Celebrating Geosciences and Planet Earth: October in the Year of Science

We are celebrating the geosciences and planet earth all of October, as the Year of Science enters its last quarter. The planet, our very foundation and life-sustaining island home, so often under-appreciated as simply dirt beneath our feet, is an astoundingly complex system of transformative forces and myriad types of materials. Awesome power is displayed from the minute crystallization of igneous rock and the interplay of organic decomposition in sedimentary layers to vast movements of crustal plates. It is impossible to study earth science without an understanding of chemistry, physics, biology and evolution, at the least, and the geosciences inform all of those disciplines as well. Explore some of the big ideas in geology with the

• American Geological Institute
• American Geophysical Union
• Geological Society of America, and, of course, the
• U.S. Geological Survey.

We are also in the last part of the International Year of Planet Earth; and will observe Earth Science Week this month!

We have so many wonderful new books in the geology section, it is impossible to highlight more than a few. Start with The revolution in geology from the Renaissance to the enlightenment for a bit of historical context, and gain a better understanding of this continent with Ghost mountains and vanished oceans : North America from birth to middle age. Here are just a few more to entice you to read:

• Earthquakes and tsunamis in the past : a guide to techniques in historical seismology
• Introduction to paleobiology and the fossil record
• For the rock record : geologists on intelligent design
• The geology of the Everglades and adjacent areas
  

There is so much more - the Library's guide to geology research resources is a good place to start!