew of us have any conception of the enormous timescales of our planet's long history, and this narrow perspective underlies many of the environmental problems we are creating. The lifespan of Earth can seem unfathomable compared to the brevity of human existence, but this view of time denies our deep roots in Earth's history―and the magnitude of our effects on the planet. Timefulness reveals how knowing the rhythms of Earth's deep past and conceiving of time as a geologist does can give us the perspective we need for a more sustainable future. Featuring illustrations by Haley Hagerman, this compelling book offers a new way of thinking about our place in time, showing how our everyday lives are shaped by processes that vastly predate us, and how our actions today will in turn have consequences that will outlast us by generations.This edition includes discussion questions for reading groups. Read more

In the five years since the publication of the first edition of Spatial Analysis: Statistics, Visualization, and Computational Methods, many new developments have taken shape regarding the implementation of new tools and methods for spatial analysis with R. The use and growth of artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning algorithms with a spatial perspective, and the interdisciplinary use of spatial analysis are all covered in this second edition along with traditional statistical methods and algorithms to provide a concept-based problem-solving learning approach to mastering practical spatial analysis. Spatial Analysis with R: Statistics, Visualization, and Computational Methods, Second Edition provides a balance between concepts and practicums of spatial statistics with a comprehensive coverage of the most important approaches to understand spatial data, analyze spatial relationships and patterns, and predict spatial processes. New in the Second Edition:Includes new practical exercises and worked-out examples using RPresents a wide range of hands-on spatial analysis worktables and lab exercisesAll chapters are revised and include new illustrations of different concepts using data from environmental and social sciencesExpanded material on spatiotemporal methods, visual analytics methods, data science, and computational methodsExplains big data, data management, and data miningThis second edition of an established textbook, with new datasets, insights, excellent illustrations, and numerous examples with R, is perfect for senior undergraduate and first-year graduate students in geography and the geosciences. Read more

The goal of this successful, issues-based textbook, Chemistry in Context, is to establish chemical principles on a need-to-know basis for non-science majors, enabling them to learn chemistry in the context of their own lives and significant issues facing science and the world. The non-traditional approach of Chemistry in Context reflects today's technological issues and the chemistry principles within them. Global warming, alternate fuels, nutrition, and genetic engineering are examples of issues that are covered in Chemistry in Context. Read more

Inside the epic quest to find life on the water-rich moons at the outer reaches of the solar systemWhere is the best place to find life beyond Earth? We often look to Mars as the most promising site in our solar system, but recent scientific missions have revealed that some of the most habitable real estate may actually lie farther away. Beneath the frozen crusts of several of the small, ice-covered moons of Jupiter and Saturn lurk vast oceans that may have existed for as long as Earth, and together may contain more than fifty times its total volume of liquid water. Could there be organisms living in their depths? Alien Oceans reveals the science behind the thrilling quest to find out.Kevin Peter Hand is one of today's leading NASA scientists, and his pioneering research has taken him on expeditions around the world. In this captivating account of scientific discovery, he brings together insights from planetary science, biology, and the adventures of scientists like himself to explain how we know that oceans exist within moons of the outer solar system, like Europa, Titan, and Enceladus. He shows how the exploration of Earth's oceans is informing our understanding of the potential habitability of these icy moons, and draws lessons from what we have learned about the origins of life on our own planet to consider how life could arise on these distant worlds.Alien Oceans describes what lies ahead in our search for life in our solar system and beyond, setting the stage for the transformative discoveries that may await us. Read more

Inside the epic quest to find life on the water-rich moons at the outer reaches of the solar systemWhere is the best place to find life beyond Earth? We often look to Mars as the most promising site in our solar system, but recent scientific missions have revealed that some of the most habitable real estate may actually lie farther away. Beneath the frozen crusts of several of the small, ice-covered moons of Jupiter and Saturn lurk vast oceans that may have existed for as long as Earth, and together may contain more than fifty times its total volume of liquid water. Could there be organisms living in their depths? Alien Oceans reveals the science behind the thrilling quest to find out.Kevin Peter Hand is one of today's leading NASA scientists, and his pioneering research has taken him on expeditions around the world. In this captivating account of scientific discovery, he brings together insights from planetary science, biology, and the adventures of scientists like himself to explain how we know that oceans exist within moons of the outer solar system, like Europa, Titan, and Enceladus. He shows how the exploration of Earth's oceans is informing our understanding of the potential habitability of these icy moons, and draws lessons from what we have learned about the origins of life on our own planet to consider how life could arise on these distant worlds.Alien Oceans describes what lies ahead in our search for life in our solar system and beyond, setting the stage for the transformative discoveries that may await us. Read more

