Product Description
This volume, the fifth in the important Koobi Fora series on human origins, reports archaeological finds from excavations at East Turkana in northern Kenya from 1969-1979. It concentrates on the evidence from the period between 1.9 and 0.7 million years ago for reconstructing the behavior of early human ancestors. During this research study, new interdisciplinary methods of survey, mapping, excavation, experimentation, and analysis were developed. The study investigated the geology, stratigraphy, site formation processes, technology of the stone assemblages, and associated fauna of the region. This book is a unique record for this time period in Kenya, and this work is a benchmark in the field of human evolution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"Virtually all of the earth remains to be explored."
I had purchased this book last year after spotting it in the library, and read it this month in light of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.I had read Bascom's autobiography and "Waves and Beaches" many years ago and enjoyed them. He was a talented writer and a gifted illustrator.

The Mohole Project was an ambitious plan to drill a hole all the way through the earth's crust and bring up a sample of the mantle (the junction between the crust and the mantle is called the Mohorovicic discontinuity, or "Moho" for short). It turns out that the crust is by far the thinnest in the deep ocean. When this project was conceived, the deepest water that had been drilled in was 400 feet. The Mohole Project drilled and obtained samples in nearly 12,000 feet of water. Drilling was done from an untethered ship using dynamic positioning, a breakthrough in naval engineering. The book explains several methods for doing this and why a particular one was chosen.

This book was written before any drilling took place but is still very valuable. The author spends about the first half of the book explaining what we know about the earth's crust and mantle and--just as importantly--how we know it. Seismology, geodesy and other techniques of measuring the earth's internal structure are explained clearly. This would make a great summer read for an undergraduate geology major who's going to take geophysics in the fall.

Bascom then teaches us the fundamentals of oil well drilling. I didn't know anything about drilling before this book, and I don't know how much drilling has changed in the last 50 years, but I do know that I understand a lot more of what I'm reading in the news about the Deepwater Horizon affair. I know what a riser pipe and a blowout preventer are. (Not in the book: the project drilled 183m (601 ft) into the deep ocean floor; the mantle is expected to be about 10,000m deep there.)

This book is a treat for any armchair geologist or anyone who appreciates the history of science and engineering. ... Read more

Product Description
Microcomputer-based labs, the use of real-time data capture and display in teaching, give the learner new ways to explore and understand the world. As this book shows, the international effort over a quarter-century to develop and understand microcomputer-based labs (MBL) has resulted in a rich array of innovative implementations and some convincing evidence for the value of computers for learning. The book is a sampler of MBL work by an outstanding international group of scientists and educators, based on papers they presented at a seminar held as part of the NATO Special Programme on Advanced Educational Technology. The story they tell of the development of MBL offers valuable policy lessons on how to promote educational innovation. The book will be of interest to a wide range of educators and to policy makers. ... Read more