Geology: A Complete Introduction

By David Rothery
Review by Kate H (Earth Sciences)

When I started looking at different degrees in year 12, I honestly never would have guessed I’d end up studying Earth Sciences. I hadn’t studied any geology, but knew I enjoyed science and loved learning about the world. I found this book really helpful in deciding whether Earth Science was the best course for me, as it took me step-by-step through the key areas of geology at a pace that was easy to follow.

Each chapter of the book focusses on one key topic, for example “Plate Tectonics” or “Volcanoes”, and each chapter is split further into brief subsections that are simple to take in. This makes it easy to pick the book up and learn something new whenever you have a spare five minutes. “Spotlight” boxes are dotted around each chapter, and are a distinct line of text that sum up the most important part of a subsection. These are really good for making sense of some of the more complex ideas. At the end of each chapter is a page of multiple-choice questions with neatly explained answers in the back. This lets you check your understanding and is a different, more interesting way of learning information as it really makes you think back over everything you’ve just read.

There are loads of images in the book, including a collection of colour diagrams and photos in the middle that are referred to throughout the text. This keeps the book engaging, as every theory written about is accompanied by a figure of some kind.

The tone of the book is lovely. You can tell that the author put a lot of effort into making his explanations accessible and down-to-earth, and he’s careful to gradually build up the use of scientific terminology so it’s not overwhelming or confusing.

The title of the book is boring, but I promise that what’s between the covers is the complete opposite. It really does offer a “complete introduction” to geology – the kind of introduction that leaves you wanting to learn even more.

Geology: A Complete Introduction by David Rothery
ISBN-10:147360155X
ISBN-13: 978-1473601550

Try checking the availability of this book at your school or local library or explore second hand bookshops and websites. You may also wish to purchase from either Amazon or Blackwell’s.

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