Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2017 -

For over a century, dinosaurs have been a global phenomenon. The number of films, books, toys, and other dinosaur paraphernalia show no signs of slowing down, so one would be forgiven for envisioning dinosaurs as the scientific equivalent of Coca-Cola, standing the test of time. In this work, Debus, a dinosaur sculptor, author, and a contributing editor of Fossil News: Journal of Avocational Paleontology, says, "not so." Debus's work is a collection of essays that, woven together, explain how the image of the dinosaur has truly evolved. In highly readable prose, the author proposes a new cultural history of dinosaurs. He does so by indicating how the initial vision of the dinosaur (when first discovered in the 19th century) was one of a pillar, or representative, of the prehistoric period. During the years of the Cold War, the dinosaur served as a warning symbol of destruction. In more recent years, it has been discovered how dinosaurs are truly intertwined with humans in a holistic story of evolution and extinction. Debus is a master at bringing together both the scientific and cultural aspects of dinosaurs, and this book will be warmly received by anyone with an enduring fascination with the prehistoric "terrible lizards."Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

This work is a thorough introduction to the field of remote sensing, detailing the elements related to remote observation of Earth. In this introductory text, Chuvieco (geography, Univ. of Alcala, Spain) presents the information in a structured way, with each part building on the previous chapter. The beginning chapters offer an overview of remote sensing--its history, its benefits, the different types of sensors used, and introductions to visually interpreting and analyzing the satellite images. The following chapters discuss digital image processing (with particular attention paid to digital image classification) and the key process of information validation derived using remote sensing. The final chapter outlines trends in remote sensing and its contribution to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The review questions at the end of each chapter helpfully highlight vital concepts, and the index assists with navigation. Additionally, the text contains a multitude of images, graphs, and maps. While this might be considered an excellent personal reference, it will be a superb addition to the circulating portion of a library collection. The aim of this book, as stated by the author, is to serve as a textbook--for this purpose, it is enthusiastically recommended, as it provides a solid introduction to satellite remote sensing.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates and above; faculty and professionals.

It has been 20 years since the third edition (CH, Sep'96, 34-0320) of this classic text by Seibold (1918-2013) and Berger (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) was published. New research and social imperatives have altered the nature of the field of marine geology. The fourth edition incorporates a significant amount of new material, especially from geophysics and deep-ocean coring. The introduction relates how four major scientific discoveries of the 20th century impacted the discipline, with attribution to the pioneering scientists who developed and used these ideas. Productivity and benthic organisms have now been expanded into separate chapters. Paleoceanography has been expanded into three new chapters on Ice Age oceans, the Cenozoic era, and the Cretaceous period, respectively. Another new chapter pulls together expanded discussions of climate change and ocean waste disposal. This edition includes a short glossary used primarily to define phrases or point to their occurrence in the text. Despite an effort to make this edition an elementary text, it contains many undefined scientific terms and requires some knowledge of chemistry. It is richly illustrated, examines unsolved problems and research opportunities, and includes updated references.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; faculty and professionals.