Geological Magazine; January 2008; v. 145; no. 1;
p. 149-150; DOI: 10.1017/S0016756807004104
© 2008 Cambridge University Press (CUP)
STUWE, K. 2007. Geodynamics of the Lithosphere, 2nd ed. xiv + 493 pp.
Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht: Springer-Verlag. Price Euros 89.95, SFr 147.50, US $119.00, £69.00 (hard covers). ISBN 9783 540 71236 7.
T. J. B. Holland
This second edition of the book Geodynamics of the Lithosphere is a very welcome update to the original 2002 volume. The comments made about the first edition, which has been summed up precisely and well in the review of Jackson (Geological Magazine 140 (2), 2003, p. 231), still stand as a testament largely because, by its nature, this book is resistant to rapid outdating. For those who have not seen the earlier edition or Jackson’s review, I will summarise the main content briefly here.
This book concerns thinking sensibly about the earth, not intending to provide an overview of how the earth works. It tackles a number of topics of interest to geologists and geophysicists, first by explaining the nature of the problem and then by showing how to apply basic principles of physics to analyse and understand the underlying process, attempting to capture the essence in mathematical form, leaving out the details which often keep us from seeing the wood from the trees. The range of topics is broad, covering plate tectonics, the earth’s heat, kinematics and mechanics of the lithosphere (including, surprisingly at first, geomorphology), continental dynamics, and metamorphic processes. These are clearly the topics of interest to the author, as opposed to, say, seismology or phase transitions. This matters not, given that the purpose of the book seems to be in equipping the reader with the tools for thinking about problems and their solution rather than global topic coverage. The book is aimed at those who are new to numerate thinking, and does the job very well without either dumbing down the subject or looking down on the uninitiated. The mathematics are well introduced and explained, and a useful pair of appendices helps those who need to get up to scratch with some of the concepts.
A question that arises naturally is whether the second edition is significantly different from the first. Superficially, yes – there is new material and some is based on new findings since the first edition, with recent literature citations. There is a new appendix in the form of a mini atlas with attractive coloured maps illustrating tectonic features of selected parts of the earth. However, the reader who already has the first edition will find that he or she will not gain hugely by purchasing the new edition, because the strength of this book lies in its timeless approach of using basic physics and mathematics to bear on solving problems – and that has not changed here. For the reader who does not have the first edition, then this one will be very well worth considering.
This is a very attractively produced book which will be found useful by a good many people. What a pity, then, that its high price will prove prohibitive to many students, the group which would benefit most from it.
Copyright © 2009 by Cambridge University Press (CUP)
