Abstract:
LIKE many other teachers of geology and geography in this
country, I have long felt the need far a thoroughly up-to-da,te
book qn Physical Geology. I theref0re readily responded when
the publishers invited me to write the sbrt of book that seemed
to be required. The method of treatment adopted is one that
twenty years' experience has shown to be successful in training
students and- in holding and developing their interest, even
when, as has often been the case, some of them have come to
the subject without any preliminary acquaintance with scientific principles ~A methods. For this reason it is hoped that
the book will app~l )ioConly to students and teachers and to
the senior classes in schools, but also to the general reader
who wishes to see something of the "wild miracle" of the
world we live in through the eyes of those who have "tried to
resolve Its ancient mysteries.
The earth's activities may be compared to an intricate
interplay of combined operations, and the results, whether they
be landscapes, natural catastrophes, or materials such as
building stones and fuels, are correspondingly varied. It is
inherent in the character of the subject that t}1.e full significance
of anyone aspect can ,be properly appreciated only in relation
to the whole. A broad preliminary survey has therefore been
presented in Part I, to serve as an.introduction to the more
detailed treatment that follows. Part II de.als with the outer
earth and only turns aside from tracks already familiar to take
in the· more interesting results achieved by re_cent progress.
Part III is mainly concerned with the activities of the inner
earth and their surface expressions. Thanks to the variety of .
detective methods that have been developed during the present
century, the depths are less inscrutable than formerly and the
time is ripe for the incorporation into an elementary book of
the many spectacular discoveries that have already been made
