Cosmology and the birth of earth -- Journey to the center of the earth -- Drifting continents and spreading seas -- way the earth works: plate tectonics -- Patterns in nature: minerals -- Rock groups -- Up from the inferno: magma and igneous rocks -- surface veneer: sediments, soils, and sedimentary rocks -- Metamorphism: a process of change -- rock cycle -- wrath of Vulcan: volcanic eruptions -- violent pulse: earthquakes -- Seeing inside the earth -- Crags, cracks, and crumples: crustal deformation and mountain building -- Memories of past life: fossils and evolution -- Deep time: how old is old? -- biography of earth -- Squeezing power from a stone: energy resources -- Riches in rock: mineral resources -- Ever-changing landscapes and the hydrologic cycle -- Unsafe ground: landslides and other mass movements -- Streams and floods: the geology of running water -- Restless realm: oceans and coasts -- hidden reserve: groundwater -- envelope of gas: earth's atmosphere and climate -- Dry regions: the geology of deserts -- Amazing ice: glaciers and ice ages -- Global change in the earth system.