Geography and environmental sciences round-up

A Reef in Time: The Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End

Author: J. E. N. Veron

Edition: First

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Price: £22.95

ISBN 9780674026797

A historical, geological and biological study of the largest coral reef. The chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science uses the Great Barrier Reef as an alarming case study on the future of coral reefs. Although it is a hypothetical tale, it is a worrying look at how the Earth is in danger of suffering the worst case of mass extinction seen for 65 million years.

Structural Geology

Authors: Robert J. Twiss and Eldridge M. Moores

Edition: Second

Publisher: Palgrave

Price: £44.99

ISBN 9780716749516

An overview in which subject matter is developed along the lines of a scientific investigation, enabling the student to engage with observed geology. Theoretical subject matter is introduced as a way of understanding the geology.

Earth's Climate: Past and Present

Author: William F. Ruddiman

Edition: Second

Publisher: Palgrave

Price: £55.99

ISBN 9780716784906

This edition summarises the lessons to be learnt from 550 million years of climate changes as a way of evaluating the climatological impact on and by humans in this century. Ruddiman also considers the potential impact of fossil-fuel use over the next several centuries.

Decolonizing Development: Colonial Power and the Maya

Author: Joel Wainwright

Edition: First

Publisher: Blackwell

Price: £55.00 and £19.99

ISBN 9781405157063 and 056

Wainwright investigates the ways in which colonialism has shaped the modern world by analysing the relationship between colonialism and development. Three case studies are used to explore the politics of state-led development since the 1950s to demonstrate how development can often sustain the very power inequalities it aims to resolve.