Historical geology. Evolution of Earth and life through time / Историческая геология. Эволюция Земли и жизни сквозь время

Earth is a dynamic planet that has changed continuously during its 4.6 billion years of existence. The size, shape, and geographic distribution of the continents and ocean basins have changed through time, as have the atmosphere and biota. As scientists and concerned citizens, we have become increasingly aware of how fragile our planet is and, more importantly, how interdependent all of its various systems and subsystems are. We have also learned that we cannot continually  pollute our environment and that our natural resources are limited and, in most cases, nonrenewable. Furthermore, we are coming to realize how central geology is to our everyday lives. For these and other reasons, geology is one of the most important college or university courses a student can take.
Historical geologists are concerned with all aspects of Earth and its life history. Th ey seek to determine what events occurred during the past, place those events into an orderly chronological sequence, and provide conceptual frameworks for explaining such events. Equally important is using the lessons learned from the geologic past to understand and place in context some of the global issues facing the world today, such as depletion of  natural resources, global climate warming, and decreasing biodiversity. Thus, what makes historical geology both fascinating and relevant is that, like the dynamic Earth it seeks to understand, it is an exciting and everchanging science in which new discoveries and insights are continually being made.
Historical Geology: Evolution of Earth and Life Th rough Time, sixth edition, is designed for a one-semester geology course and is written with students in mind. One of the problems with any science course is that students are overwhelmed by the amount of material that must be learned. Furthermore, most of the material does not seem to be linked by any unifying theme and does not always appear to be relevant to their lives. Th is book, however, is written to address that problem in that it shows, in its easy-to-read style, that historical geology is an exciting science, and one that is increasingly relevant in today's world. The goal of this book is to provide students with an understanding of the principles of historical geology and how these principles are applied in unraveling Earth’s history. It is our intent to present the geologic and biologic history of Earth, not as a set of encyclopedic facts to  memorize, but rather as a continuum of interrelated events refl ecting the underlying geologic and biologic principles and processes that have shaped our planet and life upon it. Instead of emphasizing individual, and seemingly unrelated events, we seek to understand the underlying causes of why things happened the way they did and how all of Earth’s systems and subsystems are interrelated. Using this approach, students will gain a better understanding of how everything fi ts together, and why events occurred in a particular sequence.

Because of the nature of the science, all historical geology textbooks share some broad similarities. Most begin with several chapters on concepts and principles, followed by a chronological discussion of Earth and life history. In this respect we have not departed from convention. We have, however, attempted to place greater emphasis on basic concepts and principles, their historical development, and their importance in deciphering Earth history; in other words, how do we know what we know. By approaching Earth history in this manner, students come to understand Earth’s history as part of a dynamic and complex integrated system, and not as a series of isolated and unrelated events. <...>