California Coast from the Air: Images of a Changing Landscape features half-page color photos by Kenneth and Gabrielle Adelman paired with an aerial survey of the state's geology and geography, and represents the photographers' efforts to produce an aerial photographic display of the entire 1,100-mile coastline, the California Coastal Records Project.

Plenty of books on California offer visual surveys of the state: so much so that one could wonder at the need for yet another. There are also other a few other aerial books on the market that take segments of the state (more notably, the major urban areas such as San Francisco ) and provide photographic views.

It should be noted, however, that California Coast from the Air isn't designed to be a glitzy armchair tourist read, but is a serious survey of the natural environment using some 150 of the best photos from a collection of over 100,000 aerial shots.

From coastal dunes and plunging cliffs to the geography of each county in the state, chapters arranged by county and prefaced with color maps provide both photos and text filled with natural and human history.

Without such accompanying text, California Coast from the Air could have found itself competing with more casual aerial photo collections. And without its wide-ranging photo focus on geography and natural history, the text wouldn't come to life as completely or successfully as it does, either.

In the end California Coast from the Air is a fine example of a rare, difficult, and successful marriage between image, geography, and human and natural history, and provides California readers, in particular, with a fine feature enhanced by oceanographer Gary Griggs, architect Deepika Shrestha Ross, and photographers Kenneth and Gabrielle Adelman's diverse areas of expertise. ( )