Product Description

This book contains 25 stories, beginning with the search for an alchemist's secret, and ending with the re-imagination of a past world, and each is connected to a particular part of north-east England, exploring the uncertain line where myth is dissolved into science.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #256962 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 372 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Northeast of England might seem a limited base for insights into the discovery of Earth's "deep history", its extinct inhabitants, the geography of the world and meteorites, but Roger Osborne draws out a fascinating story from his home ground. Such is the rich cultural, economic and scientific history of Britain, founded on a uniquely varied geological substrate, that even relatively small regions like Yorkshire and the Northeast have rich and "deep histories" just waiting to be re-excavated by a skilled and trained "miner" like Osborne.

Using his geological background to full advantage, Osborne digs into the past to recover fragments of historical and scientific documents that authenticate his stories. Their language sets an appropriate tone to support the introduction of perfectly plausible fictional characters. Encompassing a wide array of sources, from seemingly unpromising geological strata and the mining of alum, or the discovery of fossil reptiles and ammonites from Jurassic age sea-cliffs, through hyena bones from Kirkdale cave and the ice age Lake Pickerin to well-known local heroes such as William Smith and Captain James Cook, Osborne excavates deep "shafts" through rich seams of the particular into the more general.

The Floating Egg makes rewarding reading for the general reader, and those with a more specialised interest will never guess what the title refers to. It's worth reading the book to find out. --Douglas Palmer

From the Publisher
If you have never read a book about geology before, and didn't even think you were interested, Roger Osborne could change your life. . . He succeeds magnificently in communicating his enthusiasm.

About the Author
Roger Osborne studied geology at Manchester University in the early 1970s. He then worked as a publisher of scientific, medical and technical books before becoming a full-time writer in 1992. He is the co-author of The Atlas of Earth History, The Atlas of Evolution and, most recently, the critically acclaimed Civilization. He lives in North Yorkshire.

Customer Reviews

Beautifully written history of the early years of geology
The Floating Egg details some of the lesser known aspects of the early years of Geology, with particular focus upon the role that Whitby and the Yorkshire coast played in the making of the field. The book is constructed as a series of anecdotes concerning some of the important events which turned geology from a gentleman's pastime into a firm, deductive field of scientific research. Much of the book recounts interactions, arguments and debates between the key early players. This is an excellent book, not only because it deals with the emergence of what has since become a field of immense scientific and philosophical importance, but also because the author so graciously and entertainingly feeds this to the reader. Chapter 16, "The Strange case of the hyenas' bones" should be ranked as some of the best scientific writing of recent years.

Starts promisingly but drops precipitously
Both the intriguing title and the surprising revelation/explanation thereof in the first chapter would lead one to believe this was a worthwhile read. Alas, not so. Osborne has no doubt spent many hours researching his book and literally "digging up" the background to the individual stories but the collective thread of geological discoveries in Yorkshire is simply not enough. Unless you are a yorkshire fetishist or a Whitbyite (and there will hopefully be some) the concentration on that area is a little to intense and the voyage of discovery really never gets off the ground. One final gripe. THe prose while clear and concise is not flowing and lucid enough to drag the casual reader (as opposed to the career geologist) through slightly unfamiliar territory.