Earth, an Intimate History by Richard A Fortey

Earth, an Intimate History by Richard A Fortey

From the acclaimed author of Life and Trilobite!, a fascinating geological exploration of the earth's distant history as revealed by its natural wonders.
The face of the earth, crisscrossed by chains of mountains like the scars of old wounds, has changed and changed again over billions of years, and the testament of the remote past is all around us. In this book Richard Fortey teaches us how to read its character, laying out the dominions of the world before us. He shows how human culture and natural history-even the shape of cities-are rooted in this deep geological past.
In search of this past, Fortey takes us through the Alps, into Icelandic hot springs, down to the ocean floor, over the barren rocks of Newfoundland, into the lush ecosystems of Hawai'i, across the salt flats of Oman, and along the San Andreas Fault. On the slopes of Vesuvius, he tracks the history of the region down through the centuries?to volcanic eruptions seen by fifteenth-century Italians, the Romans, and, from striking geological evidence, even Neolithic man. As story adds to story, the recent past connects with forgotten ages long ago, then much longer ago, as he describes the movement of plates and the development of ancient continents and seas. Nothing in this book is at rest. The surface of the earth dilates and collapses; seas and mountains rise and fall; continents move.
Fortey again proves himself the ideal guide, with his superb descriptions of natural beauty, his gripping narratives, and his crystal-clear, always fascinating scientific explanations.
Here is a book to change the way we see the world.

From the Hardcover edition.

RICHARD FORTEY was a senior paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London. He was Collier Professor in the Public Understanding of Science and Technology at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Bristol in 2002. In 2003, he won the Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing About Science from Rockefeller University, and in 2017 he won the Richard Jefferies Prize for outstanding nature writing. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society since 1997 and was elected a Fellow in the Royal Society of Literature in 2009.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780375406263
ISBN 10	0375406263
Title	Earth, an Intimate History
Author	Richard A Fortey
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Random House Australia
Year published	2005-03-01
Number of pages	480
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.