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mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
2.0
Exhausting. Tedious. I'm not a geologist and this is definitely not an intro to geology. The historical sections are fascinating, especially the gold rush. The technical jargon at times is overpowering. The ending section describing the Loma Prieta 1989 California Earthquake was detailed and violent and could have used editing. This was worth reading and I think I learned a bunch. But this was hard and slow.
jeffeberhard's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
5.0
McPhee at his best. Both informative and lyrical and fun to read even if the technical terms are beyond you
tbauman's review against another edition
4.0
UPDATE: I highly recommend reading the book [b:Annals of the Former World|78|Annals of the Former World|John McPhee|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924382s/78.jpg|88676], which contains this and all the other books in the series, instead. It includes all of this book rearranged to give more context, and (thankfully) even includes more pictures and maps. It addresses many of the problems I had in this review.
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I read this book knowing it was the 4th in a 5 part series and that I hadn't read any of the other books - and maybe my experience of reading it would have been a bit better if I had. I expected an overview of California geography for Californians and was hoping for a focus on the formation of well-known landmarks or the heavily-populated areas. Instead, McPhee takes the cosmic view and relates California's geology to the formation of the world as a whole. He draws parallels between rocks in California and similar rocks all over the world. His particular fascination is how the human timescale relates to the geological timescale. This was different than what I was expecting - but a very worthwhile read. His geology lessons are sprinkled with stories of geologists, the gold rush, wine country, and devastating earthquakes. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series (although I'll probably seek out another more California-centric book as well).
The first half of the book only covers the ophiolitic sequence and the Sierra Nevadas, and it took most of that part of the book for me to fully appreciate the significance of that formation. The second half focuses on the Central Valley and the San Andreas Fault, with an incredibly interesting digression about the sequence of events that led to the plate layout we have today.
My biggest criticism of the book was that it would have been much easier to read with more pictures and maps. There are passages that are nearly meaningless without a maps. For example, a quote picked at random: "the Cholane Valley around Parkfield-between Middle Mountain, to the north, and Gold Mountain, to the south" - I had to look up all these landmarks since I haven't spent much time in that part of California. Uselessly, the map of California included in my copy didn't have a single city or landmark labeled on it. It's also hard to keep "gabbro" and "serpentine" and even "pillow lava" straight in one's mind, despite McPhee's vivid descriptions, and unfortunately knowing these names for rocks is important to understanding the ophiolitic sequence.
Worth reading - and I'm excited to read the rest of the series - but have Google Maps, Wikipedia, and a dictionary handy so you can keep up.
----
I read this book knowing it was the 4th in a 5 part series and that I hadn't read any of the other books - and maybe my experience of reading it would have been a bit better if I had. I expected an overview of California geography for Californians and was hoping for a focus on the formation of well-known landmarks or the heavily-populated areas. Instead, McPhee takes the cosmic view and relates California's geology to the formation of the world as a whole. He draws parallels between rocks in California and similar rocks all over the world. His particular fascination is how the human timescale relates to the geological timescale. This was different than what I was expecting - but a very worthwhile read. His geology lessons are sprinkled with stories of geologists, the gold rush, wine country, and devastating earthquakes. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series (although I'll probably seek out another more California-centric book as well).
The first half of the book only covers the ophiolitic sequence and the Sierra Nevadas, and it took most of that part of the book for me to fully appreciate the significance of that formation. The second half focuses on the Central Valley and the San Andreas Fault, with an incredibly interesting digression about the sequence of events that led to the plate layout we have today.
My biggest criticism of the book was that it would have been much easier to read with more pictures and maps. There are passages that are nearly meaningless without a maps. For example, a quote picked at random: "the Cholane Valley around Parkfield-between Middle Mountain, to the north, and Gold Mountain, to the south" - I had to look up all these landmarks since I haven't spent much time in that part of California. Uselessly, the map of California included in my copy didn't have a single city or landmark labeled on it. It's also hard to keep "gabbro" and "serpentine" and even "pillow lava" straight in one's mind, despite McPhee's vivid descriptions, and unfortunately knowing these names for rocks is important to understanding the ophiolitic sequence.
Worth reading - and I'm excited to read the rest of the series - but have Google Maps, Wikipedia, and a dictionary handy so you can keep up.
barnaclethereal's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
I liked it a lot, but the later portion of the book was so different it was hard for me to stay locked in.
bobbo49's review against another edition
4.0
McPhee's exploration of California's geological creation, in the company of a master geologist, is simply amazing. McPhee started at Mussel Rock off the coast west of Daly City - a place that my family has watched the hang-gliders and hiked. Although halfway through the book I began to think that the science was too deep and over my head, I stayed with it, and the later portions traversing the American River by Auburn (one of my favorite fishing areas), the Central Valley and the history of the Gold Rush, and ultimately the San Andreas fault, the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, and the quake lines throughout California, were so personally recognizable that I felt I could follow McPhee on the ground. Other than the scarily intense warnings that McPhee provides to those living in the vicinity of the San Andreas fault (my California children and friends, beware!), I would recommend this to all Californians!
aneides's review against another edition
2.0
2.5*
I thought it might be time to take another whack at some books I had failed to finish reading. I DNFed this book about 20 years ago... I'd hardly made it past the introductory chapter, always intending to pick it back up when I could muster enough attention to understand the descriptions of 3D processes over unthinkable lengths of time. As it turns out, this degree of patience and focus isn't possible for me. As it turns out, geology--with its complexities, discontinuities and wild inferences--still gives me anxiety. I really, really wish this book had a lot more illustrations. There is no learning tectonic/geomorphologic processes without pictures, dammit, but instead of diagrams of the various collisions of plates and movements of landmasses the author mostly includes maps that are already quite familiar to me, thank you very much. If someone made animations of all the processes in this book, well, it would be quicker and easier and I'd retain much more. And, of course, the information would be more up-to-date with current scientific understanding. The question is raised: Why even bother reading a book whose contents have surely been superseded in part by more recent scientific research? The answer: understanding probably has not changed drastically and I always felt a little embarrassed to have my ass kicked by this slim volume.
