"An Open University book."

Includes bibliographical references.

Minerals and rocks / Keith Cox -- Measuring geological time / Stephen Moorbath -- The composition of the earth / Peter Harris -- The earth's magnetic field and its origin / E.C. Bullard -- The earth's heat and internal temperature / John H. Sass -- The Chandler wobble / Michael Chimnery -- The earth-moon system / Zdenek Kopal -- Meteorites / Brian Mason -- A model for the origin of life / P.C. Sylvester-Bradley -- Oxygen and evolution / Lloyd V. Berkner & Lauriston C. Marshall -- The primitive earth / Preston Cloud Jr. -- Evolution in environments / Roland Goldring -- Looking back through time / E.K. Walton -- Evolution and the fossil record / M.R. House -- Continental drift / Alan Gilbert Smith -- Sea-floor spreading / F.J. Vine -- The oxidation: polarity paradox / Peter J. Smith -- Polarity reversal and faunal extinction / D.I. Black -- Plate tectonics / E.R. Oxburgh -- Orogeny / John Sutton -- Volcanism and the earth's crust / J.B. Wright -- Location of mineral deposits / Tom N. Clifford -- Earthquake prediction and modification / Robert L. Kovach -- Nuclear explosions and earthquakes / D. Davies -- Mohole : geopolitical fiasco / Daniel S. Greenberg -- The oxygen cycle / Preston Cloud Jr. & Aharon Gibor -- Resources and environment / Stephen Drury.