cover image Earth Story: The Shaping of Our World

Earth Story: The Shaping of Our World

Simon Lamb. Princeton University Press, $31.95 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-691-00229-3

In this companion to an eight-part BBC series to be broadcast on The Learning Channel beginning in September, geologist Lamb and filmmaker/author Sington (Paradise Dreamed) share their passion for our planet and the diverse life it supports. With clear prose, vivid images and enlightening illustrations, their book lays out the current scientific understanding of Earth's history, most of it deduced from the chemical and physical characteristics of its rocks. The authors show how the planet's layers of crust, mantle, outer core and inner core are fluid and ever-changing. Also described is the process by which new seafloor oozes upward through cracks in mid-ocean ridges, where superheated, percolating water emerges full of mineral riches. The continents move inexorably, driven by internal convection currents, colliding and rifting apart, forming new patterns and terrain, inducing dramatic changes in climate. In the end, this deftly organized book brings readers to the authors' view of our world as an interacting system of atmosphere, water, tectonic plates in motion and living organisms. Lamb and Sington explain how each component is essential to the global balance that has enabled Earth to remain a living planet for at least 3.8 billion of its 4.55 billion years. Not just a coffee-table book, this compelling and accessible account merits sustained attention. (Sept.)