Magnitude 8: Earthquakes and Life along the San Andreas Fault
by Philip L. Fradkin
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Environmental historian Philip L. Fradkin offers a vivid history of earthquakes and an eloquent guide to the San Andreas Fault, the seismic scar that bisects the Golden State's spectacular scenery. The author includes dramatic stories of legendary earthquakes elsewhere: in New York, New England, the central Mississippi River Valley, Europe, and the Far East. Combining human and natural dramas, he places the reader at the epicenter of the most invisible, unpredictable, and feared of the show more earth's violent phenomena. On the eve of the millennium, as cyberspace crackles with apocalyptic visions, Fradkin reaches beyond the earthshaking moment to examine the mythology, culture, social implications, politics, and science of earthquakes. show lessTags
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Every couple of years I seem to end up reading about California quakes. I'm lucky enough to be in a geologically inert part of the state, but it's always good to be aware of what's possible. Fradkin looks at earthquakes along the San Andreas fault, starting with some 18th century Spanish accounts and ending with the 1994 Northridge quake. Very good reading, though it made me desperately want to go live somewhere where the ground stays put. I only wish the book were a little more up-to-date: the publication date is 1999.
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16+ Works 697 Members
Philip L. Fradkin is the author of eight critically acclaimed nonfiction books on the American West and Alaska. At the Los Angeles Times he shared a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Watts racial conflict, was a correspondent in Vietnam, and was the newspaper's first environmental writer. Fradkin was the assistant secretary of the California show more Resources Agency and western editor of Audubon magazine. He has taught writing courses at the University of California at Berkeley, where he is a consultant to the Bancroft Library, and a California history course at Stanford University. He lives on the coast north of San Francisco show less
Classifications
- Genres
- Science & Nature, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 551.22 — Natural sciences & mathematics Earth sciences; geology Geology, Hydrology Meteorology Volcanoes, earthquakes, thermal waters and gases Earthquakes
- LCC
- QE535.2 .U6 .F7 — Science Geology Geology Dynamic and structural geology Volcanoes and earthquakes
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 39
- Popularity
- 744,543
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.58)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
