Review: High School Earth Science Review
This weekend I finished the High School Earth Science Review.
That may seem odd, but it’s not, really. See, I want to create more realistic worlds for my fantasy and science-fiction settings, so, I need to know the basics. And, in my opinion, the basics include earth science. So, falling back on my memories of High School, I thought it would be good to simply review the things I hadn’t caught in science class. See? It realy does make sense!
Anyway, the book was actually fairly good. It gave a decent overview of the subject and used pretty simple language. After all, it is meant for High School students who are having trouble with Earth Science! But, it does hit all the highlights: plate tectonics, water movement and erosion, weather and climate, and so on. There are questions at the end of each section meant to test your knowlege alone the way, but I didn’t really pay attention to them. I wasn’t trying to pass a test, after all. It did give me several ideas for interesting things in regards to planetary processes that might turn up in some of my writing. And, of course, I hope it will improve the realism of my maps. Knowing that rain falls on the windward, and oceanward, side of the mountains, for instance, really effects a lot on a map.
Anyway, if you’re looking at world-building, there are far worse places to start than a review of High School earth science. And, this book is a fairly good review.