New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc. 2000. First Paperback Edition; First Printing. Softcover. 0374518734 . Fine in wraps. ; 6.15 X 1.8 X 9.2 inches; 696 pages .

Synopsis

Annals of the Former World is a book on geology written by John McPhee and published in 1998 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. The book presents a geological history of North America, and was researched and written over the course of two decades beginning in 1978."Most mountain ranges around the world are the result of compression, of segments of the earth's crust being brought together, bent, mashed, thrust and folded, squeezed up into the sky-- the Himalaya, the Appalachians, the Alps, the Urals, the Andes. The ranges of the Basin and Range came up another way, The crust-- in this region between the Rockies and the Sierra-- is spreading out, being stretched, being thinned, being literally pulled to pieces. The sites of Reno and Salt Lake City, on opposite sides of the province, have moved apart fifty miles. The crust of the Great Basin has broken into blocks... irregular in shape. They... suggest stretch marks. Which they are."

Reviews

On Nov 27 2010, Wyantry said:

All John McPhees series of boks on geology, collected into one volume; and this time WITH MAPS!Anyone that has read one or more of McPhees books on geology: 1] Basin and Range, 2] In Suspect Terrain, 3] Rising From The Plains, 4] Assembling California, and 5] Crossing The Craton will enjoy having these individual books in one collection.The Narrative Table of Contents is worth reading as well, in it McPhee explains the rationale and history of his more than twenty-year series of sojurns traversing North America along the line of Interstate 80, accompanying several different geologists.Several concepts of geology, from an explanation of the glaciation of New England, to the advent of Plate Tectonics explaining the accretion of California are explained in an entertaining essentially non-geological manner, with numerous literary references.As a geologist, I recommend this series of books to anyone with an interest in the land-forms and origin of North America.

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Details

Bookseller: Rare Book Cellar (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 171349
Title: ANNALS OF THE FORMER WORLD
Author: John McPhee
Format/Binding: Softcover
Book Condition: Used
Edition: First Paperback Edition; First Printing
Binding: Paperback
ISBN 10: 0374518734
ISBN 13: 9780374518738
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc
Place of Publication: New York
Date Published: 2000
Keywords: 0374518734

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