Eyewitness Virtual Reality Earth Quest

Gushing over Dante's Peak and Volcano? That love of lava can continue from silver screen to computer screen with Eyewitness Virtual Reality Earth Quest, an infotaining interactive guide to geology. Oohs and ahhs are primarily reserved for the Violent Earth segment — a design-a-disaster kit that enables you to tinker with and unleash volcanic erruptions and earthquakes on hapless towns and landscapes, strictly for intellectual edification, of course. Laymen may find parts of the CD-ROM drier than a crusty stalactite (detailed lessons about igneous rocks and tectonic plates can do that), but Earth Quest's meticulously organized interface — set up like a tourist cavern, complete with gift shop full of free downloadable postcards — is without a fault. A-