The Mountains of Saint Francis: Discovering the Geologic Events That Shaped Our Earth (St. Francis) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "I remember the bitter cold on the day after Christmas in 1970..." (more)
Key Phrases: tufo lionato, yellow ignimbrite, first sandstone bed, Capitoline Hill, Tyrrhenian Sea, Nicolaus Steno (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The major new work by the best-selling author of T. Rex and the Crater of Doom--a fascinating history. Walter Alvarez and his team made one of the most astonishing scientific discoveries of the twentieth century--that an asteroid smashed into the Earth 65 million years ago, exterminating the dinosaurs. Alvarez had the first glimmer of that amazing insight when he noticed something odd in a rock outcrop in central Italy. Alvarez now returns to that rich terrain, this time to take the reader on an distant past. We encounter the volcanoes that formed the Seven Hills of Rome; the majestic limestone Apennine mountains that started to develop millions of years ago under water; the evidence that the Mediterranean Sea completely evaporated to a sunken desert, perhaps several times; and the proof that continental plates once overran one another to form telling, all major geologic episodes are as dramatic as the great impact that killed the dinosaurs, even when they happen over eons and without huge creatures to witness them. 8 pages of color; 60 black-and-white illustrations.

About the Author

Walter Alvarez is a professor of geology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of the best-selling T. Rex and the Crater of Doom. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and a past recipient of the Penrose Medal, the highest award given by the Geological Society of America. He lives in Berkeley, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; 1ST edition (December 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039306185X
• ISBN-13: 978-0393061857
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #212,301 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The padding on the mountains, January 7, 2009

By	Edward R. Voytovich (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I admire Alvarez and his enthusiasm, and I'm a layman in geology. The core material is fascinating and valuable and deserves a wide readership, but there is an unacceptable level (to me) of verbal padding.

Many long years ago I was forced by malevolent elves to teach Freshman English. I spent a lot of time saying: "Do not tell me what you are going to do, tell me what you are doing, and then tell me what you did. Just do it."

As I read through the book with great interest, I kept being distracted by the kinds of padding that are common in Freshman essays, and not in the essays of advanced Freshman. Robert Parker stretches out his mysteries with large type, wide margins, and extra space between lines. OK, I can forgive that because I want to see what Hawk is going to do.

Alvarez does it with "fillers" about where he is going in the text, where he has been, and what we're going to find out later. He does this a lot. Yikes.

Make no mistake--I've read the book very carefully, cover to cover. I've even bookmarked a comprehensive glossary of geological terms on my computer.

I wish, in my heart of hearts, that it had been written by John McPhee and published as a longish article in the New Yorker.

But then I also wish I were young, skinny, handsome, and rich.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to geology, via the Apennines and Italy, December 2, 2008

By	Robert Ray (Orange County, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful introduction to geology, told using the format of the discovery of Italy's geology (especially around Rome and the Apennine mountains). It is especially valuable since there doesn't seem to be much available to the general reader in English about Italy's geology. So it is highly recommended.
There is also a positive review in the July 31, 2008 issue of 'Nature' magazine, although that reviewer points out that Alvarez' certainty in this book about the Chicxulub crater causing the extinction of the dinosaurs is now met with skepticism. The book is also printed on poor paper, so the photographic reproduction is poor. Possibly because it is a scientific work still in progress, the close of the book (explaining the geographic layout of Italy and the compression then extension development of the Apennines) is not very well developed (or illustrated).
If you are interested in geology, or in Italy's landscape, buy the book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magical read!, November 25, 2008

By	Art Merlin (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This is a beautiful book that is both comprehensible and fascinating to the lay reader (me). Prof. Alvarez has a true gift for bringing his subject matter alive, making it accessible to everyone, and making the read as exciting as a whodunit through a perfect blend of travelogue, history (man's and the earth's) and geology "101". You are never confused by or lost in the science, but by the end of the book you realize that you've had an advanced graduate course in the earth's geology! It's a stunning tour de force; I literally couldn't put it down!