Taking It Further
Iain has it rough
Clicks and bricks
Go further into your surroundings and learn more about geology - and related subjects - with our weblinks.
If Journeys from the Centre of the Earth has sparked you interest, then why not take it further? You can find out more about the various themes raised in the series through these books and courses.
Books:
The Geological History of the British Isles
- Arlëne Hunter and Glynda Easterbrook
The landscape and surface environment of the continental crust that now forms the islands of Great Britain, Ireland and the adjacent lesser isles has undergone dramatic changes during the life of the Earth. This book takes the reader on a geological tour of the British Isles, showing how changes in climate, sea-level and relief can be recognized and understood in the geological record. By unravelling the geological history of the British Isles, a remarkable insight is gained into the geological evolution of the whole Earth.
The book includes a comprehensive glossary and maps, and comes lavishly illustrated. While essential reading for first- and second-year Geology undergraduates, A-level Geology teachers and students, as well as enthusiastic amateur Geologists, will also enjoy this book.
ISBN: 0 7492 0138 X - Published by the Open University
Teach Yourself Geology
- Dave Rothery
A solid introduction to the subject, recommended as a starting point for students but also providing a background for everyone.
ISBN: 0 3408 6753 1 - Published by Hodder Arnold Teach Yourself
Courses: Starting points and refreshers...
S193 - Fossils and the History of Life - A short course that can be approached as a 'taster' or a 'top up', on Fossils and the History of Life, you'll learn how to explain how organisms become fossilized, identify the common fossils you are likely to find, and discover where they fit into the story of evolution.
S180 - Life in the Oceans: Exploring Our Blue Planet - What are the challenges of living in the oceanic environment, and how have marine organisms adapted to cope with them? Why do some parts of the ocean constantly teem with life, while others have seasonal bursts of activity? This course helps you find the answers.
S196 - Planets: An Introduction - An introduction to planets and minor bodies in our solar system, as well as planets around other stars.
S103 - Discovering Science - The course uses the approaches taken by physicists, Earth scientists, biologists and chemists to develop your understanding of planet Earth. This includes Earth's materials and life-forms, the wider spheres of the Solar System and our Galaxy, and the physical laws that govern all matter in the Universe.
A103 - Introduction to the Humanities- a nine-month course which provides the recommended route into degree study in the Arts generally and alongside literature offers an introduction to other disciplines such as art history, music, philosophy, classical studies, history, religious studies and the history of science and technology.
Slightly more advanced...S260 - Geology - This one-year course is aimed at people who have completed S103, or have studied science to an equivalent level. It begins to look in detail at landforms, rocks and minerals and the processes that make them.
SXR260 - The Geological History of the British Isles -This provides the practical fieldwork experience needed if you wish to study Earth Sciences further, and is based around a one-week residential school in the north of England. There is also a book outlining the geological history of the British Isles.
S278 - Earth's Physical Resources: Origin, Use and Environmental Impact - Cars, concrete, computers and central heating systems: what do they have in common? To make them and to use them we have to extract physical resources such as minerals, water, fossil fuels and metals from the Earth. Modern civilization depends more and more on the world’s resources to create the very fabric of everyday life. How then, can these escalating levels of resource extraction be sustainable? This course offers a ‘down to earth’ approach to the extraction and exploitation of physical resources.
S269 - Earth and Life - Over three billion years life has evolved in response to its environment, and in doing so has progressively changed that environment. Current environmental debates concerning global climatic change raise complex issues that can be answered only from an informed geological perspective. This course will enable you to develop your own opinions. From the origin of the Earth and of life, examine the Earth’s climate and atmosphere before looking at organic evolution, global ‘ice-houses’ and ‘greenhouses’. Finally, using the website, explore a case study of the Quaternary, and examine the rapid interactions between Earth and life during this period.
S216 - Environmental Science - This wide-ranging course draws together biology, chemistry, Earth science and physics, so that you develop an holistic approach encompassing the processes, links, interactions and feedback mechanisms that operate within different environments. A special feature of thecourse is a multimedia interactive field trip in which you can explore an area visually, observe habitats, gather data and analyse your observations.
AT272 - Ancient and Medieval Cities: A Technological History - What have the invention of agriculture, metallurgy and wheeled transport to do with the origins of cities? How did the ancient Romans feed and house a city of a million inhabitants? Can camel transport explain the labyrinthine layout of many Islamic cities? Questions like this lie at the heart of this course, the focal point of which is the contribution of technologies to urban form and fabric. The course will show not only how towns and cities have from earliest times been shaped by applications of technology, but also how such applications have been influenced by politics, economics and culture. This short course is presented twice yearly.
AS208 - The Rise of Scientific Europe, 1500-1800 - Why did modern science develop only in Europe, and in some parts rather than others? We examine these questions through primary and secondary sources. After a survey of Chinese science, Arabic science and the roots of European science, we concentrate on Copernicus and the spread of his astronomical theory; the conditions in Italy that stimulated Galileo's work and led to his trial; the distinctive environment of Portuguese and Spanish science; developments in the German states; the surge of French and seventeenth-century English science; Newtonianism; and the Scottish enlightenment. We also look at Sweden, Russia and the Balkans, countries rarely mentioned in this context. The course consdiers the history of a range of sciences, including earth sciences.
A209 - Fifth-Century Athens: Democracy and City State - This interdisciplinary course considers the relationship between the culture of the ancient Athenian city state and its democratic form of government. Themes include the social context of the theatre, philosophy and religion, the dynamics of empire and how war affected the arts and social values. You will develop skills in analysis and evaluation of a wide selection of ancient source material, and begin to consider critical uses of modern scholarship. Texts (in translation) include plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes, historical texts by Herodotus and Thucydides and philosophical works by Plato. Material evidence ranges from buildings (the Parthenon) to painted pottery and funerary monuments.
Content last updated: 14/09/2004
