Melting the Earth: The History of Ideas on Volcanic Eruptions
What is a volcano? Why do some have slow-flowing lava and some explode with fire and rocks? How are volcanoes and earthquakes related? Sigurdsson (oceanography, Univ. of Rhode Island) looks at these questions and more from various points of view: prehistoric legend, religion, superstition, and science from the 17th century to date. He has done his research well. Some of the theories he relates appear foolish in hindsight, but most of them were taken quite seriously in their time. His subtitle is apt, as each chapter adds to the evolution of scientific thought in this area of geology. He shows the importance of other disciplines, including chemistry, physics, and thermodynamics, in understanding how the study of volcanoes has changed over time. He also notes how points of view shift with field research and experimentation. In the end, we are left with more questions, which is one of the excitements of science. For larger public libraries and academic collections supporting the earth sciences.AJean E. Crampon, Science & Engineering Lib., Univ. of Southern California, Los AngelesCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.