Plate tectonics has led to a sweeping revolution
in our understanding of the earth and a new basic
grasp of the forces that shape it. Textbooks have
been rewritten and a new science has emerged that
has completely altered the way geologists, geophysicists,
and paleontologists view the earth and its evolution,
while broadening and enriching the fields of biology,
zoology, cosmology, & oceanography.
The story of plate tectonics is a fascinating
story of continents drifting majestically from
place to place breaking apart, colliding, and
grinding against each other, of terrestrial mountain
ranges rising up like rumples in rugs being pushed
together, of oceans opening and closing, of subterranean
mountain chains girdling the planet like seams
on a baseball, of violent earthquakes and fiery
volcanoes. Plate Tectonics describes the intricate
design of a complex, living planet in a state
of dynamic flux.
