Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography

This is a really nice book and goes into detail. I need this book for class and I really like the class. The only suggestion that I have is asking your professor if you need the 7th edition or if you can use the 6th, there is little difference between the two books. My professor told me after I had already purchased this book that I could have used the 6th edition and saved lots of money. Overall great book!!

I thought this was well organized and easy to understand for the most part. There were only a few parts (pages, really) that were sort of ho-hum. The diagrams and photos were top notch and really went well with the text. This text would be interesting to read just for the sake of it. I don't have another text to compare it to, which I imagine is a good thing. I've had other texts that were so bad that I only used them for the problem sets (Zill's diff eq text!) but the only external source I used with this book was the internet --and that was usually because something in the book sparked more curiosity. I would have preferred more technical information (such as wave dynamics or quantative analysis) but I do understand this is an intro text and that I am a math geek. Our instructor combined this text with the geography of the Pacific NW where I reside, and I certainly do look at the landscape quite differently after taking this course. For that, I give it a five. Kudos to Christopherson for a well designed book.

I know I bought this book for a class I'm taking and while the data is something I need to learn what I really like about this book is all the beautiful photography both in the book and in the accompaning CD have on them. The authors wife is a professional photographer and he uses that to illustrate the concepts with asthetics. Is the book a bit of a hard read? Yes but again it's a college level textbook so this isn't surprising but if you have to buy it for class don't despair you'll have a book full of beautiful pictures of mother nature to look at well after the college class is done.

I am a Teaching Assistant at UC Santa Barbara and relied heavily on Christopherson's text through 2 quarters of introductory physical geography. The book succeeds in its mission: it clearly explains the fundamental principles of the Earth's interacting atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and it does so in a geographic context. The theme of interacting systems holds the material together, allowing students to integrate the multitude of basic concepts into a big picture. Christopherson takes time to include material on how humans interact with the various earth systems, a very relevant topic today with disasters in the news and environmental problems abounding. The text works best for students with a solid high school background in science, but seems achievable even for students who "hate science" or have a poor background in it. At the same time, due to extensive, well thought out diagrams, side-boxes, web references, and many thoughtful pictures, the text is engaging enough to keep even the most advanced students (and T.A. graduate students!) reading. Geosystems is considerably more accessible than Strahler & Strahler's Physical Geography, although the latter book should be preferred for more advanced courses. The only negative point of any significance is the CD-ROM included with the book. Perhaps it was my PC, but I found it clumsy to use, with small pictures, little interaction and generally not worth anyone's time. Few students even tried it, and none found it helpful for learning the material. Hopefully this will be revamped in future additions. In conclusion, I should mention that in addition to its academic virtures, the text is one of the most beautiful textbooks I have ever had the pleasure of owning. I have heard that Christopherson essentially has devoted his career to the production and revision of this text, and it shows. It is the kind of book you can profitably keep on your shelf, coffee table, or under your seat during a cross-country road trip.