From: cain@geomag.gly.fsu.edu (Joe Cain)
Subject: texts for planetary geology
Summary: evaluation of those in print 
Organization: Florida State University Geology Dept.
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 92 14:46:36 GMT

Any comments and suggestions on alternatives...disagreements..others I
should be considering....etc?

                         A Text for Planetary Geology

      The purpose of this letter is to review what I have found from a
search for a text suitable for teaching an introductory undergraduate
course in planetary geology for non-science students. I would hope to
elicit comments from others with a similar need. 

      The books from which I have drawn material for my course are listed
below. I started using Hamblin and Christiansen initially as the required text
but had to switch to a simpler one and chose Wagner's as being the most
recently published. The only other text not listed is Worlds Apart by
Consolmagno and Schaefer, to appear in a year or so by Prentice Hall.
Also, Morrison and Owen's is scheduled for a new revision next September.
There are many excellent older books which are not listed here, including
those in astronomy which include planetary science in some chapters.

      There is considerable differences in emphasis in those listed which
would make them suitable for different student populations. The only ones
I would suggest for the non-science students are Morrison and Owen and
Wagner.

      Both Morrison and Owen and Wagner tend to approach the subject from the
view of astronomy, and thus those of us focussing on planetary geology
tend to omit much of this material. I also omit meteorology and the
search for life on other planetary systems, and even the Viking biology
experiments due to the lack of time. 

      In spite of its recent publication date Wagner's includes some dated
material such as the use of the terms "acidic" and "basic" to describe
rocks now known by "felsic" and "mafic" by modern geologists. He also
does not make reference to the S.I. system of units and continues to
include olde English units (in parenthesis).

      In writing the equation for Bode's Rule in my very first class I
lost a third of the students. At this stage of my instructional education
I did not fully appreciate mathphobia, which appears to have infected a
good portion of the non-science student population. However, I appreciate
the presentation of equations in Wagner's text even though he does not do
much with them. By stepping gingerly in using his equations as a means
of understanding the material, the mathphobes do not walk out the door
and many appear to benefit by the qualitative understanding. The present
version of Morrison and Owen has a useful short section with problems in the
appendix and I understand that the new revision may include some
problems. The technique used by the magnificent astronomy text by Abell,
Morrison and Wolff to put equations in separate sections embedded in the
regular text might be a useful technique for future editions.

      I have wrestled much with the order of presentation. I like the
approach used by Hamblin and Christiansen in presenting a minimum of
introductory material and then moving on to the Moon and Mercury first
as the simplest bodies from a geologic perspective. This text does a good
job also of putting the essential aspects of the creation of the elements
and the solar system in early chapters, whereas the other two leave it
to the end. I find it satisfying to present this development early in a
course, and in more detail, so add "Big Bang" material from Abell, Morrison
and Wolff illustrated with the beautiful color transparencies available
from the publisher. In such a course one also supplements with as much
video footage as can be found, though the process of recopying sections
to shorten and tailor them to the syllabus is very time consuming. 

      I attempted to follow the order in Wagner's text but found that it
spent too much space developing processes and too little for individual
planets as it then moved monotonically outward from the Sun. On the other
hand Morrison and Owen groups too much together in his later chapters. I yet
have difficulty in finding the best sequence for asteroids and comets. 

      For those with different student populations some of the other books
listed below should be considered. For example, I would not hesitate to
recommend Hamblin and Christiansen for low level geology students, though
would look closely at Greeley's Planetary Landscapes for students at a
higher level. This latter text omits the comparison with Earth geology
which is included in Hamblin and Christiansen. Both of these texts have
excellent content and beautifully detailed photographs, especially from
planetary orbiters.

      The new and excellent revision of Moons and Planets: an introduction
to planetary science by Hartmann has just appeared. It is one that only
discusses processes and has no specific chapters for any planetary body.
Some portions of Morrison and Owen convey the history and excitement of the
exploration of the solar system, but Hartmann's writing peppers enthusiasm
throughout. One gets the impression in reading this text, which would
seem to lend itself to the factual style of Hamblin and Christiansen, that it
has been written more by a poet than a scientist. Even so, it addresses
more aspects of planetary science than I had realized existed. It would
certainly be appropriate as a text for an upper level class which could
include first year geology graduate students with a serious interest in
future planetary research. Certainly, anyone teaching in any aspect of
planetary geology should have two copies, one for home and the other at
the office, and include it in a primary reading list for any class.

      Because planetary science has been changing so rapidly it is not
easy for authors to keep up with revisions. I thus encourage students who
are interested in learning more to buy a copy of The New Solar System
edited by Beatty and Chaikin. Most of the texts listed herein have a cost in
excess of $45. However, this book can be obtained from Sky Publishing in
paperback for about $16 each in orders of 13, and only costs $25
individually. I understand that it was used last year by Northern Arizona
University for their primary text in a planetary geology course for
geologists. I would not so recommend it unless the instructor was
prepared to supplement material to cover the basic processes in some
other way.

      Even with the excellent texts available I also find it useful to
pull material from two other books listed below which I put on a primary
reading list. Serious students need to read some of the tome by Carr et al.
to supplement any text, and I find that Cox's Elements is a useful
introduction to the chemical and atomic aspects, especially of the
formation of the solar system.

References

Abell, G. O., D. Morrison, and S. C. Wolff, Exploration of the Universe,
      Saunders College Publ., 1991. (new edition just appearing)
Beatty, J. K. and A. Chaikin, The New Solar System, Sky & Cambridge
      Publ., QB501.N47 1990. 
Carr, M. H., R. S. Saunders, R. G. Strom, and D. E. Wilhelms, The geology
      of the Terrestrial Planets, NASA SP-469, QB 601.T47 1984. 
Cox, P. A., The Elements, Oxford, QD 466.C875 1989.
Greeley, R., Planetary Landscapes, Allen & Unwin, QB 603.S95 G74 1987.
Hamblin, W. K., and E. H. Christiansen, Exploring the Planets, Macmillan,
      QB603.G46H36 1991. 
Hartmann, W. K., Moons and Planets, Third Edition, Wadsworth, QB601.H34
      1993.
Morrison, D., and T. Owen, The Planetary System, Addison-Wesley, 1987.
      (to be revised to appear in September, 1993)
Wagner, J. K., Introduction to the Solar System, Saunders College Publ.,
      1991.


Joseph Cain		cain@geomag.gly.fsu.edu
cain@fsu.bitnet		scri::cain
Newsgroups: alt.sci.planetary