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‘River Planet is unique in providing an integrated view of rivers in the context of geologic and human history. Gibling describes rivers as endangered species. This insight grows from a geologist’s understanding of deep time, geological history, and biological evolution. Gibling also writes with a humanist scholar’s appreciation of the individual personalities offamous historical scientists and engineers. The heartfelt writing makes the text a pleasure to read and the abundant, visually appealing colour photographs and diagrams effectively illustrate concepts described in the text. Gibling also brings himself into the book, opening and closing the text with descriptions of his own experiences with rivers and deftly weaving personal narrative into technical material throughout the book. In a sense, River Planet is a personal retrospective on a successful life and a career that included rivers across the planet and from contemporary environments to those interpreted from the rock record. The later sections of the book seem less coherent in terms of a clear structure and progression of information between chapters, but I think the book succeeds as a collection of brief explorations of the diverse rivers of the world. As such, it engages both the professional scientist and the reader interested in natural history and provides a distinctive, geological perspective on the world’s rivers.’ Geoscience Canada

'The book is divided into 5 parts and 22 chapters, loosely chronologically arranged from the evidence for the first rivers in the geological record through the evolution of vegetation and the development of new river styles. Subsequent chapters evolve the story of rivers blending scientific concepts with thumbnail sketches of the scientists, past and present, who developed the ideas and theories that explain how our knowledge of rivers has played out over the world. In this respect, the book succeeds in making the science accessible to a lay audience and adds a layer of information that personalises the otherwise arcane subjects that Martin Gibling deals with (e.g. cratons or superimposition). Laced throughout this narrative are quotes and stories that help enrich the history of the development of river science. The author refers to personal experiences of certain river locations, a reality that draws the reader into the concepts being discussed rather than remaining remote – in much the same way that a lecturer can inject their own personal experience into a subject as opposed to simply reflecting with work of others… The book is divided into 5 parts and 22 chapters, loosely chronologically arranged from the evidence for the first rivers in the geological record through the evolution of vegetation and the development of new river styles. Subsequent chapters evolve the story of rivers blending scientific concepts with thumbnail sketches of the scientists, past and present, who developed the ideas and theories that explain how our knowledge of rivers has played out over the world. In this respect, the book succeeds in making the science accessible to a lay audience and adds a layer of information that personalises the otherwise arcane subjects that Martin Gibling deals with (e.g. cratons or superimposition). Laced throughout this narrative are quotes and stories that help enrich the history of the development of river science. The author refers to personal experiences of certain river locations, a reality that draws the reader into the concepts being discussed rather than remaining remote – in much the same way that a lecturer can inject their own personal experience into a subject as opposed to simply reflecting with work of others.' The Holocene

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