The Oldest Rocks on Earth: A Search for the Origins of Our World by Lamb, Simon
The Oldest Rocks on Earth: A Search for the Origins of Our World by Lamb, Simon

The Oldest Rocks on Earth: A Search for the Origins of Our World

Earth has existed for an immense period of time--an almost unimaginable 4.6 billion years. If we ventured...
$71.43 USD
$119.99 USD
$71.43 USD
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Author: Simon Lamb
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: $71.43
The Oldest Rocks on Earth: A Search for the Origins of Our World by Lamb, Simon

The Oldest Rocks on Earth: A Search for the Origins of Our World

$119.99 $71.43
The Oldest Rocks on Earth: A Search for the Origins of Our World by Lamb, Simon

The Oldest Rocks on Earth: A Search for the Origins of Our World

$119.99 $71.43
Author: Simon Lamb
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Description

Earth has existed for an immense period of time--an almost unimaginable 4.6 billion years. If we ventured far enough into the past, would we reach a time when our planet was fundamentally different? Did it always have landscapes like those we see today, sculpted by wind, rain, and the forces of plate tectonics? When did Earth turn into the distinctive "blue planet" where life could emerge and evolve?

Geologist Simon Lamb shows that the key to answering these questions lies in ancient rocks from the days when the planet was young. His research in remote southern Africa looks at some of the oldest known rocks--some more than 3.5 billion years old--which have survived unfathomable spans of geological time. He takes readers on a journey of scientific discovery, walking--and sometimes diving--through landscapes from the time of the earliest documented forms of life. Lamb unearths a violent world of volcanic eruptions, natural disasters, and profound geological forces in the deep ocean, along ancient shorelines, and amid rising mountains. In so doing, he shows how geologists work and think, and how they read rocks and decipher what they tell us about the past. Finding the foundations of our world, The Oldest Rocks on Earth sheds light on why Earth is the only planet known to harbor life and what this might tell us about our future.

Author: Simon Lamb
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 01/06/2026
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.06w x 1.02d
ISBN: 9780231222235


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2025

About the Author
Simon Lamb is adjunct professor of geophysics at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He is the author of Devil in the Mountain: A Search for the Origin of the Andes (2004) and coauthor of Earth Story: The Forces That Have Shaped Our Planet (1998). Lamb has been a consultant, producer, or director of a number of BBC science documentaries.
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