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