Essentials of Geology

Renting vs. Buying This Textbook

Renting is usually cheapest if you only need the book for one term: you return it with a free prepaid label when the term ends. Buying used can beat renting when the sell-back price is high, so compare the sell-back price with the rental price before you decide. An eTextbook arrives instantly but usually expires. Rentals and used copies rarely include working access codes.

Always match the ISBN on your syllabus (9780393919394) before you order; different editions have different ISBNs.

About This Book

"The topics covered in this book have been arranged so that students can build their knowledge of geology on a foundation of overarching principles. Thus, the book starts by considering how the Earth formed, and how it is structured, overall, from its surface to its center. With this basic background, students can delve into plate tectonics, the grand unifying theory of geology. Plate tectonics appears early in the book, so that students can use the theory as a foundation from which they can interpret and link ideas presented in subsequent chapters. Knowledge of plate tectonics, for example, helps students understand the suite of chapters on minerals, rocks, and the rock cycle. Knowledge of plate tectonics and rocks together, in turn, provides a basis for studying volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountains. And with this background, students are prepared to see how the map of the Earth has…