EARTH MATERIALS COMPONENTS OF A DIVERSE PLANET (PB 2019) Paperback

There's a significant and increasing demand for a textbook that combines the study of minerals, rocks, and other Earth materials into a unified course. However, a high-quality book designed for this purpose is currently lacking. "Earth Materials" is a comprehensive undergraduate textbook that addresses this need by covering all the essential types of inorganic Earth materials. Beyond the typical chapters on minerals and rocks, the book also explores sediments and stratigraphy, weathering and soils, water and the hydrosphere, and mineral and energy resources. It even includes introductory sections on soil mechanics and rock mechanics. Instead of being an exhaustive, encyclopedic textbook, "Earth Materials" focuses on presenting students with the most important and engaging concepts and information, with a strong emphasis on understanding Earth as an interconnected system. The book is written to encourage questioning, exploration, and other forms of active learning. Each chapter begins with a brief, relevant story or example, and the numerous photographs and other visuals are seamlessly integrated with the text. "Earth Materials" will be a valuable and engaging resource for a diverse audience, including geoscience students, those taking mineralogy and petrology courses, engineering students, and anyone curious to learn more about the Earth as a dynamic system.