The book is organized into sections that deal with rock and stone; deep time; earthquakes and faults; volcanoes and eruptions; rivers to the sea; mountains and highlands; wind and desert; the flow of ice; and the life of the Earth. Insightful, penetrating, and provocative, the works are written from many positions — traditional and indigenous as well as Western scientific. The collection contains the words of artists and anthropologists, traditional elders and philosophers, novelists and poets, aviators, naturalists, and scientists of many flavors. Bedrock bridges specialized science and ordinary existence to portray the forces that have shaped the Earth and to give readers a sense of the geologic experience encompassing their lives.

In the tradition of works by John McPhee that have popularized geology and anthologies that collect the best science writing, Bedrock combines science and literature to create a book that wonderfully illuminates the geology of our home planet.