A classic introduction to the story of Earth's origin and evolution―revised and expanded for the twenty-first centurySince its first publication more than twenty-five years ago, How to Build a Habitable Planet has established a legendary reputation as an accessible yet scientifically impeccable introduction to the origin and evolution of Earth, from the Big Bang through the rise of human civilization. This classic account of how our habitable planet was assembled from the stuff of stars introduced readers to planetary, Earth, and climate science by way of a fascinating narrative. Now this great book has been made even better. Harvard geochemist Charles Langmuir has worked closely with the original author, Wally Broecker, one of the world's leading Earth scientists, to revise and expand the book for a new generation of readers for whom active planetary stewardship is becoming imperative.Interweaving physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, and biology, this sweeping account tells Earth’s complete story, from the synthesis of chemical elements in stars, to the formation of the Solar System, to the evolution of a habitable climate on Earth, to the origin of life and humankind. The book also addresses the search for other habitable worlds in the Milky Way and contemplates whether Earth will remain habitable as our influence on global climate grows. It concludes by considering the ways in which humankind can sustain Earth’s habitability and perhaps even participate in further planetary evolution.Like no other book, How to Build a Habitable Planet provides an understanding of Earth in its broadest context, as well as a greater appreciation of its possibly rare ability to sustain life over geologic time.Leading schools that have ordered, recommended for reading, or adopted this book for course use:Arizona State UniversityBrooklyn College CUNYColumbia UniversityCornell UniversityETH ZurichGeorgia Institute of TechnologyHarvard UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityLuther CollegeNorthwestern UniversityOhio State UniversityOxford Brookes UniversityPan American UniversityRutgers UniversityState University of New York at BinghamtonTexas A&M UniversityTrinity College DublinUniversity of BristolUniversity of California-Los AngelesUniversity of CambridgeUniversity Of ChicagoUniversity of Colorado at BoulderUniversity of GlasgowUniversity of LeicesterUniversity of Maine, FarmingtonUniversity of MichiganUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North GeorgiaUniversity of NottinghamUniversity of OregonUniversity of OxfordUniversity of PortsmouthUniversity of SouthamptonUniversity of UlsterUniversity of VictoriaUniversity of WyomingWestern Kentucky UniversityYale University Read more

Do you know silica, the tetrahedra of silicon and oxygen constituting the crystals of New Agers and the desiccant in a box of new shoes? It's no mere mundane mineral. As chemically reacting silicate rocks, silica set off the chain of events known as the origin of life. As biomineralized opal, it is the cell wall, skeleton, spicules, and scales of organisms ornamenting numerous lobes of the tree of life. Cryptocrystalline silica made into stone tools helped drive the evolution of our hands and our capability for complex grammar, music, and mathematics. As quartz crystals, silica is impressively electric and ubiquitous in modern technology (think sonar, radios, telephones, ultrasound, and cheap but precise watches). Silica is inescapable when we take a drink or mow the lawn and it has already started to save the Earth from the carbon dioxide we're spewing into the atmosphere. This book tells these scientific tales and more, to give dear, modest silica its due. Read more

Written by a prominent statistician and author, the first edition of this bestseller broke new ground in the then emerging subject of spatial statistics with its coverage of spatial point patterns. Retaining all the material from the second edition and adding substantial new material, Statistical Analysis of Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Point Patterns, Third Edition presents models and statistical methods for analyzing spatially referenced point process data.Reflected in the title, this third edition now covers spatio-temporal point patterns. It explores the methodological developments from the last decade along with diverse applications that use spatio-temporally indexed data. Practical examples illustrate how the methods are applied to analyze spatial data in the life sciences.This edition also incorporates the use of R through several packages dedicated to the analysis of spatial point process data. Sample R code and data sets are available on the author’s website. Read more

