Experimental Blog #12

Comments on 2 books

"The Map that Changed the World"- William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester

Another geology book that I read recently listed this book in the bibliography as somewhat "hagiographic", but still informative or worth reading. I found the book to be a very informative account of the life and sometimes amazing work of William Smith. However, the book did leave an impression that it was somewhat one-sided, and almost always, in favor of William Smith.


"Stories in Stone"- Travels Through Urban Geology by David B. Williams

When I finished this book, I could not get over the feeling that this book was one of the most impressive and informative books that I have read in a year or more. Reading it made me somewhat distressingly aware of my lack of, or miseducation, many years ago. Although, it is perhaps partly because geology and paleontology are also sciences that seem to have made remarkable advances or consolidation and interpretation of knowledge and research in recent decades, that is, in the last 30 years, or so.