Annals of the Former World [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

McPhee set out to describe the geology across the United States, roughly along the route of Interstate 40. The decision came at about the same time as a revolution in geology, the emergence and dominance of the theory of "plate tectonics" and "continental drift. The four books that comprise Annals, written across an interval of 15 years, reflect the increasing maturity of those theories and the deepening understanding of the implications of that scientific revolution.

McPhee's ability to explain complex geology concepts in everyday terms, and to humanize and de-mystify abstract science, has never been better. His ability to explain his topics through people, and to make those people come alive, has never been more skilled. In explaining the geology of California, for example, he notes that most of California, like most Californians, originally came from somewhere else. McPhee has not written primarily as science popularizer. But his writing here is so good, his explanations so clear and his understanding of the topic so profound that he shames most authors who work in the genre full time.

This is not "Rocks for Jocks," as introduction to geology classes are often described. This is hard science, controversial theories and mind-boggling intervals of time laid out in terms that non-scientists can understand. From the creation of the Delaware Water Gap to the family history of geologist David Love to the details of the California gold rush, McPhee lays out geology and the consequences of geology in accessible ways.

It's a brilliant book. After reading it, you'll never look at a roadcut or the terrain around you in quite the same way again.

BY JOSHUA A. CHAMOT John McPhee has achieved icon status in the geosciences community, and for an English major that is no small feat. His latest venture into popular nonfiction, Annals of the Former World, is a compilation of five books on the geologic history of the United States. In digestible essays, McPhee takes several of the core, and at times controversial, subjects in geology and presents them with enough detail to educate and enough color to entertain. Annals was inspired by McPhee's year-long, roadside geology excursion of 1978. Traveling along Interstate 80, he took five separate trips through as many different geologic domains, each in the company of a regional expert. When McPhee recognized that his trips would keep him writing far more years than he wanted to spend on the subject in one stretch, he broke the work into four books to be published over the next two decades. In the first, Basin and Range (1981), McPhee follows Princeton geologist Kenneth Deffeyes as Deffeyes looks for economic silver deposits in Nevada. McPhee presents the geology of the violently rifted western United States while introducing two of Annals' recurring themes: mineral exploration and plate tectonics, the theory that the Earth's crust is made up of moving plates. In these discussions, McPhee translates the grand scale of miles of rock and millions of years into the relatively small confines of human perception: "People like to think in five generations-two ahead, two behind-with heavy concentration on the one in the middle". The second book, In Suspect Terrain (1983), profiles pioneering geologist and Brooklyn native Anita Harris. In this work, the wide range of topics at times seems disjointed. However, the focus remains on Harris and how her work on tiny conodont fossils-ubiquitous markers for oil and gas formation-helped to revolutionize petroleum exploration. Harris also plays a significant role in the discussion of plate tectonics that permeates Annals. She is an esteemed geologist who is reluctant to endorse all applications of plate tectonic theory, particularly when plate tectonics allow for overly simplistic answers to complex questions. McPhee presents her as a cautious, and therefore vital, voice in this scientific debate. In Rising from the Plains (1986), McPhee explores the diverse geology of Wyoming while simultaneously recalling the frontier upbringing of geologist David Love. As McPhee tells it, David Love was born and bred into Wyoming geology and his youth was nothing short of a Western epic. Love's parents raised their children on an isolated farm miles from any sort of town, and visitors included some of the leading geologists, and even outlaws, of the West. In this book, McPhee also confronts the internal conflict that Love and other environmentally conscious geologists may face when they search for natural resources. These scientists know that their work may lead to the destruction of the same landscapes that lured them to geoscience careers. McPhee considers David Love an "exploration geologist and passionate defender of wild Wyoming," who embodies this struggle, which continues to breed conflict within the geologic community. The geoscientist featured in Assembling California (1993) is Eldridge Moores of the University of California-Davis, one of the giants in plate tectonic theory. Through travels spanning from the Napa Valley to the wartorn island of Cyprus, McPhee explores the complex geologic history of California and the growing evidence for plate motion. In substantial asides, McPhee delves into the history of the California gold rush and the history of the California earthquakes. His portrayal of the Loma Prieta quake that struck the San Francisco Bay area in 1989 is particularly vivid and is enhanced by the stories of individual victims. The final book, Crossing the Craton, is the only section comprised of all new material. This discussion of the deceptively stable continental interior completes the work McPhee began in 1978. Beneath the midsection of North America lies an extinct rift zone, similar in form to the active one tearing apart western Africa. W. Randall Van Schmus of the University of Kansas is McPhee's host in this exploration of the oldest rocks on the continent-and in the world. Annals of the Former World is a nongeologist's guide to the geologic perspective. John McPhee deftly carves complex subjects into perceptible, guided essays. While some topics may at times be confusing to those who have little geologic background, McPhee peppers his work with enough analogy, imagery, and historical insight to interest a diverse audience.