A popular and engaging story of the development of geochronology is one that is begging to be told, especially in view of Patterson's colorful personality. But I am not aware of any accessible text. Since graduate student days, I've dreamed of writing something like that. Someday... On Aug 27, 2010, at 7:45 AM, David Voorhees wrote: Karen I too would recommend 'Crater of Doom', in fact that is one of the books on the 'Critical Review Paper' list for my Survey of Earth Science students. Others you may consider: Dava Sobel, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time Simon Winchester, The Map That Changed The World; about the researching and publishing the first great geologic map that revolutionized historical geology by William 'Strata' Smith For something a little more recent Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life, the story behind the Burgess Shale and the Cambrian 'explosion' (another on my list) Dave David H. Voorhees Associate Professor of Earth Science and Geology Waubonsee Community College Rt 47 @ Waubonsee Drive Sugar Grove, IL 60554 630.466.2783 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> http://chat.wcc.cc.il.us/~dvoorhee/ >>> Karen Campbell <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> 08/27/10 8:20 AM >>> Good morning, I will be teaching an undergraduate "J-Term" course that is the capstone in a STEM minor sequence. It focuses on Earth Science, but also revisits other elements of STEM. My fellow instructors and I are looking for suggestions of "McPhee-style" texts for the course that highlight the (often unintended) ways in which technological advances pave the way for scientific breakthroughs. Ideally, these would be about Plate Tectonics or Global Warming breakthroughs, but we are open to other stories that relate to Earth science (including astronomy and meteorology as this is a course aimed at Education majors). Many thanks, Karen Campbell Education Director National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics St. Anthony Falls Laboratory University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> -- A. D. Anbar, Professor School of Earth & Space Exploration and Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85287 Ph: 480-965-0767; Fax: 480-965-8102 http://anbarlab.org http://astrobiology.asu.edu