Masterpieces of the Earth

Book excerpt: With pages of spectacular photographs, this book pays homage to the powerful forces that shape our planet--fire, ice, water, and wind--revealing extraordinary landscapes and breathtaking geological features. These images, of geysers spewing scalding water, glaciers chiseling out the mountainsides, and red-hot molten lava exploding, demonstrate how Earth's appearance resulted from the incessant, powerful activity of nature and climate change. The portrait that emerges from this exceptional journey captures a living, endlessly changing, world.