Volcanoes [Hardcover]

Jacques Durieux (Author), Philippe Bourseiller (Photographer)

Book Description

In this oversized volume, award-winning photographer Philippe Bourseiller documents the awesome power and devastating aftermath of volcanoes. More than 170 full-color double spreads depict the volatile outbursts of active volcanoes with photos of red-hot oceans and rivers of fire, massive craters and islands formed from molten rock, and silt-coated towns. The book begins with a discussion of how volcanoes have been alternately worshiped and feared by different cultures throughout history and ends with a chapter on what is currently known by science about the natural phenomena behind volcanic eruptions.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

At first glance, this would appear to be just another oversize book of pretty pictures. But while the color photographs are impressive, the text is equally important; Durieux is a volcanologist who has been consulted by the United Nations to evaluate sites for damage and safety, particularly in Africa. Each chapter includes five to ten pages of introductory text on a focused topic, from legends to personal exploratory experiences to scientific description of how volcanoes form. Following are a page of thumbnail photos with descriptions and 30 to 40 pages of incredibly detailed images of volcanoes from all over the world, taken by Bourseiller, a five-time winner of the World Press Prize. The drawbacks are that the text has neither footnotes nor references for further reading and the photographs have no page numbers so that flipping pages is required to connect a photograph to its description. Still, this is very attractive and informative book on volcanoes. Recommended for larger public libraries or home.
Jean E. Crampon, Science & Engineering Lib., Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...breathtaking images of various modes of volcanic eruptions....A superbly illustrated, informative, popular science book... -- Choice

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 420 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (June 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810916991
• ISBN-13: 978-0810916999
• Product Dimensions: 14.7 x 11.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #587,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Geology > Volcanology
  • #83 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Seismology

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great photos, December 5, 2002

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Volcanoes (Hardcover)

This book contains some truly spectacular photos of volcanoes and volcanic eruptions. The geology of volcanoes often creates scenes with vivid but strange, unworldly-looking colors, such as the man standing next to a small mountain of greenish-yellow sulfur, the milky, powder-blue color of the water in a volcano's caldera, the metallic colors of the mineral deposits crusting the walls and fissures in vocanoes, and the bright, honeycomb-like pattern in a lava lake, along with the other photos of red-hot lava flowing, oozing, glopping, spattering, squirting, or whatever, in the book. The book includes aerial as well as terrestrial photos, and they range from close-ups to vast panoramic views of the mountains and their surroundings. Overall this is a beautiful book with many spectacular photos, and last but not least, the text by Jacques Durieux is interesting and well-written.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book at a Low Price!, July 9, 2004

By 

iljc82 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Volcanoes (Hardcover)

2 friends bought me this book this year and I pored through the pages with a renewed fetish for volcanoes. As the cover page would tell, the pictures in there are really spectacular, making one wonder how they were even captured on paper! The variety is also varied enough to keep you interested - rather than yawning at the 203rd crater. From hellish looking magma swirling in a dark pitless crater, to crater lakes surrounded by uncountable flamingoes, to mystical colored sulphur pools and to "oogly" mud volcanoes, one HAS to stop and ponder the awesomeness of the Creator of these. I particularly like the accounts about real historical eruptions, though there are other really curious stories about how various cultures respond to the volcanic world. The only shortcoming is that the book is too heavy! Frankly, the pictures could have been a teeny weeny bit sharper, but they really ain't "that" bad.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power, beauty, and devastating aftermath of active volcanoes, July 11, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Volcanoes (Hardcover)

Augmented by Jacques Duriux's informative text, Philippe Bourseiller's impressive photography showcases the awesome power, beauty, and devastating aftermath of active volcanoes. With more than 170 full-color, double-page spreads (including satellite photos), Volcanoes reveals memorable images and history of the terrible beauty of molten rivers of fire and overwhelmed silt-coated towns. The text explains the most up-to-date methods of predicting and adapting volcanic eruptions. Whether for simply browsing or for supplementing series studies of vulcanology, Philippe Bourseiller and Jacques Duriux's Volcanoes is an outstanding contribution and highly recommended for school and community library collections.