Laboratory Studies in Earth History

Rating:
Summary: Historical Geology Lab Manual
Review: I've taught Historical Geology labs from this manual starting with the third edition. I believe that this is one of the better lab texts on the subject but I hear the same complaints from students using the seventh edition that I heard from those using the third - "How are we supposed to interpret the information contained in these poor quality black-and-white photographs that typically lack a scale and a complete verbal description?" and "Why do the questions in the manual seem so 'obtuse'? We can't understand what is being asked for." I've seen only a slight improvement in photographic illustrations over the years (very, very few new illustrations) and minimal improvement in the "clarity" of questions. The colour geologic map plates are typically so poorly printed that I long ago stopped having students do geologic cross sections because we couldn't see elevation contour lines, differentiate colour patterns for formations, or read the strike and dip symbols. There are still (after 20 years) no exercises dealing with evolution theory. Examples of "applied" geology (petroleum, mining, hydrology) are still few in number and simplistic.