A Dictionary of Geology and Earth Sciences (Oxford Quick Reference)

I'm not a geologist but wanted at book that would describe all varieties of land forms. With 7500 terms I thought this might do it, but was really surprised that there was no entry for plateau. How is that possible. Fortunately, I found a much better choice in the "Glossary of Geology" by Bates and Jackson which is put out by the American Geological Institute. For just a few dollars I picked up a used copy of the Third Edition with approximately 37,000 terms. That's almost 5 times more entries than the Allaby dictionary. This is not the current 4th edition which costs considerably more, but it meets all my needs. It is more than twice the size of the Allaby dictionary and has a good quality hard cover that lays flat on my desk and is a pleasure to read. The Allaby dictonary does not give pronunciations. The Bates and Jackson glossary not only gives you pronunciations but also often includes the etymology of the word, synonyms, and refers you to related terms. The Bates and Jackson book has no illustrations, but a quick Google search will pull up all the illustrations you might want. I think the Bates and Jackson Glossary is a MUCH better choice than the Allaby dictionary.

This dictionary, in its fourth edition and expanded from previous editions, provides clear definitions of all the terms I have wanted clarified in my Earth sciences readings. I'm not a geologist, but I read widely in geology and planetary science. I prefer to read material that has not been oversimplified or predigested, and find I need more reliable and specific definition than I can get in general dictionaries or online. If this reference did no more than that, I would have been satisfied. It does much more. It has clear charts of time-scales, including time-scales for the Moon and Mars. It has three charts relating to wind strength. There are lists of useful websites, satellite missions, and the dictionary is web-linked.It has the characteristic of well-organized and well-written dictionaries - it is a time sink. I look up one term only to be tempted to follow other threads into other areas, only to resurface much later. Just now, while looking up the europium anomaly (relating to the geochemistry of the Moon), I happened upon Euryarchaeota and learned that Archaea are now divided into two kingdoms (and why). With the recent major and ongoing changes in taxonomy I have tried to keep up in at least my favorite subjects, but this took me by surprise. This book is not only useful, it is delightful.

This looked very promising because of its recent publication date, its size, and (of course) the Oxford label. However, when it arrived, I cracked it open and started looking up some terms and was soon disappointed. Basaltic andesite: no entry. TAS diagram: no entry. (Oddly, QAPF has two entries.) Rhydacite was defined as the extrusive equivalent of adamellite; adamellite is apparently a rather obsolescent term for monzogranite. Monzogranite does not appear in the dictionary.It's not useless, but I was disappointed by the number of fairly common modern geologic terms I found missing in just the first five minutes.

great dictionary

Excellent!

Great dictionary

This book is very competently written and very well detailed with a large number of entry words.

A dictionary is a dictionary is a dictionary. This one is just specialized!

Really comprehensive dictionary for the teacher or student of earth science - from A-level upwards. Recently updated, this has detailed entries and definitions for just about all aspects of the rock cycle, weathering and erosion, mineralogy, plate tectonics, diagenesis, volcanism, palaeontology, mapping, economic geology. Highly recommended and a great price

I tried the Penguin Geology Dictionary, and found it largely too basic, and often missing the words I needed. I found the explanations in the Oxford version much more detailed and helpful to me.

Very informative useful

Really helpful, i'm studying Geology at degree level and this book has so many awesome words that lecturers tell you to go off and find out about. This book is well good :P

Just what is needed. Will be an excellent resource