Rivers in The Books Store

This book tells the exciting story of the ice ages--what they were like, why they occurred, and when the next one is due. The solution to the ice age mystery originated when the National Science Foundation organized the CLIMAP project to study changes in the earth's climate over the past 700,000 years. One of the goals was to produce a map of the earth during the last ice age. Scientists examined cores of sediment from the Indian Ocean bed and deciphered a continuous history for the past 500,000 years. Their work ultimately confirmed the theory that the earth's irregular orbital motions account for the bizarre climatic changes which bring on ice ages.

This is a tale of scientific discovery and the colorful people who participated: Louis Agassiz, the young Swiss naturalist whose geological studies first convinced scientists that the earth has recently passed through an ice age; the Reverend William Buckland, an eccentric but respected Oxford professor who fought so hard against the ice-age theory before accepting it; James Croll, a Scots mechanic who educated himself as a scientist and first formulated the astronomic theory of ice ages; Milutin Milankovitch, the Serbian mathematician who gave the astronomic theory its firm quantitative foundation; and the many other astronomers, geochemists, geologists, paleontologists, and geophysicists who have been engaged for nearly a century and a half in the pressing search for a solution to the ice-age mystery.

The science of the Earth in all its splendor.

Over the Rivers is the second volume in the exciting Aerial View of Geology series (the first was the highly praised Over the Mountains). As as a geologist, one of America's premier aerial photographers and a gifted science writer, Michael Collier is exceptionally well qualified to present these spectacular landscapes and stunning aerial photographs that vividly demonstrate geological processes.

Vivid text and clear captions guide readers through the exciting photographs, enhancing their understanding of fundamental geological processes. Collier explores, for example:

• How a 6,000-foot-deep canyon was carved out by the erosive power of a single river
• How violent tectonic forces millions of years ago vaulted a river over a mountain
• Why one river takes its time meandering, another suddenly drops over a cliff, and a third slowly separates into a sprawling delta.

Over the Rivers inspires as it informs, and dazzles as it enlightens.

More than 150 color maps and nearly 300 vivid photographs provide spectacular views of the river and rainforest. Along the way, the authors explore many intriguing topics such as why some of the Amazon’s tributaries have black water, what happens when the freshwater of the Amazon reaches the salty ocean, and why we all should be concerned about the deforestation that contributes to the loss of species biodiversity.