false 19894 4 One of the most valuable tools for the advancement of geological science has in fact been the humble road cut. United States Interstate 80 crosses the entire North American continent, in the process exposing hundreds of millions of years of geological history. In <I>Basin and Range,</I> McPhee, accompanied at times by Princeton geologist Kenneth S. Deffeyes, demonstrates how the contorted and tilted rocks seen in these road cuts reveal how islands of the earth's crust have floated across the earth's surface, crashing and folding to form basin and range. This is a masterful and sometimes even poetic volume of popular writing about plate tectonics, communicating the profound satisfaction of using scientific research as a tool for understanding the world around us. <P> This is the first of four books on North American geology by McPhee, collectively entitled <I>Annals of the Former World.</I> The other volumes are <I>In Suspect Terrain</I>, Rising from the Plains</I>, and <I>Assembling California</I>. 1665814 1981 Basin and Range total:342|5:119|4:144|3:68|2:9|1:2| 342 1395 434 40 3 2 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 07 08:58:34 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 08 13:10:16 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Apr 15 11:09:13 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 11:12:07 -0700 2008 Basin and Range while driving through the basins and ranges of the Western U.S. a few years ago. This is a great piece of lay science, although the prose is at times over the top. Still, what I gleaned from this book has stuck with me, and informs my passion for that well-kept-secret - the up...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Dec 17 14:42:23 -0800 2008 Wed Aug 19 09:30:29 -0700 2009 1
I very much wanted to love this book. It's been recommended to me multiple times by multiple people, even long before I started working with geologists, long before I held oolites in my hand, or saw an angular unconformity, or g...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 08 03:40:11 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 08 03:43:22 -0700 2008 ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 01 13:20:59 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 08 16:01:43 -0700 2008
Using Interstate 80 as a route of travel and ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 08 06:48:51 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 09 09:38:33 -0700 2009 Annals, his Pulitzer book and the only reason people know who McPhee is, expectations were high, and maybe too high.

It was ok, and it definately wasn't great -even without expectations.

McPhee doesn't use illustrations or pictures and doesn'...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 20 15:18:46 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 15:24:49 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 15:48:37 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 12:04:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Mar 25 20:53:09 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 20:53:09 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Aug 25 06:12:03 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 07:04:34 -0700 2009 2 4 0 false false Fri Jan 23 12:34:29 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 12:34:57 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1995 Tue Feb 10 23:15:26 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 23:19:33 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1991 Fri Dec 28 10:50:38 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 28 10:54:01 -0800 2007
I've read the en...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Mar 27 09:35:57 -0700 2007 Tue Mar 27 09:45:22 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 12:14:17 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 18:32:19 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 13 20:10:22 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 13 20:14:12 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 10:49:45 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 10:49:55 -0700 2007
I did like this a lot. I intend to read his Assembling California in the near future. The feel I got from Basin and Range wa...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 20:11:45 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 20:23:55 -0800 2008
Though, of course, he makes much more than baby food. He is ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Oct 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 12:01:12 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 07:18:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 09 12:52:03 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 12:53:31 -0700 2008 more...]]>