Recommended Reading

Listed below are books and online resources which offer an insight into various aspects of earth sciences. This list is not intended to be exhaustive, nor are these texts considered ‘required reading’ for the undergraduate course. An asterisk (*) indicates work by current or former faculty members. We hope you find them interesting!

Introductory Reading:

Colliding Continents by Mike Searle*

Earth Story by Simon Lamb* and David Sington

T. Rex and the Crater of Doom by Walter Alvarez

Supercontinent by Ted Nield

The Goldilocks Planet: The 4 billion year story of Earth’s climate by Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams

How to Build a Habitable Planet by Wally Broecker and Charles Langmuir

The Two Mile Time Machine by Richard Alley

The Earth: A Very Short Introduction by Martin Redfern

Lucky Planet: Why Earth is Exceptional – and What that Means for Life in the Universe by David Waltham

For Younger Readers:

George & the Blue Moon by Lucy and Stephen Hawking, featuring essays by Prof Ros Rickaby* & Prof Tamsin Mather*

Podcasts/Online lectures:

Department of Earth Sciences lectures and podcasts on iTunesU and YouTube.

Geological Society of London. Videos of past lectures are available online.

Additional Resources

Oxplore is a digital outreach portal and the ‘Home of Big Questions.’ It aims to engage those from 11 to 18 years with debates and ideas that go beyond what is covered in the classroom.

Oxford Sparks is the place to explore and discover science research from the University of Oxford, through short animations & podcasts.

Staircase 12 – University College Oxford has complied a great set of resources and reading suggestions for prospective Earth Scientists, many reviewed by our own students

BGS Discovering Geology – The British Geological Survey offer a range of information and activities for students and teachers

OUGS – Our student society website includes an alternative prospectus, as well as hint and tips about life as an Oxford Earth Sciences student.