Trevor Day has written many books on life and Earth sciences.
Gr 9 Up-Informative, up-to-date and wide-ranging, these detailed overviews cover all aspects of their terrains, with chapters focusing on geography (providing overviews of individual hot and cold deserts, and oceans), atmosphere, geology, biology, history, exploration, and economic resources. These revisions (Deserts, 2000; Oceans, 1999) add recent ecological discoveries and coverage of phenomena such as the December 2004 tsunami (even, to a lesser extent, in Deserts) and global warming. Though inclusion of these topics is now standard, these books warrant purchasing as they go further. For example, Oceans explores little-known aspects of the tsunami such as its underwater effects, and, after providing an unusually specific and frightening list of the threats from climate change, outlines an equally pointed to-do list to combat the problem. Generally, the books' plain language neatly explains both complex phenomena (the Coriolis effect) and easier concepts (the Atlantic Ocean is expanding at the same rate as fingernail growth), but some of the scientific explanations in Deserts are challenging. Both books' color maps and diagrams are helpful and plentiful, but the few color photographs (though there are more in Oceans than in the previous edition) are of average quality at best. Pair Oceans with the Smithsonian Institution and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hidden Depths (Collins, 2007), which has stunning photographs and more on coastal habitats; Deserts will complement basic earth science textbooks, which will have alternative explanations of the related scientific concepts, but lack the detail on deserts found here.-Henrietta Thornton-Verma, School Library Journal Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
