"English archers had their longbows, Old West sheriffs has their six-shooters, but samurai warriors had the most fearsome weapon of all: the razor-sharp 'katana,' or samurai sword, which could slice through a human body with a single slash. Japanese sword-making was perfected 600 years ago by craftsmen who knew nothing of electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, or other tools of modern science, which are only now revealing exactly why the swords are...

The Survey makes accessible the core knowledge of the sciences to curious readers with no special preparation. Within the 377 articles here, 141 cover the major subfields of physical geology, 26 treat areas of economic geology, from essential minerals and other earth resources to the variety of ways man harnesses geothermal, wind, ocean, solar, and nuclear power. Thirty articles examine a range of issues in geochemistry. Geophysics is given full coverage...