The first 2,500 million years of the geological history of Britain are stored in the gneisses of the Lewisian Complex of NW Scotland. Graham Park explores the long journey of discovery in which this history was gradually deciphered and the controversies and arguments in the scientific community over the past two centuries that arose in this period.

Although a small country, Scotland’s geology is complex, internationally renowned and offers an accessible outdoor research laboratory and training ground for earth science. The onshore and offshore geology together encompass examples of all Earth’s geological periods and preserve many classic examples of sedimentary basins and orogenic belts. Palaeontological findings have provided key evidence for the evolution of life. With a wide spectrum of contributors, full-colour figures and photographs and, for each chapter, a Topic Box highlighting key research developments and challenges, this 5th edition of The Geology of Scotland represents a major update and expansion from the 4th edition. A revised Introduction summarizes the geological evolution of Scotland, the nature of the crust and the societal relevance of geology to climate change and sustainability. The final three chapters provide a modern view on energy, water and minerals, environmental concerns and geoconservation. The intervening chapters cover the geological periods, including much new geochronological data and exciting new palaeontological discoveries.

Although a small country, Scotland’s geology is complex, internationally renowned and offers an accessible outdoor research laboratory and training ground for earth science. The onshore and offshore geology together encompass examples of all Earth’s geological periods and preserve many classic examples of sedimentary basins and orogenic belts. Palaeontological findings have provided key evidence for the evolution of life. With a wide spectrum of contributors, full-colour figures and photographs and, for each chapter, a Topic Box highlighting key research developments and challenges, this 5th edition of The Geology of Scotland represents a major update and expansion from the 4th edition. A revised Introduction summarizes the geological evolution of Scotland, the nature of the crust and the societal relevance of geology to climate change and sustainability. The final three chapters provide a modern view on energy, water and minerals, environmental concerns and geoconservation. The intervening chapters cover the geological periods, including much new geochronological data and exciting new palaeontological discoveries.

The thematic set of 32 papers in this Special Publication celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1907 Memoir on The Geological Structure of the North-West Highlands of Scotland by placing the original findings in both historical and modern contexts, and juxtaposing them against present-day studies of deformation processes operating not only in the NW Highlands, but also in other mountain belts.

The extraordinary and beautiful scenery of the Northern Scottish Highlands has been created by a geological history lasting over 3 billion years. This is an illustrated geological history of those years, showing the rocks, visiting the places and introduces famous researchers and their theories that have been inspired by the Highlands.