Planet Earth Reading Challenge

I broke down and joined another challenge. How could I resist? I mean, I’m married to a geologist and I was a geology major myself for two and a half years in college (I’m beginning to think that there wasn’t a subject that I didn’t major in at some point in my life). The challenge is being sponsored by Sylvia at Classical Bookworm (clickity-click on the image to get to the specific challenge post). Here are the rules in a nutshell (perhaps I should say geode, in keeping with the overall theme):

What I propose for this reading challenge is to read one book about each of these four parts of our planet, or two or three books on geology (since there are so many of them), and one on another topic.

The four parts of the planet are as follows:

Lithosphere: the rocky (and molten) part of our planet

Hydrosphere: the oceans and the water cycle

Biosphere: evolution and the global ecosystem

Atmosphere: our thin, blue blanket of air

Despite the fact that my head is in the clouds most of the time, I’ve decided to remain firmly planted on the earth–I’m choosing to read 3 geology-oriented books and one that Sylvia lists as part of the biosphere section. Here’s my tentative list of potential candidates (all given a thumbs-up by Apparent Dip):

• T. Rex and the Crater of Doom by Walter Alvarez (one of Apparent Dip’s faves–in a shameless plug for his blog, check out his review here)–biosphere

• Plate Tectonics: An Insider’s History of the Modern Theory of the Earth ~ ed. Naomi Oreskes (I’m also interested in her other book: Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science)–lithosphere

• A History of Geology ~ Gabriel Gohau–lithosphere

• Thinking About the Earth: A History of Ideas in Geology ~ David Oldroyd–lithosphere

• The Dating Game: One Man’s Search for the Age of the Earth ~ Cherry Lewis–lithosphere

• A wildcard pick that might not be exactly in line with the requirements, but which sounds interesting is Excavating Victorians ~ Victoria Zimmerman. According to Amazon, it is a book that “examines nineteenth-century Britain’s reaction to the revelations about time and natural history provided by the new sciences of geology and archaeology.”

• And if I’m feeling really ambitious, I might try to tackle The Age of the Earth ~ G. Brent Dalrymple

So, in addition to Russian and French literature (and my three courses this semester), I will be shaking things up a bit and satisfying my craving for non-fiction with these earthy reads. Come join the party!