Earth: The Definitive Visual Guide

Today is Earth Day and I can't think of a better book to be reading today than Smithsonian Earth: The Definitive Visual Guide from DK Canada. (This is the second edition of this title. More than one million copies of this title have been sold!)

Our world is simply an amazing place. The old saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words' definitely applies here. Earth the book is filled with gorgeous colour photographs throughout the five main sections - Earth, Land, Ocean, Atmosphere and Tectonic Earth. There are numerous sub sections within each of those main areas.

Although they are all fascinating, I was really drawn to the Land and Ocean chapters. Descriptions, photos and facts about places I will never get to visit in person captivate show more me. Continents, countries, mountains, deserts, oceans, lakes, cities and rural areas and so much more. The 'technical' descriptions of the science covered in the book is presented in clear, easy to understand language. The photographs and images are all sharp, defined and in colour. The text boxes used contain clear, concise information.

Earth is an incredible reference book - the wealth of information presented is staggering. (IMO, DK publishes some of the best reference books around!) The timeline is fascinating to follow - from the beginning to present day.

Earth has found a home on my coffee table, ready to be picked up and leafed through - finding something new every time I do. show less

This book covers an enormous amount of information. Features such as mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, plains, deserts, forests, glaciers -- you name it -- are described in general and then short sections are devoted to specific places (the more prominent instances of those features, such as Mt Kilimanjaro for mountains, the Yangtze for rivers, etc., but many relatively lesser known places as well). But this book goes way beyond just land/water features. It also has a timeline of Earth's geological and biological history, covers rocks and minerals, soils, ecosystems, tectonics, natural forces, climate, conservation, and much more. The pictures are spectacular, and this book is full of them. Anyone with a general interest in geography, show more geology, or nature will certainly enjoy this book immensely. show less

Weather, Forests, glaciers, deserts, mountains, rivers, oceans, volcanoes. 2 of these.

Anything from Smithsonian is bound to be good!

See my review of World War II published by DK Publishing for comments about DK books.

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