Le montagne di san Francesco

by Walter Álvarez, N. Mataldi (translator)

L'Italia, oltre ad avere un patrimonio artistico di inestimabile valore, nasconde una meraviglia naturale invisibile all'occhio umano: nelle sue profondità custodisce i segreti dell'origine del mondo come oggi lo conosciamo. In particolare sulle montagne di san Francesco, a cavallo dell'Appennino, Walter Alvarez - geologo di fama mondiale, figlio di quel Luis Alvarez che nel 1968 vinse il premio Nobel per la fisica - ha trovato la soluzione di alcuni dei misteri sepolti da migliaia di anni nel ventre della Terra. Seguendo l'autore nel suo viaggio nell'Italia centrale, potremo così scoprire che i sette colli di Roma si formarono a seguito di una violenta eruzione vulcanica; che a Siena si trovano ancora le tracce dell'epoca in cui la città era sommersa dalle acque; e soprattutto, studiando le rocce nei dintorni di Gubbio, che 65 milioni di anni fa l'impatto di un meteorite con la superficie terrestre avrebbe causato l'estinzione dei dinosauri e di metà delle forme di vita allora esistenti. Un tremendo cataclisma che però aprì la strada allo sviluppo dei mammiferi e della specie umana. "Le montagne di san Francesco" ci offre quindi un'occasione unica non solo per conoscere la storia remota del pianeta, ma anche quella del nostro territorio nazionale. Prefazione di Mario Tozzi.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Geology, History, Palaeontology, Natural History, History Of Science

420 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2007

About the author

Walter Álvarez is a professor of geology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of the best-selling T. Rex and the Crater of Doom. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and a past recipient of the Penrose Medal, the highest award given by the Geological Society of America. He lives in Berkeley, California.

Reviews

[Margie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite the page turner that T. Rex is, but a good read. It reads exactly the way Walter talks.

[Lorraine Tosiello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the excruciatingly slow geologic changes that this book explains, I worked my way through this book, seemingly a millimeter at a time, slowly, laboriously. But, like the changing crust of the earth, it revealed a number of surprises, rewarding me in the end with a new outlook on the world in general and a beloved spot on earth, the Apennine mountains of Italy.

The author is a renowned scholar and teacher and the books reads as a geological text book for laymen. It is filled with maps, graphs, photographs and figures. (And still it took me months to finish!) We are invited to understand how geologists explain the past of our planet. Geologic techniques that have come into commonplace knowledge are described, from dating sediments based on microfossils, noting magnetic reversals, dating sediments based on volcanic ash, using iridium levels to note extraterrestrial catastrophes, etc.

In the end, the Apennines not only exemplify ALL these issues, but revealed a special new theory, that the earth's crust can even delaminate, sink, become pressurized and then become heavier than the actual mantle of the earth and sink into it. This theory pops up late in the book, after the author notes that Corsica and Sardinia look like a door on a hinge that broke off from the mainland of Europe (look at a map and you will never see it any differently)

Indeed, I will never look at a limestone church or a granite wall , or any mountain range without recalling some of the lessons learned in this book.

[Dave Ciskowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A relaxed, conversational tale of the geology that formed Italy, told by a geologist who helped uncover parts of the story. Alvarez tells the stories with an (auto)biograpical bent, focused both on how he first experienced Italian geology and how its stories were teased out by geologists over centuries, understanding one piece of the puzzle at a time. Alvarez makes the stories personal and relatable, which grounds the immense forces and unimaginable time in very human experience. I do have some frustration with the book: as an avid reader of geological works, it gets tiring to have to read yet another explanation of basic concepts like deep time or thrust faults or paleomagnetism. I understand why Alvarez can’t assume geologic knowledge on the part of his readers, but I personally would much prefer stories of the investigations, findings, and epiphanies to one more explanation of the three main classes of rocks. But I might well be in the minority, and the very readable language of the book makes it a minor complaint in any case. Recommended for anyone who is curious about the geology of Italy, or who is curious about how complex geological puzzles are solved by the patient accumulation of research.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mountains of Saint Francis is what the author calls the Appenines near Assissi, the country of Saint Francis. The area has some really strange geography. it helped prove the duration and span of the ice ages. Also, the structure was useful in proving continental drift in the ocean, using the reversal of the magnetic field. Then, mini- continents have been discovered partly from the shape of Italy and the outlying islands of Corsica, Majorca, Minorca and Sicily. I found some of the tone a little irritating at time, but the information revealed was amazing.
My husband had to endure several sections being read aloud.

