Description: This collection of essays by scholars in both the earth sciences and philosophy discusses the connections between the earth sciences and contemporary culture, and the changing role of the earth sciences in society. Explores the earthsciences as the central scientific disciplines for society in the 21st century -- i.e., preeminent disciplines that define the natural limits of resources and ecosystems -- limits that communities must respect if they are to survive and prosper. Examines the changing role of earth scientists, showing how the work of earth scientists is changing from merely providing objective data for the exploitation of a potential resource, to increasingly being required to evaluate issues (e.g., the limits of anaquifer, the likelihood of an earthquake, the possibility of global warming) that have an inescapable political component. For anyone interested in the future and role of the scientific disciplines in the 21st century.

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