Publisher's Synopsis
Geology is destiny - understand it and life gets easier. Our ancestors grasped enough about their environment to fashion tools, start fires, erect shelters, and find water. The principles they discovered long ago still apply, and the science behind stronger concrete, usable marble, and more pure metals still stands. The ancients were the first rockhounds out of necessity, and the skills they perfected resonate from medicine to sanitation, from pottery to food preservation. 'The Practical Geologist' traces the impact of geology on the first toolmakers in their trek toward civilization and details how understanding geology allowed for advances in agriculture, construction, weaponry, and the arts.