The first edition of this laboratory manual was planned in 1984, when Merrill Publishing Company became interested in the Ridky concept. AGI initiated negotiations with a proposal developed by past AGI Education Director, Andrew J. Verdon, Jr., and Ridky. AGI directed the project with direction from a Laboratory Manual Project Steering Committee. The Committee was charged to obtain exercises and provide input to the Editor on design of the manual. This Committee included Brewster Baldwin, Robert L. Bates, William E. Bonini, Jeffrey G. Callister, Marvin E. Kauffman, Julia A. Jackson, William H. Matthews III, Robert W. Ridky, and A.G. Unklesbay. Robert L. Bates was named Editor. The "best exercises" were acquired by sending requests to NAGT members and to geology departments in the United States and Canada. The exercises were screened by Robert L. Bates, Marvin E. Kauffman, Constantine Manos, Kenneth J. Van Dellen, and Andrew J. Verdon, Jr.
In 1985, AGI signed the publishing agreement with Merrill Publishing Company and a shared royalty agreement with NAGT. Royalties support programs of both organizations.
The first edition of this laboratory manual was actually published in 1986. Although the first edition enjoyed much success, there were also drawbacks. For example, some geology topics were not addressed while others were addressed by three different laboratory exercises. Photographs were poor, the laboratories varied widely in their levels of difficulty, and there were many inaccuracies.
Preparation for a second edition began in June of 1987 when the Laboratory Manual Project Steering Committee named Richard M. Busch (then of Kansas State University) as Editor. Busch was charged with reorganizing and rewriting the laboratory manual based on twenty-five peer reviews of the first edition, abundant criticisms and suggestions contributed by faculty and students who used the first edition, and market research conducted by Merrill Publishing Company. Multiple laboratories on the same topic were integrated into a single laboratory, five new exercises were solicited from new contributors, and all of the laboratories were reorganized and rewritten in a standard format. The second edition manuscript was subjected to rigorous peer review and was field tested at West Chester University (Department of Geology and Astronomy) and the University of Delaware (Department of Educational Development). The second edition was published in 1990.
Macmillan Publishing Company acquired Merrill Publishing Company in 1989 and initiated the planning process for the third edition of the manual. Chip Groat (then AGI Executive Director), Andrew J. Verdon (then AGI Education Director), and Richard M. Busch (Editor), met at AGI Headquarters in July of 1991 to develop a revision plan. A limited survey to determine review goals was also conducted among contributors of the first and second editions and among a group of NAGT members recommended by NAGT officers. Dennis Tasa and William Fox Munroe added valuable input on issues related to revision of figures and manual layout. The third edition was published in 1993. It emphasized Earth's landforms and processes of change, Earth systems science, inquiry-oriented questions and problems, and new technologies. More color figures were added, and the Instructor's Resource Guide was expanded by Timothy Lutz, LeeAnn Srogi, and the Editor.
Each of the first three editions of Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology has been more widely adopted and praised than its predecessor, and this manual is now more widely adopted than any other geology laboratory on the market. However, the changing face of geology and geoscience education has warranted significant revisions of the manual for this fourth and latest edition.
Planning for this edition began in Spring of 1995. Marcus Milling (Executive Director of AGI), John C. Palmquist (then President of NAGT), Victor van Beuren (AGI Director of Communications and Publications), Richard M. Busch (Editor), and Robert McConnin (Executive Editor, Prentice Hall) met at various times to plan and implement the revision. The plan was based on market research by Prentice Hall (who acquired Macmillan Publishing Company), user comments compiled by Rich Busch, and 40 peer reviews of the third edition by NAGT members and other faculty who have used the manual.
The peer review process clearly indicated a preference for laboratories that address basic principles of geology, Earth processes, Earth materials, geologic hazards and human risks. There was a preference for tear-out student worksheets and subdivision of the lengthy laboratories into distinct problems (the "Exercises" of this edition) that stand alone and can be used at the instructor's discretion. There was also a preference for keeping the manual at a reasonable level of retail cost by deleting four of the 19 topics. All of these reviewer preferences have been integrated into this fourth edition of the manual.
The Editor has incorporated reviewer-selected laboratory materials from the third edition with new contributions invited on the basis of reviewer preferences. The Editor has also reorganized and rewritten each of the remaining 15 laboratories in a consistent style and in the format preferred by the peer reviewers. Each laboratory has been divided into discrete "Exercises" from which instructors can choose to vary the length and breadth of their students' laboratory experiences. Each laboratory also has options for the use of Internet resources in studying geologic phenomena, extraction and use of Earth materials, geologic hazards, and human risks in real time.