No comments about Stratigraphic reservoir characterization for petroleum geologists, geophysicists, and engineers, Volume 6 (Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and Production).

No comments about Dynamic Earth: Plates, Plumes and Mantle Convection.

No comments about Seismic Stratigraphy, Basin Analysis and Reservoir Characterisation, Volume 37 (Handbook of Geophysical Exploration: Seismic Exploration).

No comments about Well Logging for Earth Scientists.

2 comments about Satellites of the Outer Planets: Worlds in Their Own Right.

1. Though the number of pages in this book may seem a bit small to provide a good explanation the geological processes that shaped and are still shaping the moons of the outer planets, the author does an excellent job of doing just that. Excluding the Moon and the two small satellites of Mars, this book covers all the planetary satellites (moons) of our solar system. The book does include the latest findings (as of 1999) from the Galileo space probe.

   The first quarter of the book describes in quite some detail, at least for the non-geologist, the different theories that have been used to classify these planetary bodies. The remainder of the book, excluding the conclusion section, is divided into three parts: dead worlds, recently active worlds and active worlds. Each of the moons falls into one of these categories and a detailed description of each moon is provided in its corresponding section. Each section also includes high resolution Voyager and Galileo photographs and shade relief maps.

   After finishing this book, I came away with the idea the solar system is a very geologically diverse place and there is a lot we don't know. Even the author, in several places was willing to admit to that.




2. This book is not really for the casual reader. On the contrary; this book is rather technical. The first four chapters deal with geological subjects like planet formation, satellite formation, accretional heating, radiogenic heating, tidal heating, partial melting, icy volcanism etc. etc. etc., and describes the Voyager and Galileo space probes. Then follows a description of (only) the bigger satellites.
   
   In describing the "world in their own right", the writer puts them into the following categories:
   
   DEAD WORLD:
   Callisto (11 pages), Rhea, Iapetus, Mimas, Oberon and Umbriël (all 2-3 pages each).
   
   RECENTLY ACTIVE WORLDS:
   Ganymede (13½ pages), Miranda (8½ pages), Ariël (8½ pages), Dione (6 pages), Tethys (4½ pages), Titania 1½ pages).
   
   ACTIVE WORLDS :
   Io (18½ pages), Europa (17½ pages), Triton (12 pages) and Enceladus (6 pages).
   
   UNSEEN WORLDS :
   Titan en Pluto/Charon (3½ pages each).
   
   Each moon is visualised with photograps (circa 95 photographs in total, of which nine in color), "shaded relief maps" (a total of 16) and plenty diagrams/drawings etc.
   
   If the emphasis on geology in this book does not appeal to you, I advise you to leave the book alone. If, for instance, you only want really impressive photographs then buy a book like "Beyond: Visions Of The Interplanetary Probes". That book has much nicer photographs.
   
   If on the other hand you really want to dig into the subject of how these "world in their own right" came to be and if you want to understand what you see on photographs of these moons, then this is your book!
   The writing style is clear and understandable. You don't have to be a geologist already. This book will offer you many hours of enjoyable reading!

1 comments about Beyond the Moon: A Conversational, Common Sense Guide to Understanding the Tides.

1. Come on, admit it, you always thought you knew exactly what caused the tides, and why the Bay of Fundy has such a large tidal range! Hah! You only thought you knew. Now, thanks to Dr. Jim McCully's easy to read treatise, you will soon be able to impress all of your friends with great knowledge. Who knows, you might win some trivia contest!
   
   No, seriously, this is a readable and witty explanation of all of the many factors that go into the tidal process. This book patiently explains why tides come and go, why some areas have more than two tides per day, and where the water goes when it goes. Dr. McCully is a knowledgeable researcher and an entertaining writer who makes all the physics and astronomy easy to understand. If you have curiosity about all things natural, if you are a yachtsman or woman, or if you love to fish (as does the author), you will find this book incredibly interesting and helpful.

1 comments about Environmental and Engineering Geophysics.

