LANDS ADRIFT: The Story of Continental Drift

by Malcolm Weiss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1975

Weiss gives Benjamin Franklin more attention than a short introduction to continental drift might call for--devoting his first chapter to Franklin's ""idea"" that the earth is not solid beneath the surface and naming only one other individual, Alfred Wegener (who did after all propose the theory), in the entire book. Elsewhere Weiss does summarize the major arguments and discoveries--""jigsaw"" fit, magnetic line-up, sea floor spread, etc.--but mention of fossil evidence is limited to an amphibian jawbone found in Antarctica and the discussion of glacier marks on rocks (meaning that ""those other places"" were once ""closer to the South Pole"") is misleadingly simplistic. The far-fetched analogy Weiss keeps coming back to--the continents ""sail"" like a ship at vacation time and all the cited evidence is a ""log""--is less clarifying than condescending. With dull schoolbookish one color (blue) pictures, this raises the question of how much simply being the easiest book on a subject is worth.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Parents' Magazine Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION