地球の基盤を構成する岩。その上で私たちは日々の生活を送っています。地層から建設資材まで、岩は地球の歴史と切っても切り離せない関係にあるだけでなく、文明の発展を支えてきた資源でもあります。地球の成り立ちに不可欠な岩から、地球以外の宇宙の岩まで、さまざまな種類の岩と、その生成過程について解説します。
 

• Looks at how rocks are formed, how they evolve, and how we can examine and glean histories from them
• Covers metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary rock, as well as minerals
• Explores how rocks feature in nature and man-made structures, from plant pots to the Earth's crust

Rocks, more than anything else, underpin our lives. They make up the solid structure of the Earth and of other rocky planets, and are present at the cores of gas giant planets. We live on the rocky surface of the planet, grow our food on weathered debris derived from rocks, and we obtain nearly all of the raw materials with which we found our civilization from rocks. From the Earth's crust to building bricks, rocks contain our sense of planetary history, and are a guide to our future.

In this Very Short Introduction Jan Zalasiewicz looks at the nature and variety of rocks, and the processes by which they are formed. Starting from the origin of rocks and their key role in the formation of the Earth, he considers what we know about the deep rocks of the mantle and core, and what rocks can tell us about the evolution of the Earth, and looks at those found in outer space and on other planets.