Sand : A journey through science and the imagination
Welland, Michael, 1961-200908UU
Books, Manuscripts
Michael Welland draws us into the world of sand - sand in grains, rocks, and vast and magnificent landscapes on which the wind plays haunting melodies. Packed with fascinating science, laced with tales of explorers, sand art, and the tribes of the desert, this work will appeal to all those intrigued by the nature of sand, and the beauty of deserts. This book is all about sand - sand in individual grains, each one a little different; sand in piles; sand in shoals and dunes; the science of sand but also, shot through the book, sand and imagination - the art and the music of sand. Did you know that the Sand Mountain in Nevada emits a low C, while dunes in Chile sound an F, and those in Morocco a G#? For all its ubiquity, sand is an extraordinary substance. For scientists, it is important in many ways: it represents the crushed remains of past rock, and builds up into layers in lake and ocean beds, layers of sandstone from which we can extract the history of deep time; its erosion creates complex landscapes of mounds and dunes which move in characteristic ways; its grains are remarkable individually and in their behaviour together as a granular material. And to travellers, poets and artists, the deserts it forms are full of grandeur and pathos. Michael Welland is a geologist who has a passion for sand. He shows that truly, one can see a world, both in space and time, in a grain of sand.Review: Thorough investigation. Mick Herron, Geographical This has to be the perfect beach book... Mick Herron, Geographical 'Sand' is serious and entertaining...nothing like it has been published before. Andrew Robinson, Nature Welland provides an appealing blend of science and the imagination. Andrew Robinson, Nature.
Main title:
Sand : A journey through science and the imagination / Michael Welland.
Author:
Imprint:
Oxford : Oxford University Press : [distributor] Oxford University Press Distribution Services : [distributor] Oxford University Press Australia : [distributor] Oxford University Press Australia : [distributor] Oxford University Press Southern Africa : [distributor] Oxford University Press Inc. USA, 2009.
Collation:
352 p. : col., 50 black and white images 8p.plate section ; 23x16x2 cm.
Notes:
Hardback.
Contents:
1. Individuals: birth and character-- 2. Tribes: the strange world of granular materials-- 3. Sand and imagination: very large numbers of very small things-- 4. Societies on the move: journeys to the sea-- 5. Moving on: waves, tides, and storms-- 6. Blowing in the wind: desert landscapes-- 7. Witness: testaments of sand-- 8. Sand and imagination: stories, medium, and muse-- 9. Servant: sand in our lives-- 10. Outward and onward-- Epilogue: desert mysteries.
ISBN:
9780199563180 (hbk)0199563187 (hbk)
Dewey class:
553.622
Local class:
553.622
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
2431000