The 10 Best Earth Science Textbooks

You won't need a PhD to understand Earth Science, 15th Edition (appx. $133), thanks to the fact that it assumes no prior knowledge. And for the tech-savvy, it's full of dozens of QR codes that link directly to informative video tutorials and animations to breathe life into the text.

An indispensable resource with an established reputation for accuracy in collegiate circles, How to Build a Habitable Planet (around $30) has been recommended by the likes of Yale, Harvard, and Columbia University. It tells Earth's story from the Big Bang to the rise of humankind.

Glencoe Earth Science (about $58) delivers an impressive 1,056 pages of information using contributions from a number of knowledgeable authors. It's an ideal companion to high school and university coursework, and it sports a reassuring stamp of approval from National Geographic, too.

You won't get far in the field without picking up a volume like Essentials of Geology (about $123), which provides a deep dive into all things terrestrial. Since it focuses on the basic principles and uses lucid text enhanced with full-color photographs, grasping the material is easy.

The Good Earth (around $133) was penned to complement college-level courses that use active-learning teaching strategies. The authors even went so far as to test the integrated pedagogy and content on actual classes, and found that their dynamic approach garnered much enthusiasm.

Blue Planet, 3rd Edition (appx. $144) looks at the subject from a systems perspective by introducing learners to the four major spheres and examining how they're interrelated. This is helpful for readers who prefer to imagine the big picture before they home in on specialized aspects.

For a closer look into mineralogy and petrology, try Earth Materials (appx. $117), an accessible title that elucidates on the wide-ranging fundamentals. You'll find more than just the basics, though, as it considers subjects like thermodynamics and the consequences of fracking.

Grounded in the scientific method and highly visual, Meteorology Today (about $104) canvasses everything from typical occurrences like rain to severe weather systems in the vein of hurricanes and tornadoes, with an end goal of fostering observation and analyzation techniques.

Thorough, yet concise, An Introduction to the Earth-Life System (about $56) is an invaluable primer for undergraduates. It examines the complex interplay between the lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere, and explains how they cooperate to make our planet hospitable.

You'll find Earth: Evolution of a Habitable World (about $53) on the introductory reading lists of institutions like Cambridge for good reason. This nontechnical volume integrates astronomy and astrobiology to give students an understanding of how our planet came to its present state.