From reviews of the first edition: "Spirited, highly recommended." --New Scientist

"A book of value and interest to all shades of Earth scientists and it's a very good read." --Geological Magazine

"An impressively broad and lively demonstration of scholarship. . .a book of interest to geologists, other scientists, and the public." --Geology

"A learned and thorough discussion. . .full of lengthy but very relevant quotations [presenting] a very careful examination of contrasting views rather than the over-simplified versions we usually find in the literature." --Nature

"Cliches and standard interpretations are challenged and successfully discarded, and in their place a revisionism is boldly presented. The narrative is stimulating. . . .No self-respecting academic library should fail to purchase this book." --Choice

"At last, here is a history for geologists which doesn't caricature Werner as an obscurantist Germanic dogmatist, but appreciates his pioneering lithological classifications. . . .this assured and vigorous book is most welcome. We are lucky to have geologists like Professor Hallam who do not toy with history merely as an after-dinner diversion." --Times Literary Supplement

"An admirable book; I found it absorbingly interesting." --Sir Peter Medawar

"A thoughtful and carefully crafted, adequately footnoted, scholarly work... I gained new insights from each chapter." --Science

(on the 2nd ed.) This collection of case studies. . . is a most welcome addition to this important field. . . It is likely to appeal particularly to geologists but it is, for the most part, generally accessible and intrinsically interesting as a survey of the major changes in geological thought from the 18th century to the present." --History of Earth Sciences Society

". . . as a source of seminar material for advanced students, as well as for their own use, instructors will continue to find Hallam's new edition a convenient reference summarizing the major controversies in the history of geology, expanded and strengthened by the addition of its two new chapters." --Journal of Geological Education