[Vagabond Geologist · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a nice book. I’m a geologist and i thoroughly enjoy books that express the joy geologists get from understanding the earth. That said, I thought it was simplified a bit much. As an example, I’m often asked how we know such-and-such a rock is a certain age. Alvarez does a nice job of explaining how fossils are used to obtain relative ages but not how absolute ages were determined. Ages were known far before the advent of age dating. That said, if you are interested in geology, it Italy for that material, it’s worth reading.

[Alexis Stranberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think that I'd be able to read and learn about geology without the beautiful story telling of how science is practiced within communities, connecting generations and distances to simply understand the relationship between humankind and the ground it's on. I love the generosity of his writing. He's patient as a teacher, explaining the 101 principles just to help us understand why what we see is something to write about.

[John Sheehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walter and his father, Nobel laureate, Luis are national treasures. Hence it is difficult not to be effusive about this book. The charm and fluidity of Dr.Alvarez's writing is a real gift. He's a great storyteller who manages to present some fairly complicated ideas and observations in a way that entices even the most geologically uninclined will find inviting. Thanks, Dr. Alvarez for a story well told.

[Richard Kravitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just OK. It was a signed gift I received upon my retirement from HS Science teaching. At first it was cool, made me want to go visit Rome. But it kind of got bogged down, very scientific and kind of boring, even for someone who knows Geology. I probably would not have finished it had I not been a Earth Science teacher.

[Eugienne Ryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting

[Brice Banda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good for explanations of geology. There’s a reason he’s a geologist and not a writer tho

[Dennis]

I remember this as being a fun book to read.

[Anne]

Fascinating - great to have this on my bedside table as I unwind at night.
He is an excellent informative writer. Deep Time, Geologists of the Past, and unravelling the mysteries of how Italy was formed.
I appreciate the way he clearly discusses the research, then the findings, and the new research.

[Duc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been interested in books about Italy. I've read and seen works about Italy but have not visit the country. I suppose I'm researching for the right time to be there and understand the place through others eyes. The writing is sometimes poetic.

Notes: A rock composed of fragments of ash cemented together is called tuff. Rome is sitting on Ash flow tuff. So Rome is a volcanic region but there are no major evidence of an exploded volcano like St. Helen in Oregon. So there was a bit of research to reveal its volcanic origin.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book, if you're interested in geology. It concentrates on Alvarez' work in Italy since the early 70's, which was an important factor in understanding plate tectonics and the Great Extinction of species 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous age. The extinction is generally believed to be a result of a large meteor or comet impact in the Yucatan peninsula. It probably gets deeper into geology than would interest the general reader.

[Nicolás Rivas · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing book. Very cleverly organized and nicely paced, as it goes without harm between the human and the natural; the present and the deep past. The explanations of the geology are deep enough to intrigue and inspire, something uncommon in science books, in general. After reading it I feel the urge to learn more about earth sciences, if just to be able to see more in every landscape: that is definitely an outstanding accomplishment.

[Sarah Jowett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in my dad's stuff after he died in January. I have been reading quite alot of the books he had but this one i kept also because it's inscribed by the author to my dad for his birthday in 2009.

I dont know how they met but he lived in berkeley so anything is possible.

Its very well done. I had my doubts about the method of telling the earths story (backwards) but it works and i enjoyed the book alot.

[Gabriela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent narration on geological concepts tied in with the history of the Apennines. The author not only excels in describing the science, but also helps provide insights into the scientific process that geologists go through. He explains how, when and what made the geologist make a break through all tied in with the description of Italy.

[Beth]

This was an excellent popular science book. Dr. Alvarez used his research in Italy both to illustrate fundamental concept in Geology and to explain the origin of the Alps and the Apennines. He used maps, photos, figures, and a clear narrative in such a way that the reader felt s/he was reading a mystery story. I plan to read more by the author.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

See Italy through a geologist's eye. Berkeley professor and Italian geologist friends uncover earth history in Rome's Capitoline Hill, volcanoes outside Rome and Appenine Mountains. Scientific explanations get technical sometimes, but a pleasurable excursion overall.

[Jim Dexter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Italian-centric geologic view of how Europe was formed over deep time.