EVOLUTION OF EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH

The pioneering first edition of Evolution of the Earth (1971, R.H. Dott, Jr., and R.L. Batten, McGraw-Hill) superseded traditional historical geology texts typically organized as a “roll call of the ages” (L.L. Sloss, as quoted by Dott and Batten). Rather than emphasizing “what do we know? (or think we know)” the authors took a more integrated approach, emphasizing “how do we know?” Concepts were treated in their historical context, bringing the student through stages of geologic thought. Partly because the first edition came on the cusp of plate tectonics’ integration into geology, the authors placed mobilism at the end of the book, representing it as an outcome of accumulated geologic and geophysical evidence. By the second edition, however, plate tectonics was being presented as a unifying theory for the elucidation of Earth history, and the continental drift and plate tectonics chapter(s) moved forward in the text.

As its title implies, Evolution of the Earth treated all aspects of the irreversible, cumulative evolutionary change Earth has undergone, physically, chemically and biologically. Also, from the first edition onward, the authors have emphasized that change is inevitable, and non-uniform in rate. Their emphasis on this non-uniformity of rates and conditions, as well as their open discussion of the tentative nature of scientific knowledge, led some creationists to exploit selective quotes, and some scientists to criticize the book for being too tentative about evolutionary theory. Later editions (e.g., 5th edition, 1994, Dott and D.R. Prothero) have treated the evolution-creationist controversy more explicitly, outlining differences between scientific and non-scientific thought. The chapter on (biological) evolution itself has migrated back and forth, from as far back in the book as Chapter 10, to its current position as Chapter 3.

The outgrowth of a second-semester course for non-majors at the University of Wisconsin, Evolution of the Earth is one of the most influential geology texts of the plate tectonics era, having influenced countless students and educators, as well as the lay public.