This book is the first in a two-volume series that introduces the field of spatial data science. It offers an accessible overview of the methodology of exploratory spatial data analysis. It also constitutes the definitive user’s guide for the widely adopted GeoDa open-source software for spatial analysis. Leveraging a large number of real-world empirical illustrations, readers will gain an understanding of the main concepts and techniques, using dynamic graphics for thematic mapping, statistical graphing, and, most centrally, the analysis of spatial autocorrelation. Key to this analysis is the concept of local indicators of spatial association, pioneered by the author and recently extended to the analysis of multivariate data.The focus of the book is on intuitive methods to discover interesting patterns in spatial data. It offers a progression from basic data manipulation through description and exploration to the identification of clusters and outliers by means of local spatial autocorrelation analysis. A distinctive approach is to spatialize intrinsically non-spatial methods by means of linking and brushing with a range of map representations, including several that are unique to the GeoDa software. The book also represents the most in-depth treatment of local spatial autocorrelation and its visualization and interpretation by means of GeoDa.The book is intended for readers interested in going beyond simple mapping of geographical data to gain insight into interesting patterns. Some basic familiarity with statistical concepts is assumed, but no previous knowledge of GIS or mapping is required.Key Features:• Includes spatial perspectives on cluster analysis• Focuses on exploring spatial data• Supplemented by extensive support with sample data sets and examples on the GeoDaCenter websiteThis book is both useful as a reference for the software and as a text for students and researchers of spatial data science. Read more

Choice Recommended Title, August 2019 Read an exclusive interview with Professor Vera Kolb here.Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth. This exciting and significant field of research also investigates the potential existence and search for extra-terrestrial life in the Solar System and beyond.This is the first handbook in this burgeoning and interdisciplinary field. Edited by Vera Kolb, a highly respected astrobiologist, this comprehensive resource captures the history and current state of the field. Rich in information and easy to use, it assumes basic knowledge and provides answers to questions from practitioners and specialists in the field, as well as providing key references for further study.Features:Fills an important gap in the market, providing a comprehensive overview of the fieldEdited by an authority in the subject, with chapters written by experts in the many diverse areas that comprise astrobiologyContains in-depth and broad coverage of an exciting field that will only grow in importance in the decades ahead Read more

First published in 1848, authored by J.D. Dana, the Manual of Mineral Science now enters its 23rd edition.  This new edition continues in the footsteps or its predecessors as the standard textbook in Mineralogy/Mineral Science/Earth Materials/Rocks and Minerals courses.  This new edition contains 22 chapters, instead of 14 as in the prior edition.  This is the result of having packaged coherent subject matter into smaller, more easily accessible units.  Each chapter has a new and expanded introductory statement, which gives the user a quick overview of what is to come.  Just before these introductions, each chapter features a new illustration that highlights some aspect of the subject in that particular chapter.  All such changes make the text more readable, user-friendly and searchable.  Many of the first 14 chapters are reasonably independent of each other, allowing for great flexibility in an instructor's preferred subject sequence.  The majority of illustrations in this edition were re-rendered and/or redesigned and many new photographs, mainly of mineral specimens, were added.NEW Thoroughly Revised Lab Manual       ISBN13: 978-0-471-77277-4Also published by John Wiley & Sons, the thoroughly updated Laboratory Manual: Minerals and Rocks: Exercises in Crystal and Mineral Chemistry, Crystallography, X-ray Powder Diffraction, Mineral and Rock Identification, and Ore Mineralogy, 3e, is for use in the mineralogy laboratory and covers the subject matter in the same sequence as the Manual of Mineral Science, 23e. Read more

ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRYProvides a thorough and up-to-date overview of radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistryNow in its second edition, Isotope Geochemistry presents a comprehensive introduction to radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry. The first five chapters cover fundamentals including the physics of nuclei, radioactive decay, nucleosynthesis, geochronology, and the theory of stable isotope fractionation. The next chapter focuses on the isotope geochemistry of meteorites and their constraints on the formation of the solar system and the Earth. The subsequent three chapters cover radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry evolution of the Earth’s mantle and crust. Three more chapters are devoted to the Earth’s surface, the exogene, including the hydrologic system, the biosphere, and climate. A new chapter in this edition focuses on the use of isotopes in paleontology and archeology. The final chapter is devoted to the isotope geochemistry of the noble gases. Illustrated in full color throughout, Isotope Geochemistry is intended primarily as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. It is also intended as a reference for earth science professionals, reflecting the impact that isotope geochemistry has on virtually every aspect of the earth sciences, from climate change and geomorphology to geodynamics. Read more

