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50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sedimentary Edification, July 11, 2003
Written with obvious gusto, and containing witty and elegant prose that seems to flow by effortlessly, this is popular science at its very best. Nicolaus Steno (aka Niels Stensen in his native Danish) was a gifted dissectionist with a deft touch. He discovered the glands that produce tears (before this discovery, it was thought that when a person got extremely upset their brain leaked water, and this water came out through the eyes as tears!). Branching out from his anatomical studies, he studied seashells embedded in mountains and came to the conclusion that the sediments had been produced in the oceans. He also theorized that either the oceans had once been higher, or the mountains had been uplifted. These conclusions were far from obvious at the time, as the periods necessary to produce thick layers of sediment and to raise mountain ranges would be quite lengthy....which would conflict with interpretations of the Bible which stated that the world was about 6,000 years old. In order to avoid this conflict, many people- rather than admit that seashell fossils were actually seashells- came up with the notion that the "shells" had actually grown right inside the rock. Therefore, they weren't really seashells! Steno was a very religious man (he was born a Protestant but converted to Catholicism) but he didn't believe in interpreting the Bible literally. He eventually gave up science, but not out of any conflict with his religious beliefs. He just believed it was more important to convert Protestants back to the "true faith." The author does a wonderful job of immersing the reader in the intellectual climate of 17th century Europe, so that we can understand the scientific and religious debates detailed in the book. Mr. Cutler also provides interesting and sometimes amusing biographical snapshots of some of the famous people of the time, such as Isaac Newton and the tremendously gifted philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz. (Regarding Leibniz, the author quotes the duchess of Orleans who, after meeting the great man, said "It is so rare for an intellectual to be smartly dressed, and not to smell, and to understand jokes.") If you are at all interested in the history of geology, Mr. Cutler's book is a marvelous addition to the non-technical literature available for the curious layperson.
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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a class act, November 15, 2003
Seashell on the Mountaintop intrigued me from page one. The work brings to life a fascinating time in the history of science that seems far different from our own. That rocks grow, or are in fact spontaneously generated seems absurd, ridiculous,.. but Cutlers's investigation into the life and times of Nicholas Steno seems to acurately portray a time and people who nearly held these ideas as inevitable. In Steno we find a man both spiritual and scientific whose independent, open minded, study and observations led to different conclusions. No revolutions, no public outcries, just a different set of conclusions from the same hard facts. The result, a new science of the past, present and future, called geology. That Steno, unlike other great scientists of the 17th century better known to us today, did not run a foul of the Catholic Church, and towards the winter of his life leaves science behind to become a priest, later saint, suggests that neither science nor religious belief hold firm precedence when interpreting the world. A view lacking today, and one impeding politics, society and civilization. Cutlers book is an excellent read, scholarly without heaviness and like Steno, intriguing with humble relevance.
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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Contribution, November 21, 2003
I am a professor of geology who teaches History of Geology at a major US university. I used this book for the first time this year and it was very well received by the students. Cutler is an outstanding writer. He knows how to get the facts straight and at the same time tell an interesting story. I am a little perplexed at the claims made in another review of this book, namely that Seashell on the Mountaintop is "full of errors". Notably, the claimant doesn't list a single one of these supposed factual errors. I know a little bit about the History of Geology, and I have not yet found a single error in Cutler's manuscript. With regard to the reviewer's wish that Seashell on the Mountaintop "be burnt", I quote John Milton: "Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye. Many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." Seashell on the Mountaintop is a very good book indeed.
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