My take-home message from this book is: bits of ancient islands, continents, and seafloor are everywhere, traveling great distances to arrive at their current locations, adjacent to other bits of rock originating in vastly distant locations. There's no understanding it, no way to mentally catalog all the details into a sensible picture. Give up now. (The chapters about earthquakes--events on a much shorter time scale--were more comprehensible. Probably because I more or less already knew that material.)
As an aside, Eldridge Moores appears to be one of those annoyingly accomplished polymaths that make me feel inadequate. That made the book even more special.
I thought it might be time to take another whack at some books I had failed to finish reading. I DNFed this book about 20 years ago... I'd hardly made it past the introductory chapter, always intending to pick it back up when I could muster enough attention to understand the descriptions of 3D processes over unthinkable lengths of time. As it turns out, this degree of patience and focus isn't possible for me. As it turns out, geology--with its complexities, discontinuities and wild inferences--still gives me anxiety. I really, really wish this book had a lot more illustrations. There is no learning tectonic/geomorphologic processes without pictures, dammit, but instead of diagrams of the various collisions of plates and movements of landmasses the author mostly includes maps that are already quite familiar to me, thank you very much. If someone made animations of all the processes in this book, well, it would be quicker and easier and I'd retain much more. And, of course, the information would be more up-to-date with current scientific understanding. The question is raised: Why even bother reading a book whose contents have surely been superseded in part by more recent scientific research? The answer: understanding probably has not changed drastically and I always felt a little embarrassed to have my ass kicked by this slim volume.
My take-home message from this book is: bits of ancient islands, continents, and seafloor are everywhere, traveling great distances to arrive at their current locations, adjacent to other bits of rock originating in vastly distant locations. There's no understanding it, no way to mentally catalog all the details into a sensible picture. Give up now. (The chapters about earthquakes--events on a much shorter time scale--were more comprehensible. Probably because I more or less already knew that material.)
As an aside, Eldridge Moores appears to be one of those annoyingly accomplished polymaths that make me feel inadequate. That made the book even more special.
rmardel's review against another edition
5.0
Fabulous, gripping book. Reading this book makes me wonder why I found geology so boring when I was in public school. Now, despite all the science, it was hard to put this book down. I must read more in this geology series.
elizfrances's review against another edition
5.0
Parts of this book are so dense with geologic vocabulary and timelines that it was hard to take in – pictures and maps would help you to visualize what's being described. But the later portion of the book is full of rich, less geologic descriptions and covers what's happening in California in relatable ways. The end gives details and accounts of the 1989 earthquake, and that part is astounding (it helps that I can picture the locations). I definitely recommend this particularly to those who spend time in the Bay Area.
kellanemc's review against another edition
4.0
Lyrical, humane, roving. McPhee wanders all over the map, literally and figuratively—pages on Protopangaea enplaced next to notes on ancient Cyprus, and the California gold rush.
veronicaellis1's review against another edition
3.0
I loved: McPhee's breakdowns of geology, time, backstories of outcrops, fault and plate placements, theories of continental drift, Protopangea, pangea, and mountain ranges from California to the Apenines to the Andes to the Himalayas and LITERALLY everything in-between. I loved the descriptions of California mining camps, their sites and situations, and the characters passing through. I loved the flurried and panicked descriptions of earthquakes in 1906 and 1989, the people and places and things strewn about, fault lines themselves.
But I didn't love this book. I really wanted to. I debated giving 4 stars, because it's John, and he does some great stuff here, but I didn't feel drawn to any aspect of it — which is weird to me, considering I've lived in California my whole life, have been a devotée of the New Yorker for just about that long, and spend a considerable amount of time by the side of a Berkeley-bred geologist.
Maybe I read too quickly, and another go-round will lend itself to a more fulfilling, in-depth understanding of everything he presents. Maybe I need to go to the rocks myself, and really think about them with this book in hand. I find I have so many more questions than I did before starting the book (I'll ask Owen later), but I guess it's like the central point of this book, a concept that my twelfth-grade math teacher once said to us: "the more you learn about something, the more you realize you know nothing about it." Which now that I think of it is kind of an exciting thing. So I'll think more about it like that, and consult my introductory manual and dog-eared pages, and while I felt more like a passerby of this book than someone involved in it, all of this is fleeting anyhow. But I did learn a lot from this book — at least I know what questions to ask.
But I didn't love this book. I really wanted to. I debated giving 4 stars, because it's John, and he does some great stuff here, but I didn't feel drawn to any aspect of it — which is weird to me, considering I've lived in California my whole life, have been a devotée of the New Yorker for just about that long, and spend a considerable amount of time by the side of a Berkeley-bred geologist.
Maybe I read too quickly, and another go-round will lend itself to a more fulfilling, in-depth understanding of everything he presents. Maybe I need to go to the rocks myself, and really think about them with this book in hand. I find I have so many more questions than I did before starting the book (I'll ask Owen later), but I guess it's like the central point of this book, a concept that my twelfth-grade math teacher once said to us: "the more you learn about something, the more you realize you know nothing about it." Which now that I think of it is kind of an exciting thing. So I'll think more about it like that, and consult my introductory manual and dog-eared pages, and while I felt more like a passerby of this book than someone involved in it, all of this is fleeting anyhow. But I did learn a lot from this book — at least I know what questions to ask.