Product Description

Slowly, but constantly, our planet is on the move. Volcanoes erupt and the ground opens up.
Continents collide with continents. Vast land masses creak and groan. Mountain ranges creep even higher.
Packed with dramatic photographs, gripping stories, concise expalnations, Savage Earth is both an exciting and informative read, and a useful source of reference.
The book begins by putiing the earthquakes and volcanoes activity into context, by explaining the complexities of plate tectonics and continental drift using clear, accessible text and diagrams.
Also features powerful eye-witness accounts by those who have been most affected by them, be they scientists, researchers or innocent bystanders.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #799845 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-03
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Synopsis
This reference book puts earthquakes and volcanic activity into context by explaining the complexities of plate tectonics and continental drift using both text and helpful diagrams. Subsequent sections of the book go into more detail looking first at earthquakes, and then at volcanoes, using a mixture of historical and contemporary accounts of major incidents in order to illustrate the often devastating effects. Real-life accounts by many of the interviewees featured in the television series, "Savage Skies", are also included. The final section deals with the science of earthquake and eruption prediction and the difficulties it presents to scientists around the world. Full of dramatic photographs, stories and concise explanation, "Savage Earth" is a reference guide to readers interested in the forces of science and nature. It contains everything you wanted to know about earthquakes and volcanoes but were too embarrassed to ask your children.

About the Author
Educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he as awarded a PhD, Alwyn Scarth was for 30 years a Lecturer in Geography at Dundee University. He is now based mainly in Paris where he continues his writing and research. His previous works include Volcanoes (UCL Press, London).

Customer Reviews

Savage Earth
This is an excellent and educational book on Earthquakes and Volcanoes with many case studies of past and present events that have occured from the eruption of Mount Velsuvius to the earthquakes along the San Andreas Fault. The book explains the processes of continental drift and the activities along plate boundaries that result in tectonic activity and contains interviews with witnesses to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and with the people who have devoted their lives to studying these dangerous tectonic activities. There are explinations of the different types of volcanic eruptions, their causes and their results as wll as detailed information on the waves emitted by earthquakes and their measurement. The introduction is excellent and the rest of the book is no let down with stunning photographs and detailed descriptions of past events and is completed by the methods of prediction that have and are being used to predict when eathquakes and volcanic eruptions will occur. This is a must for anyone who is interested in learning more about these fascinating and deadly activities on the surface of the earth.