Over the Mountains (An Aerial View of Geology) [Hardcover]

Michael Collier (Author, Photographer)

Book Description

Series: An Aerial View of Geology | Publication Date: March 16, 2007

Introducing An Aerial View of Geology series.

Geology is thrilling. It's the Earth in all its splendor. Unfortunately, geology texts rarely communicate that sense of excitement.

Enter Michael Collier, geologist, writer and one of America's premier aerial photographers. For over 20 years, he has piloted his Cessna 180 to inaccessible locations and returned with stunning photographs that lay bare the Earth's workings.

Over the Mountains, the first book in Michael Collier's new series, focuses on geology's most spectacular subject in a most spectacular way. It includes:

• Detailed and breathtaking large-format color photographs covering the geology of every major mountain range in the United States
• Clear, easy-to-understand text, diagrams and captions that explain and illuminate the geologic processes shown in the photographs.

After exploring the pages of Over the Mountains, readers will never think of mountains -- or geology -- in the same way again.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—The full-color photos in this volume are uniformly stunning and are expertly used by Collier to illustrate how mountains form, evolve, deteriorate, and die. Without reverting to textbook prose, the author covers the fundamentals of mountain geology: rock types, plate tectonics, and erosion, employing his photographs and illustrations to further explicate these principles. It is one thing to write about glaciers, fault zones, plateaus, erosion, alluvial fans, subduction, and volcanoes. It is altogether a higher level of accomplishment to render all of these aspects of geology in photographs as beautiful as they are informative. Collier has put his 50-year-old Cessna 180 and arsenal of photographic equipment to good use, spending thousands of hours in the cockpit, traveling to remote regions of the Earth, up mountain faces, down into canyons, constantly in search of the best shot. He has found many best shots, and readers will enjoy them all. This is an excellent choice for all teen collections.—Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Stunning, bird's-eye-view images .... testament to our country's awe-inspiring geographic majesty ... an eye-opening explanation of some fascinating geologic lessons. (Neil Pond American Profile 20070306)

Michael Collier weds his two passions to bring you stunning aerial shots of some of America's most breathtaking mountains. (Geotimes (Washington DC) 20071201)

Fantastic.... A must-have for all ... who wish to know a bit more about how the earth is put together. (Gary W. Finiol, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver Science Books and Films 200712)

Page after page gives us mountainous visual thrills. (Barbara Julian Times-Colonist 20080203)

Even from the ground, Over the Mountains makes it easy to understand [Collier's] enthusiasm. (American Scientist 200706)

Awe-inspiring aerial photographs ... Collier's love for the land is contagious.... Who knew geology could be so enthralling? (Barbara Johnson VOYA 200710)

Selected as an 'Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12 for 2008' (National Science Teachers Association and the Chil 2007)

Uniformly stunning... render[s] all of these aspects of geology in photographs as beautiful as they are informative. (School Library Journal 20070201)

Best Books 2007, Junior High & Young Adult, Earth Sciences (Science Books & Films 20080103)

Collier's photos....give us the outlook of gods on Olympus. (The Ottawa Citizen )

Selectors' Choice. Fabulous photographs... colorful diagrams... well-written descriptions... magnificent vistas... What a marvelous way to study geology! (Juliana Texley, Lead Reviewer, NSTA Recommends Science & Children )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Mikaya Press (March 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931414181
• ISBN-13: 978-1931414180
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Mountains

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for a casual enthusiast, if a bit short., August 16, 2007

By 

B. Cooner (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Over the Mountains (An Aerial View of Geology) (Hardcover)

I'm not trained in geology. I'm just someone who is fascinated by the fact that the earth can heave entire continents across its surface and push dozens of cubic miles of rock miles into the sky. All this before it is taken down again by gravity and water and wind over a span of time that a human can hardly begin to comprehend. So while I may not share a geologist's deep understanding of the forces at work, I probably share some of their motivations for studying it. And this book really hits the mark for someone like me. It's one thing to see diagrams and illustrations of the structures that lead to mountains, but it's entirely another to see it in a photograph that shows the results of the folds and faults that push and stretch the earth. Finally you feel you can comprehend at least some of the scope of what is going on when viewed from above. Mountains finally start to fit into the human mind when we can see this piece of land being pulled that way, or thrown upward along a clearly defined fault. As others have said, the text accompanying the photos makes an excellent introduction to the principles involved, informative but also infused with the author's clear love of the subject.

If I had any complaint about the book it would be its length. I would have enjoyed seeing more of the nice photography, but it is hard to fault Mr. Collier for this when there is so much beautiful material presented for a reasonable price.

So I'd definitely recommend this for a casual fan of geology. And someone more involved with the subject would probably also appreciate having such a fine collection of vivid illustrations of the principles they study too. Here's to hoping this author gives us more work like this in the future.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Aerial Geology, July 20, 2007

By 

Robert H. Sydnor "RHSydnor" (Fair Oaks, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Over the Mountains (An Aerial View of Geology) (Hardcover)

This ia a magnificent new book on aerial geology of the United States by Dr. Michael Collier. He is trained as a structural geologist (MS, Stanford University), a private pilot with his own Cessna 180, and is a practicing physician in Flagstaff, Arizona. This book has a broad appeal to the general public (as a beautiful folio with scenic geology), and to professional geologists alike. The book contains dramatically new views of mountains that are familiar to most hikers and mountaineers (e.g., Mount Whitney, Mount Baker, Denali, the Grand Teton)---- but the aerial view direction is startling and thrilling to behold.
Collier's book is highly recommended. The quality of the color plates is quite good, and the book is reasonably priced. It takes a place on my shelf of geology field books next to John Shelton's classic book, Geology Illustrated. Indeed, Shelton has written the forward to Collier's book.
Robert H. Sydnor, geologist, Fair Oaks, California

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic pictures. Acceptable text., April 13, 2008

By 

Zato Ici (Starbucks, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Over the Mountains (An Aerial View of Geology) (Hardcover)

Viewing these color aerial photos was a joy. They show landslides, glaciers, bajadas, and other geologic features with images of dazzling eye appeal. The full page shot of the Sheep Mountain anticline alone is worth the price of the book. These are high quality pictures, with all the detail one expects from modern color printing and photographic processes.

One reviewer recommends this for High School libraries. It's certainly not a college text. Streams make a "boisterous descent to sea level." Water "will always try to erode through a softer rather than a harder rock." Actually, water is inanimate and doesn't "try" to do anything. It erodes softer rock more quickly than harder rock.

I suppose the more precise language would have been boring, and our author had the less motivated reader in mind. If you like lots of frosting on your cake, you'll not be bothered. It was a bit much for me.

As a great fan of John Shelton's 1966 Geology Illustrated, I had hoped for a color version of that black & white classic. This may be a five star book for young readers, but it was only three stars for me.