Geology: A Complete Introduction: Teach Yourself: A step-by-step Teach Yourself guide to use at home, school or college Paperback – Illustrated, 8 Oct. 2015

I have an interest in geology and a desire to learn about the processes that shape our planet and how rocks tell earth's story. I've purchased several books. Some were too complex for my level of understanding ( I plan to revisit these once I have finished Geology A Complete Introduction). One, I just didn't get along with. Geology A Complete Introduction was just what I was looking for. It's well structured, which helps the learning process. There are plenty of diagrams, which I found very informative. There is a recap quiz at the end of each chapter and also recommendations for further reading. I would certainly recommend this book.

I am fascinated by geology and have bought several wonderful books that are aimed at 'interested general public' like me . However, I was learning lots but feeling it wasn't making a coherent picture or fitting together and I really struggled to remember it all (and yes, more excursions to actually see and experience it will help, I know!). As soon as I picked this book up I felt the approach was the key to getting an overall logical idea of this huge subject and the writer explains things within that structure in an approachable way which I found really enlightening. Now all the wonderful ideas in the other books on my shelf are coming to life too and fitting in with each other and I no longer feel as though I am wading through shifting sand. Many thanks to the author!

A fairly adequate starter

A very good basic introduction to Geology.

If you're a scientifically literate person who knows little or nothing about geology and wants a grounding in the subject, look no further than this book. It is comprehensive and well-organised, and Rothery is a very good writer with a talent for explaining tricky concepts clearly and concisely.

In the last 10 years I have spent a small fortune on geology books and this is the best book on the subject that I have read, it's brilliant, wide ranging, easy to read, doesn't use tech jargon and its been designed to help you learn about the subject, not just read a book. With this and a good text book like A Geological History of Britain you will have the lot at your finger tips, the processes, big picture, detail, everything.

First off let me say he clearly knows his stuff and this appears to be quite comprehensive.It's billed as a "A Comprehensive Introduction" but the author doesn't define his audience.I'd say it's probably suited to degree students. For me, as a casual reader with no knowledge of geology or chemistry it's real hard going.I was inspired by the BBC series "Earth Story" on DVD with its descriptions of volcanoes, subduction zones, tectonic plates etc. This certainly covers all these and more but it's as if the author is talking to a peer rather than a beginner.A big source of frustration is that there is a constant stream of, to me, new words that have sent me scuttling back to the Glossary and the Index. Trouble is some words are missing and there's also an appendix with rock names. It get laborious moving from one to the other trying to get a definition. I bought this in paperback because I expected plates and drawings, which the Kindle usually doesn't handle too well. But I began to wish I had bought the Kindle version so I could easily look up new words.Frustrating too are the diagrams and plates. The diagrams often made a difficult text description easier to understand. But they are all a bit basic and often need more explanation. Similarly with the plates they are too small and not sufficiently clear in what they are trying to demonstrate.I didn't know that chemical formulae could have decimal places in their subscripts. These were shown in the text without explanation or comment.OK I can go to the internet to look up chemical formulae, definitions, pictures of geological features - but I'd sooner have them in the book that refers to them.I understand the risk of being seen to "dumb down" the subject but I just think this is more than a beginners' guide.

Excellent book full of b+w pics and demonstrations of all sciences.The only reason for 4* is due to been written around 20 yrs ago a lot has changed so be careful if using for essay/exam purposes as some information and facts have changed.