Abstract
IN view of conditions in Tennessee, where scientific evidence and spiritual exposition continue to be confused with unfortunate public results, it is not surprising that popular American books on geology are still seriously exercised with the views held in ancient Palestine thousands of years ago. Prof. Mather has faced the issue very tactfully in this entertaining volume, which is based on a series of radio talks delivered at Boston. The topics dealt with include the origin of the earth; the evolution of life; the Great Ice Age and its causes; earthquakes and mountain building. All are adequately dealt with, and we are glad to see that the tidal theory of Jeans and Jeifreys is not overlooked in the discussion of “How the World was Made”. The treatment of glaciation is excellent, particular pains being taken to prove that the equator had the same relation to the mountains of western America as it has to-day. The illustrations are numerous and effective, and are enlivened by reproductions of medieval representations of Jehovah at work taken from the “Nuremberg Chronicle” of 1493. The book is a well-written and trustworthy introduction to geology, and may be cordially recommended to all who are interested in the lore of the earth as students or teachers.
Old Mother Earth.
By Prof. Kirtley F. Mather. Pp. xiv + 177 + 59 plates. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1928.) 11s. 6d. net.
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Old Mother Earth . Nature 124, 873 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/124873a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/124873a0