Jamie Woodward

This book provides a concise and informative introduction to the study of the Ice Age, known by geologists as the Quaternary Period (the last 2.58 million years of Earth's history). It dos this by tracing the history of Ice Age studies, discussing the scientists involved in the field in a broadly chronological fashion, explaining their theories and the arguments over their theories as they were debated and supported (or rejected) by evidence.
Much of the earlier part of the book I had gleaned from other sources that have touched upon the development of theories about the Ice Age (or from O level Geography). However, it was entertaining to meet again characters such as William Buckland, Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin, more famous for geology and evolution.
I learnt most from the latter part of the book, dealing with developments in the past 50 years - knowledge gleaned by scientists from ocean sediments and ice cores.
So an informative book, necessarily open ended as this is still a developing field of study, providing a broad framework of current knowledge.… (more)