Geology of National Parks

Rating:
Summary: Great desk reference, not really a textbook
Review: "Geology of the National Parks" is filled to the brim with information, but it is less a textbook than a nice desk reference.

The book organizes the national parks according to their major geographical features. This works, but since many parks have the same or similar features, the same information is often repeated. Furthermore, the information on the parks is extremely detailed and extends beyond the geographic features that the book is organized by. A straight geographic or alphabetical ordering might have worked better. The index is adequate, though, which make up for this somewhat.

The writing is clear and understandable, though packed with information. If there is a geological process in a NP, it is in this book. The only problem is that the student never really gets an idea of geological processes on a continental or global scale because of the organization. Each park comes off as isolated.

Still, if you are an amateur geologist who enjoys the national parks, this is a great book to have in your collection. It really makes a person appreciate how unique and special each park is. But any professor looking to use this as a text really needs address the material like they would a GEOL 101 course and use the parks to address these larger geological processes. A biology or chemistry teacher wouldn't teach from an encyclopedia of those disciplines and the same care needs to be taken with this text.

Rating:
Summary: A good basic text for the vacationing geologist
Review: Harris et al. have produced a weighty tome that will appeal to the geologist on vacation who wants to get more out of the National Park experience. There are plenty of maps and cross-sections to interest the informed reader, particularly the increasing number of retired geologists. Unfortunately there is not enough in the way of more modern data such as reflection seismic, potential fields or, surprisingly, geothermal data. Also, considering the price, more color satellite images would have been appreciated. One point: I am not sure how much this book would appeal to the lay reader, whose enjoyment of the National Park system would be considerably enhanced by knowledge of the underlying geologic processes that produced the beautiful scenery.

Rating:
Summary: Book good, not great
Review: The provided great geologic information. The colorplates of the parks were nice, but it would be better if the whole book was in color, and if they had pictures of all the parks. A good buy if your intrested in National Parks or geology.