Since our earliest history, we have been curious about the earth we live on and the skies that shelter us. The Greeks imposed their stories on the configurations of the stars and animated the forces of nature with jealousies, loves, and hates. The naturalists of the 19th century set aside those early musings, recording their observations with detail, accuracy, and in some cases prodigious volume, laying the groundwork for the earth and planetary sciences. So while our wonder is ancient, our science is still new.

As the first major center of academic geology in the western United States, Berkeley's Department of Earth and Planetary Science has a well established tradition of tackling perplexing questions, some abstract and distant, some that directly intersect with our daily lives. Our faculty has been involved in some of the most important academic advancements in the science, making the first detailed study of a major earthquake, developing potassium-argon dating, advancing the use of thermodynamics in geology, and discovering the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs-a comet.

Earth and Planetary Science is inherently interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary. We encourage and practice collaboration with Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Astronomy, Biology, and other departments. Accordingly the interests of the faculty are diverse, spanning early geologic time, the inner mantle of the earth's core, the earth's evolving surfacethe oceans, the ozone layer, and the planets, and. We encourage our students, both undergraduate and graduate, to build a solid foundation in the fundamental sciences of mathematics, physics and chemistry as they build their intellectual interests and develop the scope of their research.

As our earth changes, as our water changes, as our climate changes and the ice caps melt, as the atmosphere that protects us changes, the discipline of Earth and Planetary Science has never been more relevant, and its study have never been more compelling.

Further information on the department, including faculty, degrees offered, admission policies, courses, analytical labs and shops, and research units within or associated with our department may be found at this web site.

William E. Dietrich
Chair of the Department