104. The Evolving Earth

An introduction to the methods by which we can reconstruct geological events that have shaped the modern Earth. Where have modern ideas about the Earth come from? How do geologists unravel the history of the Earth? What has happened in the Earth’s history? The course examines fundamental controversies that have faced geology throughout its history as a science, reviews in detail the methods that geologists use to determine past events, and examines evidence recorded in rocks and fossils during the past 4.6 billion years. Prerequisite: Geology 103 or permission of instructor.