THE SAPPHIRE PLANET

by Url Lanham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1977

The sapphire planet is earth, seen in handsome photos from space with its 70% water cover. Science writer Url Lanham, on the staff of the University of Colorado Museum, focuses on the forces that have formed and shaped the planet. In four long chapters he describes the origin, geology, biosphere, and life forms over the eons. (Technically, the ""eon"" is a new unit equal to one billion years.) This material has been well mined of late, but Lanham is a good writer and his coverage is reasonably complete. Readability would have been enhanced, however, had the long sections been broken into smaller chapters or more abundant subheadings been used. Occasionally one questions a fact: ""Judging from the fossils, most of the Paleozoic insects were cockroaches."" Also, his discussion' of human evolution omits the more recent findings and is shallow in comparison, say, to his extensive and interesting report on the various forms of plankton and the slightly higher forms of life which feed on them. (The remains of one fossil form, for example, make up the limestone blocks used in building the Egyptian pyramids.) While one sympathizes with Lanham's arguments against nuclear power plants in his discussion of energy, one wishes he had not preceded them with a generally dour view of the industrial revolution and the evils of the machine or with equally broad remarks about the role of women in primitive society, and the like. These sweeping claims or gratuitous opinions mar an otherwise reliable treatment of earth history.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Columbia Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION