Earth

An Intimate History

By: Richard Fortey

Narrated by: Michael Page

In Earth, the acclaimed author of Trilobite! and Life takes us on a grand tour of the earth's physical past, showing how the history of plate tectonics is etched in the landscape around us.

Beginning with Mt. Vesuvius, whose eruption in Roman times helped spark the science of geology, and ending in a lab in the West of England where mathematical models and lab experiments replace direct observation, Richard Fortey tells us what the present says about ancient geologic processes. He shows how plate tectonics came to rule the geophysical landscape and how the evidence is written in the hills and in the stones. And in the process, he takes us on a wonderful journey around the globe to visit some of the most fascinating and intriguing spots on the planet.

©2004 Richard Fortey (P)2020 Tantor

Captivating and interesting - excellent all around

I loved the way Richard Fortey writes. A ton of information is craved into this book. Very well-written. Author and reader do a fantastic job making the content captivating and woven together in way that brings you full circle. Highly recommend for geology and science fans.

very interesting and well read

this audiobook was very well put together a lot of information well-organized and very well-read

If you liked A Short History of Nearly Everything..

You’ll probably enjoy this audiobook. Maybe a little quirkier than Bryson’s, but if science, the history of science, and a sense of place is your thing, this book delivers. The science piece goes deeper than usual general interest books, but done great here.

Impressive

Fortey's combination of technical expertise with his gift for story telling make this subject matter relatable and so intersting even for the unintiated.

Prose denser than peridotite

This is a truly fine book despite the headline I gave this short review. It covers an array of geological features with creativity and, at times, adroit explanation. At first, I feared I was in for page after page of geological tourism. The book opens with a description of Mt Vesuvius and Italian history that did not intrigue me at all, but once done with principles of extrusive igneous rocks, the book moves on in ways that were more geology with less cultural overlay. When Fortey did pick this thread up again in describing the San Andres fault and Los Angeles, he was far more entertaining and much briefer.

Fortey’s prose stands out, sometimes for good reasons and sometimes because he places more value on the stuff of words than rocks. However, when one of his similes or other figures of speech works, it really works, like this one describing how the pressures deep in the earth transform minerals: “The mineral olivine undergoes more than one transformation in its journey towards the center of the earth. Deeper and its atoms are forced closer together, jostling for accommodations like crowed passengers on a rush hour subway train performing subtle readjustment as more and more of their fellows join them.”

In the end the book works because of its breadth and Fortey’s erudition.