The Planet in a Pebble: A journey into Earth's deep history (Oxford Landmark Science)

Finally, I understand our planet.

Absolutely wonderful. Clearly written. Highly evocative style. Vivid and gripping.Like other readers, I was disappointed that the Kindle edition didn't include the plates, though.

This is an imaginative book. The author re-creates the geologic evolution of the Earth by examining more and more features of a small pebble. I found every part of it engaging both for the geology and the creativity of the author.

Excellent text, but the kindle edition does not reproduce the color plates. I would not buy the kindle edition until it has the plates

5 star book but the kindle edition does not have the color prints. These are required in order to know what the author is talking about in certain sections. Shame on whomever decided to cut that corner.

****"It is an ordinary pebble. It's one of millions that washes backwards and forwards on the shoreline or piles up on riverbanks or lines your garden path. Yet that pebble, like its myriad kin, is a capsule of stories. There are countless stories packed within that pebble, more tightly than sardines in the most ergonomic tins." --Jan ZalasiewiczI was reminded of Carl Sagan's saying, "We are star stuff," and the pebble is most qualified to be included in 'We'. Where life was essentially nonexistent, yet the pebble does preserve signs of life. Even though the pebble itself is an eroded version, out of its parent magma, in a Welsh cliff side. The same chemical compounds contained within it trace the origins of our planet Earth, our solar system, the milky way galaxy and the universe. Although the records contained within the pebble are often incomplete, they still allow us to feel the pulses caused by the planetary change, "In some ways the pebble is like one of the new computer chips, tightly packed with more information than one could ever surmise from gazing on its smooth surface," Zalasiewicz apologetically explains."The Planet in a Pebble" is what the title conveys: an attempt to extract the Earth's story from a small rock, in this case a smoothed, blue-gray pebble, streaked with white, found along the Welsh coast where the author has spent much of his career. A competent geologists knows that even the smallest rock carries within innumerable threads of inscriptions revealing the history of planet Earth. Like the strings of tiny fossils embedded in the rock, core competence in physics, chemistry, and biology instruct history run through "The Planet in a Pebble." Zalasiewicz's troubadour talents, while keeping the pebble in sight, he skillfully guides readers through material that might have left them out in delusion.This engaging book is a celebrity reckoning on geology, in the widest sense. It begins with the origin of elements and ends with the demise of the Solar System. Traveling backwards in time to explain how it came into existence, the book picks the pebble as his muse. In the book's early chapters, almost any pebble would have been served, yet, the authors careful selection of pebble expands the second half of the book in a certain direction. So, the mineral particles in the pebble were eroded off the long-lost continent of Avalonia a long time ago, and, more recently tiny crystals of pyrite (iron sulfide) settled on the ancient mud to fill in the body cavities of tiny animals. Now, despite the pebble static nature, it did not remain in one place. Baked by the heat of the earth, the parent rock layer underwent metamorphosis that took of millions of years, moved along and shoved into what is now the Welsh coast.As one might expect from an author who has written, provokingly, about the meaning of time in formal stratigraphy, the importance of chronology is creatively illustrated. I found the book to be most successful in the parts that combined the aspects of geology that were less familiar to me, given I studied Mineralogy and Petrology in one course, Geo 101. In effect, he is giving free reign to the urge that many scientists have to let the imagination off the leash without having to go into detail about the supporting data and arguments. In this ways, the numerous possible ages of the pebble are skillfully uncovered, each encoded in a different part of its constituents. No reader of this book will ever kick a pebble down the road or even pocket one from the beach in a careless way ever again.

One small pebble from the beaches of Wales is our guild through an odyssey that takes us from the beginning of time to the present day and beyond. This vicarious journey begins with the big bang that heralded the beginning of space and time, and explores the creation of the elements as they are forged in the furnaces of supernova explosions. We follow the elements and their journey through earth’s complex geologic history to the creation of a single pebble on the beaches of Wales.Throughout the book Dr. Jan Zalasiewicz maintains a compelling wonder of the world around him. It brings back memories of the awe and excitement expressed by Dr. Carl Sagan as he explored the science of the universe. The book is factual, and entertaining with a sprinkling of wit and humor. It is a hybrid between a novel and a scientific journey through time. Imaginative metaphors and similes provide the reader with relevant mental images as the pebble moves through the geologic/biologic history of our planet.Dr Jan Zalasiewicz’s intellectual understanding of the nuances of technology, micropaleontology, stratigraphy, tectonics and geologic history provides incredible attention to detail throughout the book. There is perhaps a slight over indulgence on the life and history of the graptolites, but the reader can forgive this dalliance given that the author is a world renowned expert on these interesting, extinct organisms.A good read for someone with at least a college level background in physical and historical geology. Even the experienced geologist will appreciate some of the details that the author brings to light. As a teacher of general science and geology for 35 years, here was everything laid out in a new refreshing manner. It would make an excellent gift for your Geology/Earth Science college graduate this year. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will never look at a pebble on a beach in quite the same way again.

Everything, all explanations in plain English (easily understood), just loved it. It covers one of my pet subjects, geology and the chemistry of the Universe. I just love delving into deep time, this book does all that. A fabulous read.

An ideal book for the scientifically interested lay person. Provides a fascinating account of the development of pebble on a Welsh beach from Silurian silt beneath an ancient ocean and the myriad forces and processes, physical, chemical and biological that affected its creation. In effect this is both a history of the earth and an insight into the methods employed by geologists and paleontologists. The book is written in light easy style providing enough, but not too much, scientific and technical information. A fascinating read which left me wanting more.

I really loved this - I can't wait to get to a Welsh beach.

Excellent book worth 5 stars. However, the Kindle version has no plates. These plates are necessary to make sense of what the author is saying in several sections. The publisher does not mention that the plates are missing from the Kindle version. Shabby behaviour.

I live on the North Devon coast and had already taken an interest in Geology when this book was recommended. Extremely well written and a superb compilation of physics, chemistry and biology to illuminate the physical world. The use of a pebble as a vehicle and driver for the narrative is very engaging for someone surrounded by them.