Training a powerful lens on the microscopic wonders of the universe, hundreds of photos, both exquisite and strange, accompany this startling exposé of a secret world invisibly evolving around us for billions of years.Silver Winner of the 2021 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for Nature & EnvironmentMicrofossils—the most abundant, ancient, and easily accessible of Earth's fossils—are also the most important. Their ubiquity is such that every person on the plane...

Harvard’s acclaimed geologist “charts Earth’s history in accessible style” (AP)“A sublime chronicle of our planet." –Booklist, STARRED reviewHow well do you know the ground beneath your feet?Odds are, where you’re standing was once cooking under a roiling sea of lava, crushed by a towering sheet of ice, rocked by a nearby meteor strike, or perhaps choked by poison gases, drowned beneath ocean, perched atop a mountain range, or roame...

The acclaimed science writer "curates a visually striking, riotously colorful photographic display…of physical patterns in the natural world" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review).Though at first glance the natural world may appear overwhelming in its diversity and complexity, there are regularities running through it, from the hexagons of a honeycomb to the spirals of a seashell and the branching veins of a leaf. Revealing the order at the foundation of th...

Look through a physicist’s lens to revel in the hidden elegance of 200+ everyday objects and physical mechanisms, from crumpled paper to sandcastles.Includes 35 science experiments that bring physics concepts to life in your own kitchen!Hidden Wonders focuses on the objects that populate our everyday life—crumpled paper, woven fabric, a sand pile—but looks at them with a physicist’s eye, revealing a hidden elegance in mundane physi...

The Palaeozoic or Primary Era spans a period of time ranging from 542 million to 251 million years ago. The name Paleozoic, derives from the fact that, in the past, it was considered the first geological age. The Paleozoic covers a range of about 300 million years, giving rise to many forms of life, until the appearance of thecodonts, commonly believed to be the ancestors of dinosaurs.

This vintage book contains an interesting and practical study of the identification of gemstones, pearls, and ornamental minerals. A comprehensive and profusely-illustrated handbook for both novice and experienced practitioners, this volume is not to be missed by anyone with a keen interest in the subject. The chapters of this book include: “Crystallography”, “Physical Properties”, “Specific Gravity”, “Light”, “Measurement of Refractive Index”, “Colour in Gem Distinction”, “The Microscope”...

An illustrated geological guide to the variety of stones and substances that form Earth's landscapes.This eBook is best viewed on a color deviceCovering rocks and minerals form around the world—from brilliant Brazilian Aquamarine to Wulfenite from Arizona's Red Cloud Mine—this unique guide was created by Charles A. Sorrell for the serious mineral enthusiast or rock collector. Rocks and Minerals fills the gap between academ...

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 providi...

Geology is the study of the history, structure, and composition of the solid Earth, and of the past and present processes that act on it. It encompasses mineralogy and stratigraphy, and includes disciplines such as geophysics and geochemistry. This volume focuses on Earth’s composition, including mineralogy and crystallography; igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic petrology; economic geology; and geochemistry. It investigates Earth’s structure, which concerns geophysics, structural geolog...

Often concealing millennia worth of Earth’s history, rocks seem to project an impression of durability and permanence that belies their transformation over time. Seen in all shapes and sizes and found in many of the planet’s ecosystems, rocks have been subject to various natural forces that have affected such attributes as their elasticity, strength, and ductility (that is, their ability to be fashioned into a new form). The general properties as well as the three major categories of rock—...

It may be hard to believe that the Earth, with all the complexity and biodiversity we observe today, originated in a cloud of gas and dust. Yet much of the plant and animal life that seems so common now evolved relatively recently on the timeline of Earth’s long history. The Earth’s remarkable origins are chronicled in this insightful volume, which also examines the prehistoric organisms—from bacteria to dinosaurs—that populated the planet long before humans arrived.

Anyone who has marveled at the glimmer of a perfectly cut diamond, tended a garden, or consumed a nutritious meal has appreciated some of the many roles that minerals play in our lives. Present in many natural substances, minerals are highly structured entities, each with a unique chemical composition and set of properties. Accompanied by detailed tables, diagrams, and sidebars, this informative volume examines the various types of minerals and their structures and classifications, as well...