Earth is a fascinating planet on which we humans coexist along with animals and plants. In recent years, unfortunately, Earth has been facing many challenges primarily due to human activities. In the year 2013, many scientific and research institutions and universities all over the world joined together to focus on some of these challenges. A project called Mathematics of Planet Earth [1] was started that year with support from UNESCO and various organizations across the globe. Many activities were started, and some of these were outreach activities that involved sensitizing laypeople through blogs in English and French. Nearly 100 blogs in English comprise the bulk of this book published by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). The book is intended for a general audience with some scientific background knowledge. However, some articles are quite mathematical in nature.

The book is organized into four sections: “A Planet to Discover,” “A Planet Supporting Life,” “A Planet Organized by Humans,” and “A Planet at Risk.”

In the first section, the reader can find answers to interesting questions related to the age of Earth, the effect of earthquakes in changing the speed of Earth’s rotation, the growth of a tsunami, how to control lightning, numerical weather prediction, hurricanes, climate models, the climate of Earth when dinosaurs existed, and the origin of the moon.

The papers in the second section, on the mysteries of vegetation patterns, acidification of oceans, biodiversity, and linear programming for tree harvesting, offer interesting insights. The focus is on the biosphere, ecology, and evolution.

In the third section, we find engrossing papers on cartography; resetting clocks; satellite mapping; the global positioning system; mathematics for more efficient energy harvesting from solar cells, hydrogen fuel cells, and geothermal energy; and mathematical models for inferring social segregation and evolution of ancient societies.

In the fourth section, the focus is on climate change, global warming, rising sea levels, glacial melting, biological threats, and risk management. The use of mathematics for eradicating diseases, controlling tropical diseases, and stemming the spread of HIV and contagious diseases is highlighted. It is also shown that earthquakes can be predicted, forest fires can be controlled, and natural hazards can be palliated using mathematical models.

The book is very unusual because it has been produced from blogs written in English by various experts. The style of writing is thus quite varied. Some papers (or blogs as we may indeed call them) are quite short and often without references to the literature. There are many illustrations in color and a few cartoons, too. Most of the papers in the book are meant for the not so mathematically inclined; however, a few are mathematically terse with integrals and partial derivatives.

In the book, we can find applications of mathematics by way of big data, cartography, chaos theory, combinatorial optimization, data sciences, differential and integral calculus, fractals and self-similarity, game theory, graph theory, integer programming, least squares, linear programming, machine learning, modeling, optimal control theory, Petri nets, and statistics. These illustrate the myriad applications of mathematics for conserving the planet Earth. However, not all papers in the book have mathematical content in them. This unique book on the mathematics of the planet Earth will be useful for mathematicians as well as the general public who are keen to know about how mathematics can be useful for understanding and preserving our planet. On the whole, the book is very fascinating. I feel it can be expanded further in future editions. I strongly recommend the book for its intended audience.