Books about Tectonics from Amazon.com

Architects Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto have been generating some of the most provocative thinking in the field for nearly twenty years. With Atlas of Novel Tectonics, Reiser+Umemoto hone in on the many facets of architecture and illuminate their theories with great thought and simplicity. The Atlas is organized as an accumulation of short chapters that address the workings of matter and force, material science, the lessons of art and architectural history, and the influence of architecture on culture (and vice versa). Reiser+Umemoto see architectural design as a series of problem situations, and each chapter is an argument devoted to a specific condition or case. Influenced by a wide range of fields and phenomena—Brillat-Savarin's classic The Physiology of Taste is one of their primary models—the authors provide a cross-section of thinking and inspiration. The result is both an elucidation of the concepts that guide Reiser+Umemoto through their own design process and a series of meditations on topics that have formed their own sense as architects. Atlas of Novel Tectonics offers an entirely fresh perspective on subjects that are generally taken for granted, and does so with a welcome punch and energy..
Price: $25.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Kenneth Frampton's long-awaited follow-up to his classic A Critical History of Modern Architecture is certain to influence any future debate on the evolution of modern architecture. Studies in Tectonic Culture is nothing less than a rethinking of the entire modern architectural tradition. The notion of tectonics as employed by Frampton -- the focus on architecture as a constructional craft -- constitutes a direct challenge to current mainstream thinking on the artistic limits of postmodernism, and suggests a convincing alternative. Indeed, Frampton argues, modern architecture is invariably as much about structure and construction as it is about space and abstract form. Composed of ten essays and an epilogue that trace the history of contemporary form as an evolving poetic of structure and construction, the book's analytical framework rests on Frampton's close readings of key French and German, and English sources from the eighteenth century to the present. He clarifies the various turns that structural engineering and tectonic imagination have taken in the work of such architects as Perret, Wright, Kahn, Scarpa, and Mies, and shows how both constructional form and material character were integral to an evolving architectural expression of their work. Frampton also demonstrates that the way in which these elements are articulated from one work to the next provides a basis upon which to evaluate the works as a whole. This is especially evident in his consideration of the work of Perret, Mies, and Kahn and the continuities in their thought and attitudes that linked them to the past. Frampton considers the conscious cultivation of the tectonic tradition in architecture as an essential element in the future development of architectural form, casting a critical new light on the entire issue of modernity and on the place of much work that has passed as "avant-garde." Studies in Tectonic Culture is a copublication of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies and The MIT Press..
Price: $26.33 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The third edition of this widely acclaimed textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of global tectonics, and includes major revisions to reflect the most significant recent advances in the field.

• A fully revised third edition of this highly acclaimed text written by eminent authors including one of the pioneers of plate tectonic theory
  
• Major revisions to this new edition reflect the most significant recent advances in the field, including new and expanded chapters on Precambrian tectonics and the supercontinent cycle and the implications of plate tectonics for environmental change
  
• Combines a historical approach with process science to provide a careful balance between geological and geophysical material in both continental and oceanic regimes

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Price: $82.77 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This interesting book uses plate tectonics as its central theme; it acquaints readers with California geology. Basic principles in the beginning of the book and tables of highlights for each province enable the reader to understand the whole picture of catastrophic national disasters, California history, mining methods, and societal impacts; it brings the lessons of geology closer to the everyday context of California life. After a comprehensive overview of the basic principles of geology, this book then focuses on the geological highlights of California (young volcanoes, deserts, the Mojave Desert, the Sierra Nevada, the Klamath Mountains, water, the Great Valley, the coast Ranges, earthquakes, faults, and seismic safety, the transverse ranges, and the peninsular ranges). The inside back and front covers of the book contain a wealth of readily available information, with comprehensive geologic, fault, relief, and mountain range maps. A handy desk reference for geologists, this book is also a source of information for anyone interested in the evolution of California's terrain.

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Price: $91.66 [Notify me when price goes down.]

How were the Appalachian Mountains formed? Are the barrier islands moving? Where is there gold in the Carolinas? Find answers to these questions and many more in this reader-friendly guide to the geology of North Carolina and South Carolina..
Price: $12.22 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The definitive history of plate tectonics, told by the scientists who developed and assembled evidence for the theory.

Can anyone today imagine the earth without its puzzle-piece construction of plate tectonics? The very term, "plate tectonics," coined only thirty-five years ago, is now part of the vernacular, part of everyone's understanding of the way the earth works.

The theory, research, data collection, and analysis that came together in 1967 to constitute plate tectonics is one of the great scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century. Scholarly books have been written about tectonics, but none by the key scientists-players themselves. In Plate Tectonics, editor Naomi Oreskes has assembled those scientists who played key roles in developing the theory to tell - for the first time, and in their own words - the stories of their involvement in the extraordinary evolution of the theory..
Price: $33.76 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Tectonics is the first of its kind - a complete, scholarly, readable text devoted exclusively to the field of tectonics Following from the authors' best-selling Structural Geology - which encompasses processes from the microscopic to the regional levels - Tectonics examines structures from the regional to the global, and even the planetary levels. Written by two widely respected experts in the field, with spectacular artwork and photography, it is the definitive upper-level text for courses in tectonics. "This book provides a well-organised, clearly written introduction to the large-scale processes of deformation of the earth's crust, from plate tectonics to the structure of mountain belts and sedimentary basins." The Times Higher Education Supplement.
Price: $100.27 [Notify me when price goes down.]