Devil in the Mountain
A Search for the Origin of the Andes
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- $45.99
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- $45.99
Publisher Description
How do high mountain ranges form on the face of the Earth? This question has intrigued some of the greatest philosophers and scientists, going back as far as the ancient Greeks. Devil in the Mountain is the story of one scientist, author Simon Lamb, and his quest for the key to this great geological mystery.
Lamb and a small team of geologists have spent much of the last decade exploring the rugged Bolivian Andes, the second highest mountain range on Earth--a region rocked by earthquakes and violent volcanic eruptions. The author's account is both travelogue and detective story, describing how he and his colleagues have pursued a trail of clues in the mountains, hidden beneath the rocky landscape. Here, the local silver miners strive to appease the spirit they call Tio-the devil in the mountain.
Traveling through Bolivia's back roads, the team has to cope with the extremes of the environment, and survive in a country on the verge of civil war. But the backdrop to all these adventures is the bigger story of the Earth and how geologists have gone about uncovering its secrets. We follow the tracks of the dinosaurs, who never saw the Andes but left their mark on the shores of a vast inland sea that covered this part of South America more than sixty-five million years ago, long before the mountains existed. And we learn how to find long lost rivers that once flowed through the landscape, how continents are twisted and torn apart, and where volcanoes come from.
By the end of their journey, Lamb and his team turn up extraordinary evidence pointing not only to the fundamental instability of the Earth's surface, but also to unexpected and profound links in the workings of our planet.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lamb, a geologist at Oxford University, melds geological theory and personal observation as he delves into the multilayered mystery of the origin of the Andes. Chapter by chapter, he explores each of the properties of the rocks that make up the earth's surface or an aspect of the planetary forces that contributed to the evolution of the great mountain range. But while the book is presented as a personal scientific journey, the author's dry writing fails to convey his excitement as he begins, literally, to unearth his subject. He does succeed at giving a clear, solid lecture on geological theory and practice with a few personal snapshots of the unseen hazards of fieldwork and occasional local color. Everything is well explained in straightforward language, and each chapter builds logically on what came before. But Lamb has a frustrating habit of implying repeatedly that all will be revealed but not yet. At the conclusion, using everything that he has taught the reader, Lamb narratively builds up the Andes, starting from the great Ice Age, when they began to form, and moving through their evolution and the effect they've had in turn on the evolution of the rest of the planet, including our own species. While this work may not engage many readers, those interested in geology will find it informative and its conclusion satisfying as it dramatically demonstrates all that Lamb has demonstrated. 36 b&w photos, 38 line illus.
