The face of the Earth : natural landscapes, science, and culture / SueEllen Campbell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Campbell, SueEllen, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nature and civilization.

Natural history.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 320 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2011]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This lively book sweeps across dramatic and varied terrains-volcanoes and glaciers, billabongs and canyons, prairies and rain forests-to explore how humans have made sense of our planet's marvelous landscapes. In a rich weave of scientific, cultural, and personal stories, The Face of the Earth examines mirages and satellite images, swamp-dwelling heroes and Tibetan nomads, cave paintings and popular movies, investigating how we live with the great shaping forces of nature-from fire to changing climates and the intricacies of adaptation. The book illuminates subjects as diverse as the literary life of hollow Earth theories, the links between the Little Ice Age and Frankenstein's monster, and the spiritual allure of deserts and their scarce waters. Including vivid, on-the-spot accounts by scientists and writers in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Alaska, England, the Rocky Mountains, Antarctica, and elsewhere, The Face of the Earth charts the depth and complexity of our interdependence with the natural world.

Contents:

The Face of the Earth

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

1. Landscapes of Internal Fire

On the Spot: Over a River of Lava

Prologue

Imagining the Interior

On the Spot: At the Edge of an Overthrust Belt

Mundus subterraneus

On the Spot: Among the Aeolian Islands

The Globe, Tectonic Plates, and Mountain Building

On the Spot: Along the Disturbance Gradient

Volcanoes and Their Eruptions

On the Spot: Approaching Chaitén Volcano

Hot Springs and Geysers

2. Climate and Ice

On the Spot: Up and Down the Himalaya

How the Climate Works

The Ghosts of Climates Past

On the Spot: On the Burren

Our Ice Age

Landscapes Shaped by Ice

On the Spot: In the Channeled Scablands

Ice-Age Humans

On the Spot: On the Arctic Tundra

The Little Ice Age, Glaciology, and the Sublime

On the Spot: Toward a Glacier's Edge

The Story Now

3. Wet and Fluid

On the Spot: In the Rocky Intertidal Zone

The Water Cycle

On the Spot: Along a Rain Forest Stream

The Moving Waters of Rivers

The Dream of Water in Deserts

The Slow Water of Wetlands

On the Spot: At the Bog on Céide Fields

Peat, Mires, Bogs, Fens

On the Spot: At Wicken Fen

Marshes and Swamps

Wet/Dry

On the Spot: At the Billabong

4. Desert Places, Desert Lives

On the Spot: Down a Desert River Canyon

Dry, Hot, Windy, and Dusty

On the Spot: In Jabal Ajā

What We See

On the Spot: In the Chihuahuan Desert

Clever Plants

On the Spot: In the Red Center

Clever Creatures

On the Spot: In the Negev Desert

The Human Desert

5. The Complexities of the Real

Underfoot

On the Spot: In Antarctica's Dry Valleys

Oceans of Grass

The Shapes of Complexity

On the Spot: On the Chalk Downs

Evolving Together . . .

On the Spot: In the Tallgrass Prairie

. . . And Moving Apart

On the Spot: On the Tibetan Plateau

Among Trees

On the Spot: In a Eucalypt Forest

Zooming In

Return to Wonder

Epilogue: In a High Flower Meadow

Sources

Contributor Biographies

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786613278647

9781283278645

1283278642

9780520950719

0520950712

OCLC:

743691771