false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156876224m/78.jpg 78 3 In 1978 <i>New Yorker</i> magazine staff writer John McPhee set out making notes for an ambitious project: a geological history of North America, centered, for the sake of convenience, on the 40th parallel, a history that encompasses billions of years. In 1981 he published the first of the four books that would come from his research: <i>Basin and Range</i>, a study of the mountainous lands between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas. Two years later came <i>In Suspect Terrain</i>, a grand overview of the Appalachian mountain system. In 1986 McPhee released <i>Rising from the Plains</i>, a history of the Rocky Mountains set largely in Wyoming. And in 1993 came <i>Assembling California</i>, a survey of the area geologists find to be a laboratory of volcanic and tectonic processes, a place where geology can be watched in the making. <I>Annals of the Former World</I> gathers these four volumes, which McPhee always conceived of as a whole, to make that epic of the Earth's formation; to it he adds a fifth book, <I>Crossing the Craton</I>, which introduces the continent's ancient core, underlying what is now Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska.<p>McPhee's great virtue as a journalist covering the sciences--and any other of the countless subjects he has taken on, for that matter--is his ability to distill and explain complex matters: here, for example, the processes of mineral deposition or of plate tectonics. He does so by allowing geologists to speak for themselves and an entertaining lot they are, those sometimes odd men and women who puzzle out the landscape for clues to its most ancient past. <I>Annals of the Former World</I> is a magisterial work of popular science for which geologists--and devotees of good writing--will be grateful. <I>--Gregory McNamee</I> 88676 15 6 1998 Annals of the Former World total:318|5:173|4:115|3:23|2:5|1:2| 318 1406 594 63 4 3 false false Mon Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 24 15:22:40 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 05:46:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Apr 11 10:31:01 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 11 10:49:34 -0700 2008
McPhee's often staccato prose takes the reader on a tour of the geology of the lower 48,...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jun 11 14:38:39 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 11 14:42:31 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 25 21:09:13 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 21:14:06 -0800 2009
It is about geology, and how McPhee spent years with geologists trying to make sense of the science and present it in an interesting and engaging way. I think they call it “big picture” geology and it is o...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 11:41:30 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 11:42:41 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Wed Dec 24 19:51:08 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 19:54:54 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 26 20:12:13 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 02 14:58:54 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jul 25 08:52:55 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 16:09:03 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 15 16:55:42 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 16:57:08 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Aug 09 10:35:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 10:36:48 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Feb 13 01:30:34 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 01:32:46 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Tue Dec 09 09:18:25 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 09:30:47 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 13 15:36:38 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 13 15:42:49 -0700 2007
However, I found myself getting into it rapidly. I am not yet finish...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 12 18:50:51 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 18:53:19 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Wed Nov 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jun 18 19:27:15 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 11 19:45:36 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Aug 21 20:51:52 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 20:56:25 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 07 08:45:58 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 08:48:01 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 21:06:37 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 30 08:05:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Aug 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 01 18:47:13 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 24 13:39:52 -0700 2008
Update: It was extremely h...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Fri May 25 14:06:45 -0700 2007 Fri May 25 14:06:45 -0700 2007 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=78