Reading the Rocks

Brenda Maddox

Reading the Rocks
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Country
United Kingdom
Published
7 January 2019
Pages
288
ISBN
9781408879559

Reading the Rocks

Brenda Maddox

A rich and exuberant group biography of the first geologists, the people who were first to excavate from the layers of the world its buried history.

These first geologists were made up primarily, and inevitably, of gentlemen with the necessary wealth to support their interests, yet boosting their numbers, expanding their learning and increasing their findings were clergymen, academics - and women.

This lively and eclectic collection of characters brought passion, eccentricity and towering intellect to geology and Brenda Maddox in Reading the Rocks does them full justice, bringing them to vivid life.

The new science of geology was pursued by this assorted band because it opened a window on Earth’s ancient past. They showed great courage in facing the conflict between geology and Genesis that immediately presented itself: for the rocks and fossils being dug up showed that the Earth was immeasurably old, rather than springing from a creation made in the six days that the Bible claimed. It is no coincidence that Charles Darwin was a keen geologist.

The individual stories of these first geologists, their hope and fears, triumphs and disappointments, the theological, philosophical and scientific debates their findings provoked, and the way that as a group, they were to change irrevocably  and dramatically our understanding of the world is told by Brenda Maddox with a storyteller’s skill and a fellow scientist’s understanding. The effect is absorbing, revelatory and strikingly original.   

This item is not currently in-stock. It can be ordered online and is expected to ship in approx 2 weeks

Our stock data is updated periodically, and availability may change throughout the day for in-demand items. Please call the relevant shop for the most current stock information. Prices are subject to change without notice.

Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.