****************************************
Book Review: King of the 40th Parallel
****************************************
From: Janet Tanaka <jmtanaka@xxxxxxxxx>
KING OF THE 40TH PARALLEL: Discovery in the American West
James Gregory Moore
Stanford Univ. Press, 2006
ISBN: 0804752230 List Price US$21.95
330 pp. plus 39pp of appendices and notes
Who's the King? Clarence King, master surveyor and geologist and first
Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. This book is both a biography of King
and a history of the 19th century mapping and geological study of the American
West along the 40th parallel.
First, as a biography, we see King as a "Renaissance Man" who
loved poetry and art and was a welcome raconteur at both formal dinners and
around a campfire. (He even had a secret lovelife.)
Second, it is an exceedingly detailed history of the study, surveying,
and
mapping of the West, spotlighting not only King, but his several colleagues,
including his boyhood friend, James Gardner. The book is more history than
science. However, the travel stories, rivalries, and the beginning of
scientific
bureaucracy (or bureaucratic science?) are captivating tales for most any
reader.
The history buff will have a blast--little of the everyday life on and off
the trail is left out. In addition, the appendices and notes offer a veritable
cornucopia of information about life, pioneering, knowledge gathering, and
surviving(!) in the "old west".
Especially interesting to the science-minded are the use of the simple
scientific instruments of the time and how much information was gained from
them. No lasers, no computers, no GIS, no satellites, no cell phones, none of
the technology that is available to today's college geology student.
We take so much for granted here in the 21st century. The reader cannot
help but admire the courage of these men who battled treacherous slopes,
weather, outlaws, and hostile native tribes--all to answer the question:
"What's out there?"
Reviewed by Janet Tanaka
Puget Sound AWG
==============================================================
To unsubscribe from the volcano list, send the message:
signoff volcano
to: listserv@xxxxxxx, or write to: volcano-request@xxxxxxxx
To contribute to the volcano list, send your message to:
volcano@xxxxxxxx Please do not send attachments.
==============================================================
