The Big Earth Book

Planet Earth. Four elements. One incredible story. Lonely Planet Kids' The Big Earth Book takes children on a rollercoaster ride through history, geography, science and more to show how four elements - earth, fire, air and water - created the world and everything that exists today. Amazing facts, photography and illustrations bring our planet and its past to life in an exciting, engaging way.

Written by Mark Brake, a science writer and broadcaster who's worked for NASA, the BBC and the National Science Museum of Thailand, and created in consultation with Dr Mike Goldsmith, a research scientist and writer with a PhD in astrophysics from Keele University in the UK.

Highlights include:

Earth:

How the Earth was formed
The structure of the Earth
Plate tectonics and rocks
Earthquakes and volcanoes
Humans in the stone age
Hunter-gatherers and farming
Fossils and digging for treasure
DNA: the code of life
Fire:

Ingredients for fire
Fire and humans
The history of fire
The dangers of wildfire
The Great Fire of London
Gunpowder and fireworks
The combustion engine
Carbon and global warming
Air:

What's air made of?
The Northern Lights
How animals learned to fly
Dinosaurs in the air
Birds and bats
The history of flight
Speech and language
Music and instruments
Weather and climate
Water:

The origins of water
Rivers and oceans
The water cycle
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Canals, bridges and dams
Exploring the seas
The age of exploration
Tsunamis and waterfalls