BASIN AND RANGE

The author, a gifted teacher and geologist, provides a course in plate tectonics, using many examples from land cuts on U. S. Interstate 80 in the Basin and Range region of Nevada and Utah. To explain such layering as caused by the movement of the Earth's crust, thousands of words must suffice without diagrams. Nelson Runger reads slowly, as one must for scientific material, but without losing the vital tempo or mispronouncing the plethora of geological terms. Only he would say "granite" with such enthusiasm. Curious readers who like to keep up in science will enjoy an overview of geologic time that is accurate, chatty, and humorous. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 02]