Science in Christian Perspective

JASA BOOK REVIEWS For December 1959
Table of Contents
The Earth and its Atmosphere, edited by D. R. Bates, F. R. S. (1957) 324 pp., Basic Books, Inc., $6.QO, was also published in Great Britain as The Planet Earth (1957) by Pergamon Press.
A big gap has been filled in the undergraduate college textbook field by Introductian to Geophysics by B. F. Howell, Jr. (1959) 399 pp., McGraw Hill, $9.00.
The Earth Beneath the Sea, Shepard, Francis J., 1959, John Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 275 pp. 113 Figs.

The Earth and its Atmosphere, edited by D. R. Bates, F. R. S. (1957) 324 pp., Basic Books, Inc., $6.QO, was also published in Great Britain as The Planet Earth (1957) by Pergamon Press.

It contains contributions by fifteen well known, active scientists. Although published just preceding the International Geophysical Year and giving briefly the history, scope, and need for the IGY it also presents for the non-specialist in a very readable and interesting manner an up-to-date summary in many fields of earth sciences. These summaries cover the age and origin of the earth and solar system, the structure of the earth and the origin of its surface features, the physics of the earth, hydrosphere and atmosphere, meteorology, and the origin of life. Because of the limited treatment of each of these the presentation of alternative hypotheses were not attempted. Thus the theories of origin of the solar system, of life and the causes of, the ice ages are the current opinions of the authors. However, they are valid starting points for the present data. An excellent but selective bibliography is given for each chapter.

Reviewed by Wayne U. Alt.

A big gap has been filled in the undergraduate college textbook field by Introduction to Geophysics by B. F. Howell, Jr. (1959) 399 pp., McGraw Hill, $9.00.

The text is well documented by a lengthy bibliography.

The Earth Beneath the Sea, Shepard, Francis J., 1959, John Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 275 pp.,, 113 Figs.

This slim book of only 275 thin pages, is a refreshing contrast to the heavy volumes which line most scientific shelves. And, once the cover has been opened, the contents inside are quite different, too.

Shepard himself, writing in his preface, admits indirectly that this is a "popularization." It is, to use his words, less technical but more up-to-date than his previous book, Submarine Geology.

On page 4, the reader finds himself examining Shepard's mental processes when he (the latter) completed graduate study, and began to doubt some of the armchair doctrines ladled out in formal courses of that time. On page 5, the reader is taken along with the author on a bottom-sampling expedition into Massachusetts Bay, and a book-and-chart sampling foray in various attics in Washington. In a text-book, the results are reported with a straight face-or better still, by a narrator who stands behind a faceless cur tain. But Shepard doesn't hesitate to tell what he did, why he did it, and how he felt.

In chapter II, six full pages are devoted to a highly personal account of a "tidal wave,P experienced by the author in Hawaii in 1946, and some of the lessons learned therefrom. This narrative includes. interesting

details - like what happened to his waterproof wristwatch - as well as scientific findings of practical value.

The personal touch is carried throughout the book, in much the same fashion: recollections by the author interspersed with detailed accounts of oceanography: phenomena. Here and there, bits of advice are offered the reader: how to enjoy holiday "beachcombing," how to avoid getting cut on a coral reef.

For the trained geologist, this should make interesting reading. For the marine geologist, the interest is even higher. For the nonspecialist, however, there will be difficulties, primarily in the technical (and undefined) words which Shepard assumes that his readers will know. Terms such as "fault" and "Cretaceous" are tossed in, where needed, perhaps on the assumption that any really intelligent layman shouldn't be derailed. Despite the occasional use of technical jargon, this is no text book. The list of suggested additional readings contains ten titles, including Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us, and Shepard's own earlier book. The treatment, in general, is rather offhand, with just enough detail provided to allow the reader to appreciate the problem being discussed.

This comment is not to be taken as an indication that difficult problems are avoided: they are not. Shepard does not hesitate to discuss the problem of the origin of submarine canyons, and to admit that the answer is not yet entirely clear. He also ranges from a brief bit on the mechanics of wave motion, to the workings of the Sonoprobe.

The following list of chapter headings will serve to indicate the scope of subject matter covered:

Every geologist should be familiar with this book. It would probably be good required reading for every geology graduate student also. And certainly every scientist in non-geological disciples could enjoy, and profit from, this easy-to-read-in-one-sitting account.