Physical Geology

Well written. Easy to understand. Good source for a 1st course in Geology--gotta love those gen eds.

I teach a college-level geology course called "Planet Earth." At a lot of other universities it would be called "General Geology" or "Physical Geology." If you're going to be a geologist, this is probably where you start. Of course, most students aren't going to be geologists, they just want an interesting, meaningful and fun way to get their university science requirements out of the way. It's a fun course for me to teach. I enjoy students at the beginning level. Of course, you need a good textbook and the "Physical Geology" book has worked well for me and I've used it up through the last three editions. It's too expensive for what you get, but that's true for almost all geology textbooks. This book has a good organization. I can teach geology in the way I want and I don't have to change the order of the chapters at all. Of course, I can't make it through the entire book as there's just too much to cover during a single semester. It's overwhelming! All geology textbooks are that way. I just tell the students that they're getting more for their money, but few of them appreciate the humor. In any case, it's an easy read for me and I like the examples and illustrations. It has all kinds of "In Greater Depth" boxes and I hope the students read and appreciate these little extras as they're quite good. I just don't have the time to cover them all. All in all, I've had better results with this textbook than with many others and I'd attribute it to the quality and readability of the book. Students seem to lie it, and that's part of the battle. If you're just trying to understand geology on your own and don't intend to take a college-level course, you might find this a good book but it would depend on your own diligence and persistence. Understanding geology on your own is not the easiest way to go, but I'd say this is one of the better books if you're willing to try. Plummer (and the others) also suggest a host of supplemental readings and internet sites to aid the process. I suppose most people would chose many of the popular geology books, but these would probably rank more as entertainment than serious learning. This is a good textbook, one of the better ones I've used in my 40 plus years of teaching beginning geology. Gary Peterson

This book covers the basics of geology in a not too boring of a way... it is a science book so it can't get too exciting for the average student, but its very thorough.

I think this is a great book especially for learning purposes. Very helpful to my geology class. Thank you.

Thanks a ton you saved me about $90.00 compared to my campus bookstore