History of the Earth
a 366-day perpetual calendar
| Dick Gibson is available to speak on topics based on this book. Visit our Speaker's Bureau for details. |
This book takes the form of a 366-day calendar without days of the week. It is designed to represent "snapshots" of the history of the Earth, progressing through the geologic periods. Thus, January covers the Precambrian (with January 1 = the origin of the earth), February is the Cambrian, and so on to December in the role of the Cenozoic with the advent of early man on December 31. Because the length of the year is getting shorter at a rate of about ½ second per century, the year will be 364¼ instead of 365¼ days long in about 17,280,050 years. So this calendar is not truly perpetual; you will need another one after 17,282,044 A.D.
The days are illustrated with more than 130 fossils, 60 maps and cross-sections illustrating mountain-building events and stratigraphy, 33 stories of minerals and economic resources, 18 plate-tectonic reconstructions, origins of the names of the geologic periods and their lengths, and much more. You'll find the birthdays of 80 geologists and anniversaries of 30 earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. You may find a couple of jokes, too.
The book has paper covers and is 8½ x 5½ inches in size, and is wire bound for permanent reference. The image above does not reflect the high resolution of the printed copy.
This book is not a textbook of Historical Geology - not quite. The purpose is to entertain and to inform, and to introduce you to some of the wonders of geology, from the amazing creatures of the Burgess Shale to India's collision with Asia. It's for geologists and non-geologists, children and adults, teachers and students, and anyone interested in the Earth. The author, Richard I. Gibson, is a professional geologist who admits that he learned and re-learned a lot in the preparation of this book.
We are sorry but we do not accept credit cards. Payment in US funds may be by check or money order, payable to Richard I. Gibson, 301 N. Crystal St., Butte, Montana 59701, phone/fax (406) 723-9639. 5% of the profits from this book are donated to support geologic education at Indiana University's Geologic Field Station in Montana. Price information is beneath the triceratops.
The book costs $13.95 per copy for 1 to 9 copies, plus a shipping charge of $3.50 per order (total, $17.45 for one copy). For 10 or more copies sent to one address, the price is $10.00 per copy and shipping is included.
