Product Description

The sheer diversity of Scotland's rocks and landforms are the physical reminders of a fascinating physical and chronological journey which shows that the land that makes up Scotland today has travelled the world from the Equator to the South Pole and back north again, and has not always even belonged to the same continental landmass. This book, published by Birlinn in association with Scottish Natural Heritage will help the reader to understand Scotland's place in the geological history of the planet. Three eminent geologists introduce and trace the country's development, unravelling and explaining what is seen now in the landscape and why it came to be the way it is. They show readers exactly where they can find evidence of these natural changes in the country's landscape on the ground in different parts of Scotland. The Geology of Scotland is an essential book for anyone who is interested in the natural world around them and who wishes to develop a good knowledge about the original formation of their country. It is accessible and beautifully presented, contains a huge amount of detailed information told in clear, comprehensible language and is enhanced throughout with specially commissioned illustrations, diagrams and photographs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #382835 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 324 pages

About the Author
Roger Crofts is an environmental and management adviser, lecturer and writer. He was Chief Executive of Scottish Natural Heritage from 1992 to 2000. Alan McKirdy has worked in conservation for almost thirty years. He has edited or written many popular books on geology and has contributed to a number of TV and radio programmes. He has also lectured tirelessly to local groups and societies up and down the country, promoting geology to a wide audience. John Gordon has studied and written extensively about the landforms and glacial history of Scotland. In his role as Earth Science Group manager with Scottish Natural Heritage, he is responsible for a programme of work to protect, manage and raise awareness of Scotland's earth heritage. He is an honorary professor in the School of Geography and Geosciences at St Andrews University.

Customer Reviews

Review from Scotsman newspaper
FIRST with the news, albeit after 20,000 years, it was this paper that in 1840 broke the story of the Ice Age; the astronomer royal, Dr Neville Maskelyne, had already used Schiehallion to calculate Earth's mass. It's easily overlooked, but the modern science of geology has been one of the most important legacies of the Scottish Enlightenment. That story is just a subplot in a book which sets out to explain how the country we know as Scotland came to be, over untold millions of years, but it lends a special resonance to a stupendous subject. This small land is built on enormous geological complexity: it seems fitting that it should have been in at the start of the systematic study of Earth's formation. Big and beautifully illustrated, this book is rigorous yet lucid, and written with patriotic pride - a work of more than scientific importance.

Fascinating subject, brilliant book
For me, this book reads as easily as a good novel, and I refer to it before any 'day out' in Scotland, so I know what I'll be looking at. The text is straightforward, the diagrams are informative and the photographs are superb. Congratulations to all concerned in the book's production, and thank you for adding another dimension to my view of my country.

Beautiful coffee table book
What a wonderful, well wirtten and illustrated book. I found it very interesting and easy to read. The photographs are beautiful and i enjoyed the layout and format very much. A present which I was very happy to recieve!