From the reviews of the second edition:
“A complete summary of the most up-to-date information and theories of the history and causes of Quaternary climate change. … In the hands of an experienced researcher, this book offers some excellent and insightful critique of established concepts, theories and methodologies, and explores the issue of correlation versus causation in a number of key areas of palaeoclimatology … . offers a very different perspective and insight into topics that many Quaternary scientists perhaps wrongly assume are no longer controversial.” (Simon Carr, The Holocene, Vol. 24 (7), 2014)
“Scientist/engineer Rapp … has thoroughly revised the first edition of this book … . The volume consists of 11 chapters, 24 pages of references, and a 6-page index. It is profusely illustrated with a combination of color and black-and-white maps and graphs in addition to 11 data tables. … the book contains a wealth of data. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and graduate students.” (J. T. Andrews, Choice, Vol. 50 (7), March, 2013)
Existing books on ice ages are mostly short, popular, and non-technical. Many deal with the effects of the last ice age on flora and fauna. The small book by the Imbries is mostly historical and reflects their undying belief in the astronomical theory. The only book that attempts to deal with the broad issues of what we know about past ice ages and why they occur is the book by Muller and MacDonald (M&M), published by Praxis. However, despite its many good features, this book suffers from an inordinate emphasis on spectral analysis, a lack of coverage of new data, and a very confusing sequence of chapters. As a result, the data and theory are so intimately entwined that it is difficult to separate one from the other.
This book will provide an independent and hopefully complete summary of the latest data, independent of theory or analysis. This will be far more extensive than that given by M&M. Only then, after presenting the data, will theories be explored andcomparisons made with the data.
This book will become the premier reference and sourcebook on ice ages.
It will also connect up to more recent times regarding climate change.
About the Author
Donald Rapp has had a long and varied science and engineering career with 48 years of experience after receiving his Ph. D. from the University of California in January, 1960. He was a professor for 14 years, and achieved the rank of full professor at age 40. Over the years, he has developed a unique talent to move into a field, research it thoroughly, and write an incisive, perceptive summary of the field. His capabilities are widely sought for writing summary technical reports and technical proposals. He has published many scientific papers and five text books: Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics, Solar Energy, Human Missions to Mars, and Assessing Climate Change. The Mars and Climate books were published by Praxis Publishing, so Praxis/Springer is familiar with my abilities. His five books are summarized at: http://home.earthlink.net/~drdrapp/
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