Bedrock

Book excerpt: Novelists, poets, artists, anthropologists, traditional elders, philosophers, and naturalists come together to create a geological portrait of the Earth -- from the violence of earthquakes and erupting volcanoes to epochal patterns in stone and the sinuous flow of rivers. With insights from many cultures and across time, Bedrock wonderfully illuminates the geology of our home planet. The book is organized into sections that deal with rock and stone; deep time; earthquakes and faults; volcanoes and eruptions; rivers to the sea; mountains and high�lands; wind and desert; the flow of ice; and the life of the Earth. Insightful, penetrating, and provocative, the works are written from many positions -- traditional and indigenous as well as Western scientific. Bedrock bridges specialized science and ordinary existence, providing a fascinating portrait of the forces that have shaped the Earth and giving readers a sense of the geologic experience encompassing their lives.