J. G. Ogg, G. Ogg & F. M. Gradstein 2008. The Concise Geologic Time Scale. vi + 177 pp. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. Price £20.00, US $40.00 (hard covers). ISBN 9780 521 89849 2.

Deep time is the dimension that marks out Geology from other sciences. The geological time scale is therefore fundamental to the subject, underpinning estimates of the ages of geological events and of the rates of Earth processes. The time scale is rightly regarded as the communal property of all geologists, but its stewardship has, in recent years, been entrusted to the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). Four years ago, they were responsible for the major revision embodied in A Geologic Time Scale 2004 by Gradstein, Ogg & Smith. However, this comprehensive treatment was targeted at libraries and was beyond the needs and budgets of the average geoscientist. …