John McPhee (1) (1931–)

Great book. I like a lot of McPhees, mostly the ones where he focuses more on the subject than on the people he's found to explain it; here, I even found the people chapters interesting, though the geology was more so. His primary explainer is a geologist who was in school before plate tectonics were an accepted theory, and had to deal with the new concepts almost immediately upon graduation; he did a very good job of presenting why plate tectonics took over so quickly and thoroughly, as show more they explained so many puzzles and mysteries that had no answers before. How mountains arose, why some rocks are tilted and others folded, where these different types of rock came from and how they come to be where they are...McPhee started in the Sierra Nevada, discussing the types of rocks and formations that are found in those uplifted ranges, then heads west, across the Central Valley and into the San Francisco Bay Area, where very different rocks and formations exist. The latter half of the book is a discussion of the San Andreas Fault system - the several identified faults that make up the boundary of the North American Continental Plate, as the Pacific Plate grinds along its edge, heading north-west. He discusses the different types of rocks and how they got there - how California, as we know it, is the result of several island chains crashing into the edge of the North American Continental Plate and becoming attached, adding new rocks, pushing old ones up or down, folding, tilting, and melting them into new formations. Interesting discussions of how visibly distinct types of rocks exist many miles apart along the faults, showing just how much the Pacific Plate has displaced northward - 60 to a couple hundred miles separate the same formations to the east and west of the fault. The last chapter is a detailed description of the Loma Prieta quake of 1989 - both from a geologic point of view, the epicenter's location and depth and the types of waves emanating from there, and a human point of view, illustrating what happened when the waves arrived in each location - the damage, or lack of same, that resulted. Fascinating, and horrifically amusing - the description, for instance, of the woman who, after the earthquake, looked out her third-floor window and saw a man's legs outside. Her building had pancaked into the first-floor garage, and her apartment was now at (or a little below) street level. A very enjoyable book, and I learned a lot. show less

I found this book to be riveting; both a nature travelogue and an applied ecology seminar in one slim volume. Sierra Club director David Brower is the Archdruid, a man who uses the word "conserve" the way Carl Sagan used "billions". He's a die-hard environmentalist with a gift for PR who fights a never-ending battle against the government, developers, miners, and even humanity at large in his quest to keep as much of America as possible out of the reach of man forever, and McPhee – whose show more writing talent is truly impressive – allows Brower and his nemeses to explain themselves and their views on nature at length in flawless, crystalline prose. Whether sparring over mining the Glacier National Park with geologist Charles Park, or settling Hilton Head Island with developer Charles Fraser, or damming the Grand Canyon with bureaucrat Floyd Dominy, Brower's unstinting defense of the wilderness touches on issues of conservation vs. preservation that become more relevant every day. His fervent devotion to the outdoors is nearly religious (hence the book's title), but so heartfelt and understandable, given the irreplaceable natural wonders he's fighting for, that by the end of the book I was practically cheering for him even though his antagonists were just as thoughtful and compelling as he was. Though the book is lightly infused with that peculiar 70s nature mysticism, in a world where Louisiana steadily washes out to the sea and the Everglades dwindles by the day to the size of a mud puddle Brower almost seems more reasonable now than when the book was written. Very thought-provoking, and McPhee is an absolutely superb writer. show less

Staggering, and almost staggeringly long. Turns out this is a McPhee masterwork, as he complements his profound knowledge of geology by criss-crossing the United States in the company of assorted eminent geologists, figuring out how the continent came to be the way it is now. Particularly enjoyed the chapter about how California has been formed by island chains running up against the continent, and how the faults at the joins allowed the gold to dissolve out and get deposited, eventually show more leading to the rush of the mid 1800's which kept the Union afloat during the civil war.

The strongest impression I am left with is the staggering part - the vast scales of geological time which can push up vast mountain ranges, have them worn down by rain and wind and ice, creating yet new landscapes from the immense quantities of runoff, and all of this be just a minor episode in the grand scheme of things. show less

Typical John McPhee. I mean that in a very good way. He covers so much ground (OK, pun intended), traveling all over Wyoming with a noted geologist. McPhee covers not only geology (Wyoming and other areas), but also life in wild Wyoming and the environmental harms of the various mining operations (coal, oil, uranium) in the state. I sit with a Road Atlas & an iPad when I read his Annals of the Former World series. The iPad is for the many words I've never seen before in my life! The Atlas show more just adds to the pleasure of following along on the road trip. This series is not a quick read, but incredibly informative! show less