Mathematics in Physical-Geology Textbooks

Abstract

AbstractThe geological sciences are steadily becoming more mathematical and quantitative, yet a survey of the mathematical content of 15 college-level physical-geology textbooks published during the period 1980–90 demonstrates that: (1) The amount of mathematics ranges from almost none to a relatively modest amount, with the most popular and widely used texts having the least; (2) Mathematical equations are seldom used as an integral part of the subject; (3) Very few worked examples are provided as learning aids; (4) Very few end-of-chapter questions call for use of the equations given; (5) Virtually all of the mathematics used is at the rudimentary college-algebra level; (6) The use of "constants" is mostly avoided; and (7) High-school- level stoichiometry is nonexistent. Further, the college-level texts have significantly less mathematics than even the 1967 ESCP ninth-grade earth-science text. Clearly most geology teachers have yielded to the belief that modern college students are incapable of handling all but the very simplest of mathematics and teach the subject as if we still lived at a time when geology was a purely descriptive and historical science.KeywordsEducation - scienceeducation - undergraduategeology - introductory coursegeology teachingproblems - geomathematical