Acknowledgments chapter 1 The Roots of Earth Sciences 1 Classical Scientific Thought 1 The Copernican Revolution 2 From Physics and Philosophy to Geology 4 The Age of the Earth 6 chapter 2 The Earth in the Context of Our Solar System 9 The Origins of the Solar System The Elements of the Solar System The Planets Circling the Sun chapter 3 The Formation of Earth and Moon 21 Similarities and Differences 21 Exploring the Moon chapter 4 The Interior of the Earth and the Role of Seismology Seismic Waves 28 The Earth¿s Interior 36 chapter 5 Rotation and Shape, Gravity and Tides 41 Describing the Earth¿s Shape Tides 44 Rotation 44 43 27 23 15 12 10 xiii xi chapter 6 The Earth¿s Magnetic Field 47 Establishing a Physical Concept Reversals of the Magnetic Field 51 Paleomagnetism chapter 7 Atom¿Mineral¿Rock 59 Crystallization 60 Minerals in Crust and Mantle 60 Rocks chapter 8 The Early Ages 71 The Archean 71 The Proterozoic 77 chapter 9 Radioactive Dating The Chemistry of Unstable Elements Determining the Age Applications of Radioactive Dating Techniques Carbon Dating 90 chapter10 Plate Tectonics Twentieth-Century Research Gathering Evidence 95 Drifting Plates 3 Pangea and Beyond 4 chapter11 The Crust of the Earth 7 The Moho 7 The Crust Hydrocarbons 4 Coal 9 Other Subsurface-based Resources 9 12 12 12 108 10 10 10 10 94 93 89 83 81 81 63 52 48 chapter12 Formation of Mountains and Basins Collisions Orogeny Sediment Basins

(1) The Roots: An Introduction; (2) The Origins of Planet Earth; (3) Formation of the Earth and the Moon; (4) The Earth's Structure and the Role of Seismology; (5) Movement and Form, Weight and Tides of the Earth; (6) The Earth's Magnetic Field; (7) From Atom to Mineral and from Mineral to Rock; (8) The Early History of Earth; (9) Radioactive Age Determination and Its Meaning; (10) Plate Tectonics; (11) The Earth's Crust; (12) The Formation of Mountain Ranges and Basins; (13) New Insights--New Terms; (14) The Phanerozoic: Tectonic Events and the Role of Paleontology; (15) The Origins of Life; (16) Our Limited Natural Resources