A continuation of the author's explorations into America's geological history with notable geologists.

In this edition McPhee shadows David Love, telling the story of his parents and how they arrived in Wyoming and created their family. We understand why Love is a bit of a polymath and why he focuses so much on observation.

The geologic history of the Rockies is told in terms of a journey on Interstate 80 east from Nebraska to Utah. This narrative tends to be a bit more disjointed than some of the other narratives from the author, but he does well at giving a 40,000' view at the end.

Fascinating consideration of how the Rockies rose from the Plains. ( )

I read this as we travelled up from Scottsdale through Flagstaff, by the Grand Canyon (we did stop to gawk), through Monument Valley and the Valley of the Gods, over the pass at Butte as it snowed (roads to Yellowstone were closed because of snow), and I finished it today as we drove around the edges of the Black Hills (Theodore Roosevelt National Park). A perfect read for a rather glorious car trip. ( )

I loved this book, it was about the Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, geology, and one of the great Rocky Mountain geologist ever named David Love. The author took us through a journey about David Love's life and then the author took us on a journey with David Love where he describes some of the geology and events that went on in Wyoming in the past 2.5 billion years.

This book is recommended for those scientifically or geologically inclined. The author is very limited on describing the geologic terms he uses in the book so if you are not a geologist, have a geologic dictionary close by. Two thumbs up. ( )

interesting read while on vacation in WY - Thermopolis, Yellowstone, Jackson, and Pinedale. ( )

Love remarked that day at the cabin: "My great uncle John Muir founded the Sierra Club, and here I am, being a traitor". .. "A scientist, as a scientist does not determine what should be the public policy in terms of exploration for oil and gas."...
Love remarked that oil shale "had been trumpeted to the skies" but, with the energy crisis in perigee, both government and industry were losing interest and pulling out. Temporarily pulling out. Sooner or later, people were going to want that shale.
... Just an amazing piece of writing from start to end, I set the 3 issues of the New Yorker aside in 1986 and only got to read it in 2016! This is from the days when the New Yorker still published articles of respectable length. The article reads well alongside Andrea Wulf's fine 2015 biography of Alexander von Humboldt. ( )