Customer Reviews

Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a friend of the author, I feel an appropriate corrective to the Publishers Weekly review would be either of the two very positive New York Times' reviews, one of which says...."this astonishingly boring-sounding book turns out instead to be an astonishment: an engaging, literate, mischievously written and only occasionally maddening voyage, far beyond everything most readers might possibly have wanted to know about hard water."

Neal Karlen , December 26, 2005, Books of The Times

This book is just plan amazing. One would think that no one could write a 560 page book on frozen water and make it not only interesting, but fascinating. I found myself turning the pages and reading despite myself. Mariana Gossnell has a style that leads one on from wonder to wonder. Indeed "Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance" is a masterpiece of science writing. From a pond freezing over in winter to the ice on Jupiter's moon Europa and the ice in comets (indeed at least half of the water currently on earth may have originated in these deep space travelers) here is everything everyone might have ever wanted to know about this amazing substance and a lot more beside. Gossnell introduces us to ice in human history, its associations with living things, its uses and its origins. With a lot of ice (the world's glaciers and Greenland's ice cap among others) now melting apparently due to global warming, this is a very timely book.

Water has always fascinated me and this book just confirms the wonder that is water in all of its forms. It is a truism that without water life simply would not exist on the planet. DNA may be the molecule that determines life, but water is the molecule that allows it, at least in a form that we know. If you think the subject boring, read "Ice" and be surprised! I recommend it highly.

"ICE" is of interest to a very few people. It gets into the nitty gritty of all things snowy and cold.

It is well-written but I can't imagine the average reader really getting into the esoterica of how frozen lakes form or the difference between a frozen lake and a frozen river. The book even gets into how a frozen lake breaks up.

The historical notes are interesting but again, not for everyone. In short, this is the kind of book only a nerd such as myself would love.

The book is very complete on ice as it has changed our environment. The cycling of ice ages is very well presented and documented. The stories about ice adventures add to the book. Every environmentalist should read this book to understand the massive temperature cycling that has occured since the beginning. I recommend it to any interested intelligent person.

Ignore the PW print review: This is a wonderful treasure chest of science, stories, lore and quotes about ice in all its many, many forms. Recommended for all lovers of popularized science--and of natural beauty.

If you like learning new things. I got it for the holidays and was sorry when I finished it -- can't wait for ice II

"Ice" is an wonderful book. It is well written and should be interesting to almost anyone of intelligence, regardless of their field of normal interest. Many questions which I had over the years were answered, and I was given further areas to investigate. My concerns are varied. Being a graduate student, time is in short supply, but this book gave me a lot of satisfaction. John

Living in the Northeast I can attest as could anyone living in the northern expanse of North America that this past winter was one heck of a polar punch in the gut.Snow,then ice followed by more and more until we were up to our necks in it. Even at this late date I can look out my front window and see a little patch of snow on my lawn hanging on yet to melt,probably snow from a storm we had just after the holidays last year.Causation by global warming or an axis shift of the earth is anyone's guess.I fear,however that we are in for more of the same in the coming years and if that's the case I want to know as much about this stuff as I can get a hold of.Gosnell will give you that knowledge and more in her excellent book simply entitled "Ice".It is hard to imagine that this absolutely simple yet complex crystalline molecule could cause so much trouble,yet be so helpful and so needed on our planet.This book is practically a graduate level course but without the complexities to muddle one's brain. It is written for everyone to understand but does have its serious side when speaking of the structure and how water needs a nucleator to begin the process that then forms the lattices and sheets which form the core structure of ice.Complex yes but so fragile a thing is ice that just a few degrees change in temperature could undo it all in a blink of the eye.Interspersed in its pages are little bits of poetry or literature related to ice which adds to the fullness and caring the author paid to giving more than just facts or factoids to the reader.It covers just about every imaginable area where ice is involved from lakes and rivers to the polar ice caps.Glaciers,icebergs,ice breakers,ice fishing,games that involve ice,Eskimos,igloos,penguins and other polar animals,ice safety,to deep dark outer space where our poor,displaced Pluto who is going through an identity crisis as we speak, to the rings of Saturn and its icy moons, to comets,those dirty snowballs who just may be responsible for life on earth or at least its water supply.From ice ages to ice cubes it is all here for you to read about and learn that this cold substance is quite important to our very existence. Broken down into clear concise chapters it takes some time to get to the finish of this 500 plus page book but it is worth it.Yes, there is a lot of information to digest but you have a big portion of it right here at your fingertips so take your time.It is highly recommended for those who like this topic as it is not for the casual reader. You need to want to know this stuff or you may get frustrated.It is said that ice is nothing more than self-actualized water,that all water ever aspires to be is ice and after reading this book I am starting to see why.Save it for the summer when it may help keep you cool as you sit in your backyard, sweating, drinking your iced drink.Now you too can look at those cubes melting with confidence,sit back and smile knowing its structure and how it formed,why it cools your drink,what those striations inside the cube mean and think about the coming winter where the ice will again come in larger forms like the far off and distant ice age we are just now getting over and may see again sooner than you think.Stay cool with this exhaustive look at the substance we simply call ice and be amazed at just how many different kinds of ice there really is out there, just don't get brainfreeze when you find out.Enjoy.

Frozen water. What else is there to say about it? It's H2O that's lost so much energy it turns from a liquid to a solid. Big deal, right? What else is there to know about ice?

Read Gosnell's book to find out. You'll be pleasantly surpised to discover a lot about ice you never knew and wish you had. Ice is important, and always has been, and always will be.

Learn from the scholarly research, but also enjoy the wit. *Ice* by Mariana Gosnell is well worth the journey, in my opinion.

If you liked Kurlansky's COD and SALT then ICE is for you, excellent work and intelligently written... Highly recommended.