THE FIRST BOOK OF OIL
By
On the first page ""petroleum is the word generally used to identify both oil and natural gas""; on no page are oil and natural gas separately defined, typical of the careless treatment of many topics here. Formation is discussed without saying ""fossil""; different kinds of oil traps are described without assigning them any significance. Equally deficient is the illustration: the lack of photos is a built-in handicap, the paucity of diagrammatic drawings an additional disadvantage. Something can be learned about uses and groups of use, about exploring and drilling, recovery and refining methods--but much more can be learned, more graphically and clearly, from Anita Brooks' Picture Book of Oil and Alfred Lewis' New Worm of Petroleum.