1. This book might work well as an introductive textbook, but the reader will soon be looking for something more comprehensive. Considering the price of this book, a far more valuable alternative is in my opinion Parasnis' "Principles of Applied Geophysics". If you want to get to the core of applied geophysics you should go for Telford's "Applied Geophysics".

No comments about New Theory of the Earth.

5 comments about Quantitative Seismology.

1. After writing my first review and getting some more experience, I decided to give this book a higher rating.
   Among the seismology texts out there, few are as comprehensive in theory as Aki and Richards. They don't shy away from deriving or proving some important claims, which I like. As a former applied math student, I had a difficult time dealing with distribution-valued differential equations without seeing some justification for making sense out of the Green's functions. I STRONGLY recommend getting Aki and Richards WITH "Foundations of Applied Mathematics" by Greenberg. Aki and Richards is good to use with Peter Shearer's "Introduction to Seismology" and for an even MORE mathematical treatment than Aki and Richards, one could buy Jose Pujol's "Elastic Wave Propagation and Generation in Seismology." This text is not as comprehensive as Aki and Richards, but Pujol derives and proves nearly everything, leaving nothing unsupported.
   In short, this book is almost a necessity for every seismologist, but don't use it as a first book.



2. Many descriptions in seismology requires a complete understanding of the theory that support the seismological phenomena. Quantitative Seismology shows you all the fundamental concepts and prepare you for more advanced developments. Its not an introductory textbook, you need a formal background in physics and mathematics. The preface in 1st edition begins: "Seismology has matured as a quantitative science... and several specialized journals recorded this progress...", with this book you'll not obtain only the essentials of this progress; also the essentials of an enjoyable, mature and complete science.
   
   For reference the table of contents:
   
   1.- Introduction
   2.- Basic Theorems in Dynamic Elasticity
   3.- Representation of Seismic Sources
   4.- Elastic Waves from a point of Dislocation Source
   5.- Plane Waves in Homogeneous Media and their Reflection and Transmission at a Plane Boundary
   6.- Reflection and Refraction of Spherical Waves; Lamb's Problem
   7.- Surface Waves in a Vertically Heterogeneous Medium
   8.- Free Oscillations of the Earth
   9.- Body Waves in Media with depth-dependent properties
   10.- The Seismic Source: Kinematics
   11.- The Seismic Source: Dynamics
   12.- Principles of Seismometry



3. As a first year graduate student, this was the required text in my very first course in seismology! Boy was I intimidated! I had only taken calculus up through ODE's so much of the material in this book was difficult for me to comprehend. I had no clue what a Green's function was. However, I had a good professor and TA and took extensive notes to get by. Fortunately we only used chapters 2,3,4 and 5. Do yourself a favor if you have to use this book, and you're not a calc/physics guru, by obtaining the Stein/Wysession book. It is a lot more user friendly and application oriented. I used that book in a course the next semester on earthquake seismology and a lightbulb came on! I now understood better what Aki and Richards were talking about! I could go back to it as a reference to gain a deeper understanding. As they say, 'Quantitative Seismology' is the "bible" of the subject and so should be in your library. However, it is more of a reference for experienced users.



4. This is a very good book. Well organized and in detail. Many topics that appeared in literature but not included in ordinary books are explained in a unified style by the authors.



5. Very fast and nicely packed item delivery - just as they promissed me in the email!

5 comments about Earth Science (With CD-ROM).

1. This book was worth buying, easy to read. If you would like to purchase this book you can contact me through email.



2. This book was a wonderful resource for my Earth Science class. It has many colorful pictures, and great explanations.



3. I have been using "Earth Science" by Tarbuck and Lutgens both at the high school and college level for 15 years. I think that iotr one of the best available.



4. My kids love this Science book. It is very interesting, there are lots of pictures.



5. Book arrived in the nick of time. Brand new! Although, I can't blame the C grade that I received on the book, I will say it helped me stay average. Thanks a bunch! Science is so not my thing!