The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics

Abstract

The most difficult aspect of teaching an introductory geophysics course is deciding how to best combine the necessary mathematics and theory with their applications to the Earth. Some texts present a classical approach emphasizing the mathematics (especially potential theory), which often gives little insight into its application to understanding the Earth. Others offer good descriptions of the applications but lack adequate explanations of the basic principles, causing students to acquire an insufficient background for future research. Choosing between the two types of texts is made more difficult because many students in a geophysics class are not geophysics majors and feel uncomfortable even with first year calculus.