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What Volcanoes Tell Us About the World and Ourselves
by Tamsin Mather
A mix of memoir, travel and popular science, charting journeys across deserts, through jungles and up ice caps, to some of the most important volcanoes around the world
In this captivating book from one of the most influential geochemists in the field, Tamsin Mather takes us along on her globe-spanning excursions from Nicaragua to Hawaii, Santorini to Ethiopia and beyond. With warmth and lyricism, she explores the cultural roles volcanoes play throughout history, and the growing and evolving science behind their formation and eruptions.
Adventures in Volcanoland is an urgent and poetic exploration into the world's most mysterious geological mountains and how they make and shape our world.
"Readers who are interested in popular science will find that this book is hard to put down, a remarkable journey with an entertaining guide. Mather combines a personal story with an era-spanning scope, turning esoteric information into a colorful, engaging account." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Readers will easily imagine they are along for the ride in this crucial contribution to the geology of volcanoes... This marvelous, earnest work is impressive." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Mather effortlessly integrates science and technology, geological and social history, harrowing scenes of skin-rippling heat and flying boulders, and thoughtful analysis of where our planet has been and where it may be going." —Booklist
"Tamsin Mather has a lovely style, making the mechanics of volcanology easy to visualize, while her prose has real finesse. Fascinating." —Irish Sunday Independent
"A magical scientific exploration of volcanoes, and how they've shaped both nature and human destiny… This detailed, impeccably researched study hints at the kind of divine intervention we may soon need." —The Guardian (UK)
"A fascinating, beautiful book… Mather is a glorious guide to this extraordinary subject." —Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author of H Is for Hawk
"From ancient eruptions that sculpted continents to the ongoing ballet between fire and ice that defines our planet's ever-changing topography, Dr. Tamsin Mather seamlessly blends captivating storytelling with profound scientific insights that unravel the extraordinary power of volcanism." —Jill Heinerth, author of Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver
"A collision of high adventure and vital science. You cannot find a more inspiring introduction to nature's most awesome power. Written with beauty, wit and clarity by one of the world's most brilliant Earth scientists, it puts volcanoes center stage in the eternal drama of geology, climate and life." —Clive Oppenheimer, author of Mountains of Fire and geologist at the University of Cambridge
This information about Adventures in Volcanoland was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Tamsin Mather is Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford. Prior to joining the faculty at Oxford in 2006, she was a research council fellow at the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and a Royal Society research fellow. She has published over 145 scientific papers and won numerous prizes including the 2018 Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture.
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