Earth Science

A quantitative, broad, hands-on introduction to the cutting-edge science of global warming

The world’s leading textbook on astrobiology—ideal for an introductory one-semester course and now fully revised and updated

An ecologist explores how life itself shapes Earth using the elemental constituents we all share

A wondrous story of scientific endeavor—probing the great ice sheets of Antarctica

A garden of geologic delights for all Earthlings

The little-known history of how the Sahara was transformed from a green and fertile land into the largest hot desert in the world

The revolution in science that is transforming our understanding of extinct life

An amazing journey into the hidden realm of nature’s sounds

An epic excursion into one of the last great frontiers on Earth

A richly illustrated guide to the gemstones of the world

An illustrated look at the art and science of paleontology from its origins to today

A marvelously illustrated look at the world’s diverse forests and their ecosystems

The classic case for why government must support science—with a new essay by physicist and former congressman Rush Holt on what democracy needs from science today

A practical guide to making good decisions in a world of missing data

The first field guide that allows amateur rock enthusiasts to identify basic rocks and rock formations in a systematic way

A comprehensive introduction to ocean ecology and a new way of thinking about ocean life

Inside the epic quest to find life on the water-rich moons at the outer reaches of the solar system

Why the social character of scientific knowledge makes it trustworthy

A valuable synthesis of the physics of magmatism for students and scholars

The essential introduction to magnetic reconnection—written by a leading pioneer of the field

An introduction to celestial mechanics for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers new to the field

A definitive new investigation of the science of snowflakes by the world’s leading expert

A fully updated tutorial on the basics of the Python programming language for science students

The essential introduction to modern physical oceanography

An essential textbook on the mathematical methods used in geophysics and space physics

The most comprehensive advanced graduate-level textbook on the subject

A classic introduction to the story of Earth's origin and evolution—revised and expanded for the twenty-first century

An essential primer on atmospheric processes and their important role in the climate system

The oceans exert a vital moderating influence on the Earth's climate system. They provide inertia to the global climate, essentially acting as the pacemaker of climate variability and change, and they provide heat to high latitudes...

The cryosphere encompasses the Earth's snow and ice masses. It is a critical part of our planet's climate system, one that is especially at risk from climate change and global warming. The Cryosphere provides an essential introduction...

This concise, sophisticated introduction to planetary climates explains the global physical and chemical processes that determine climate on any planet or major planetary satellite--from Mercury to Neptune and even large moons such as...

Earth's climate has undergone dramatic changes over the geologic timescale. At one extreme, Earth has been glaciated from the poles to the equator for periods that may have lasted millions of years. At another, temperatures were once so...

A must-have introduction to this fundamental driver of the climate system

The Earth's climate system depends entirely on the Sun for its energy. Solar radiation warms the atmosphere and is fundamental to atmospheric composition, while the distribution of solar heating across the planet produces global wind...

How does life on our planet respond to--and shape--climate? This question has never been more urgent than it is today, when humans are faced with the daunting task of guiding adaptation to an inexorably changing climate. This concise...

The marvelous microbes that made life on Earth possible and support our very existence

A richly illustrated account of the story of ancient viniculture

In the 1990s Richard B. Alley and his colleagues made headlines with the discovery that the last ice age came to an abrupt end over a period of only three years. In The Two-Mile Time Machine, Alley tells the fascinating history of...

Why a warmer climate may be humanity’s longest-lasting legacy

Until a few decades ago, the ocean depths were almost as mysterious and inaccessible as outer space. Oceans cover two-thirds of the earth's surface with an average depth of more than two miles--yet humans had never ventured more than a...

Sixty-five million years ago, a comet or asteroid larger than Mount Everest slammed into the Earth, inducing an explosion equivalent to the detonation of a hundred million hydrogen bombs. Vaporized detritus blasted through the...

Australopithecines, dinosaurs, trilobites--such fossils conjure up images of lost worlds filled with vanished organisms. But in the full history of life, ancient animals, even the trilobites, form only the half-billion-year tip of a...

Some 250 million years ago, the earth suffered the greatest biological crisis in its history. Around 95 percent of all living species died out—a global catastrophe far greater than the dinosaurs' demise 185 million years later. How...

The impact on climate from 200 years of industrial development is an everyday fact of life, but did humankind's active involvement in climate change really begin with the industrial revolution, as commonly believed? Plows, Plagues, and...

A thrilling tour of the sea's most extreme species, coauthored by one of the world's leading marine scientists

A groundbreaking textbook on twenty-first-century fluids and elastic solids and their applications

A groundbreaking textbook on twenty-first-century plasma physics and its applications

A groundbreaking textbook on twenty-first-century statistical physics and its applications

A groundbreaking textbook on twenty-first-century waves of all sorts and their applications

A groundbreaking textbook on twenty-first-century general relativity and cosmology

A groundbreaking text and reference book on twenty-first-century classical physics and its applications

A passionate eyewitness account of the mysteries and looming demise of glaciers—and what their fate means for our shared future

"Fascinating and exhilarating—Sean B. Carroll at his very best."—Bill Bryson, author of The Body: A Guide for Occupants

From acclaimed writer and biologist Sean B. Carroll, a rollicking, awe-inspiring story of the surprising power of chance in our lives and the world

Despite major advances in the observation and numerical simulation of the atmosphere, basic features of the Earth's climate remain poorly understood. Integrating the available data and computational resources to improve our...

A gripping history of the polar continent, from the great discoveries of the nineteenth century to modern scientific breakthroughs

A provocative and inspiring look at the future of humanity and science from world-renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin Rees

An eminent philosopher explains why we owe it to future generations to take immediate action on global warming

The case for an eco-emancipatory politics to release the Earth from human domination and free us all from lives that are both exploitative and exploited

How technological advances and colonial fears inspired utopian geoengineering projects during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

A new way of thinking about the climate crisis as an exercise in delimiting knowable, and habitable, worlds

An updated and expanded edition of the acclaimed writing guide for scientists

A scientist’s inspiring vision of our return to the Moon as humanity’s next thrilling step in space exploration

A brief guide to the real science of interstellar travel

New York Times bestseller
Journey into the universe through the most spectacular sights in astronomy in stereoscopic 3D

Quantum physicist, New York Times bestselling author, and BBC host Jim Al-Khalili reveals how 8 lessons from the heart of science can help you get the most out of life