Earth Science Dictionaries

Please check out our "Geology School" Keywords at
http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/infobank/programs/html/school/keywords.html (261 kb)

To help you better understand the rich language of earth science, we recommend the following dictionaries:

• McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science, edited by Sybil P. Parker and published by McGraw-Hill (New York), 1997 (468 pages).
• The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Earth Sciences, edited by Ailsa Allaby and Michael Allaby and published by Oxford University Press (New York), 1991 (410 pages).
• Glossary of Geology, Second Edition, edited by Robert L. Bates and Julia A. Jackson and published by the American Geological Institute (Falls Church, Virginia), 1980 (751 pages).
• Dictionary of Geological Terms, Revised Edition, prepared under the direction of the American Geological Institute and published by Anchor Books (New York), 1976 (472 pages).
• Penguin Dictionary of Geology, edited by D.G.A. Whitten and J.R.V. Brooks and published by Penguin Books, 1972.

"Geology" and "Earth Science"

About the Words

Language is always changing, and that is true of the language of earth science. In the 1800's and early 1900's, the term "geology" was used to describe all those disciplines that involve the study of the planet Earth, from the study of minerals (mineralogy) to the study of the oceans (oceanography) to the study of the physical properties of the Earth and its materials (geophysics), to name just a few. During the 1900's, dramatic advances have been made in our understanding of the Earth and in the techniques that help us explore the Earth. As our knowledge has expanded, the term "geology" has come to be used in a more narrow sense to mean the study of rocks, and the term "earth science" to designate all the disciplines, including geology, that involve study of the Earth.

The transition, however, is not complete. You will probably notice in these pages, and in the language of earth science in general, that the term "geology" is sometimes used in its broad sense as a synonym for "earth science" and sometimes in its narrow sense to mean the study of rocks. We hope that you will be able to understand from the context which meaning is intended.