The book was compiled by Matt Hall. The authors are Nigel Banks, Jim Barclay, Evan Bianco, Clare Bond, Stuart Burley, Alex Cullum, Mark Dahl, Shahin Dashtgard, Paul deGroot, Clayton Deutsch, Tony Doré, Jesper Dramsch, Alan Gibbs, Matt Hall, Richard Hardman, John Harper, Bruce Hart, Dan Hodge, Nicholas Holgate, Duncan Irving, Chris Jackson, Zane Jobe, Fraser Keppie, Derik Kleibacker, Elisabeth Kosters, Erik Lundin, Aruna Mannie, Allard Martinius, Tannis McCartney, Tom Moslow, Mark Myers, Jon Noad, George Pemberton, Gary Prost, Michael Pyrcz, Tim Redfield, Weishan Ren, Brian Romans, Bernd Ruehlicke, Zoltan Sylvester, Dianne Tompkins, and Patrick Walsh.

Geology is all about rocks, and rocks are all about detail and field context, and about actually being out there at that critical outcrop, right THERE, that proves our point. The new book 52 Things You Should Know About Geology is full of practical tips, commentary and advice from real geologists who have been there and know what the science is all about. We are not, primarily, number crunchers and we are not, primarily, laboratory analysts. We are people who get mud on our boots and under our fingernails, people who understand space and time and scale and orientation as critical elements of an understanding of how the Earth works. Don t let anybody persuade you otherwise: geology is a unique profession with a unique set of skills, and without us, minerals and energy resources would not be found. --Prof Andrew Miall, University of Toronto