Planet earth is an exciting place when you know about its rocks, soil, and water, and the dynamic forces that are constantly changing its surface.

Starting with A for Antarctica and ending with Z for zone, Isaac Asimov clearly defines two earth terms for each letter of the alphabet.

The young reader will learn about avalanches and earthquakes, caves and glaciers. With the help of dramatic two-color photographs and drawings, he will understand much about the planet he lives on.

Although this is part of the disastrous “ABC” series which started with ABC’s of Space, it isn’t a total loss. For a young child, it might give some sense of what the vocabulary of geology, meteorology, and related sciences may be like. As with the other books in the series, however, two words per letter is usually too little to really convey much useful information, and with other letters is a bit of a stretch (X is the worst culprit, of course).