COSAM News Articles 2016 August King co-authors textbook

King co-authors textbook

Published: 08/31/2016

David King, professor in the Department of Geosciences, along with Harold Levin, of Washington University, have co-authored a new edition of the widely-used geology textbook, “The Earth Through Time.”

The book, used by the Department of Geosciences since the mid 1990s, chronicles the Earth’s story, from the time the Sun began to radiate its light to the beginning of civilization, while also presenting the history of the Earth and the science behind it. The authors strived to convey the unique perspective and value of historical geology, and to improve the presentation to stimulate interest and enhance the reader's ability to retain essential concepts.

King received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, his master’s degree from the University of Houston, and his doctorate from the University of Missouri.

Since 1980, he has been a faculty member at Auburn University and is presently director of Auburn’s Concepts of Science Program.

King is involved in teaching, research and outreach and is author or co-author of many abstracts, papers and monographs, including stratigraphic studies on the coastal plains of Alabama and Belize, as well as United States mid-continental strata.

His research includes several meteorite impact craters, including Chesapeake Bay, Flynn Creek, Tennessee, and Wetumpka, and investigations of the Cretaceous-Paleogene, or “KT,” impact and extinction boundary in Alabama, Belize and Italy.

King has a wide variety of academic research interests in geology and stratigraphy, including facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy, and planetary and impact geology.

For eight years, he served as the board member representing the state’s universities on the Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Geologists.

In addition to teaching, King is an academic adviser for undergraduate students and directs graduate students’ research in his specialty areas.

In 1982, he discovered the most complete tyrannosaurid dinosaur ever found in eastern North America. The dinosaur, named Appalachiosaurus, was uncovered in Alabama’s Montgomery County, and is commonly referred to as “Auburn’s dinosaur.”

“The Earth Through Time is published by Wiley and is available for purchase at this link.

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-EHEP003405.html