The time-dependent decay of naturally occurring radioactive isotopes or in-growth of their radioactive or stable daughter products form the basis of radiometric dating of several natural processes. Developed in the beginning of the last century mainly to determine the absolute ages of rocks and minerals, radiometric chronology now plays a central role in a broad range of Earth and planetary sciences - from extra-solar-system processes to environmental geoscience. With the prerequisite of only college-level knowledge in physics, chemistry and mathematics, this concise book focuses on the essential principles of radiometric dating in order to enable students and teachers belonging to diverse fields of studies to select, understand and interpret radiometric dating results generated and published by professionals. Read more

This concise, accessible, market-leading textbook brings together the wide-ranging fundamentals students need to understand rocks and minerals, and shows them how they relate to the broader Earth, materials and environmental sciences. Designed specifically for one-semester courses, it is beautifully illustrated to explain the key concepts in mineralogy and petrology. This edition has been fully updated based on classroom experience, and new features include a completely new chapter providing an elementary introduction to thermodynamics, kinetics, radioactive decay and absolute dating; new mineral descriptions and many new stunning color photographs; and a new section on hydraulic fracturing and discussion of some of its most serious potential environmental consequences. The book uses stunning photos of mineral specimens and rock thin sections to help students build a core understanding. It also creates a highly effective learning experience through close integration of clear illustrations with engaging text, and helps students to easily visualize crystal structures through the CrystalViewer's 3D software, available online. Read more

This is the first undergraduate textbook to fully integrate results from geophysics, geochemistry, and petrology to describe the structure, composition, and dynamic processes that operate throughout the solid Earth. It presents an Earth system science approach to studies of the Earth's interior and develops a global view of solid Earth cycles to explain geodynamic and plate tectonic processes. This book initially explores the formation and evolution of the early Earth, then considers the operative forces for plate tectonic movements at the Earth's surface, and finally discusses global cycles within the deep Earth and their effect on the surface environment. Interactions between the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere, and their influence at and beneath the Earth's surface are examined in detail. This textbook thus provides a concise yet extensive coverage of the solid Earth. Written for intermediate undergraduates, it includes a wealth of features to support student learning at this level. Read more

This book is a substantially updated, revised and extended version of the book Volcanic Successions, published by Cas and Wright back in 1987. Divided into six major parts, it offers comprehensive information on magma properties; fragmentation processes; subaerial and subaqueous lava types and field textures; sub-volcanic intrusions; explosive or pyroclastic eruptions and deposits; surface sedimentary processes; hydrothermal alteration and lithification, and effects on volcanic rock textures; terminology and approaches to describing and mapping volcanic rocks and terrains; geology of volcanoes and facies models; volcanism and tectonic setting; and to conclude, volcanic-hosted resources. It is a highly up-to-date text, presenting a coherent flow of topics, together with excellent visual material to illustrate key points and deposit features.The new authorship team consists of Ray Cas, Guido Giordano and John Wright, all of whom have extensive experience across the complete spectrum of volcanological processes and deposit types discussed in this exciting new book. The authors approach the diversity of products in volcanic terrains as facies, and use facies analysis and interpretation as a means of constructing facies models for different volcanic settings and their resources. ­The book is intended as a textbook and research reference book for senior undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and professionals alike. Read more

Ace 7th Grade Science One Quiz at a Time!This workbook is designed for one purpose: practice. Inside, you’ll find multiple-choice quizzes covering Life Science, Physical Science, Earth & Space Science, and Scientific Inquiry & Method, all organized by topic to make studying simple and effective.There’s no reading material or lesson content, just straightforward, test-style questions to help students review what they’ve learned and prepare with confidence. It’s great for students who need extra practice, teachers looking for review tools, or parents who want structured support at home.The included Study Tracker helps students take charge of their learning by tracking which topics they need to improve and how they plan to do it.What’s Inside:Practice quizzes only—no reading passages or lessonsScientific Inquiry and MethodEarth ScienceSpace ScienceLife SciencePhysical ScienceIncludes a Study Tracker to allow your child to track areas where they may need extra review.Aligned with U.S., Canadian, UK, Australian, and International schools curriculum standards.Great for test prep, homework support, or daily practice. This book keeps it simple so students can focus on what they need most: practice, progress, and results. Read more