Basin and Range (Paperback)

by John McPhee (Author) "The poles of the earth have wandered..." (more)
Key Phrases: angular unconformity, polar wander, crustal blocks, New Jersey, United States, Great Basin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
One of the most valuable tools for the advancement of geological science has in fact been the humble road cut. United States Interstate 80 crosses the entire North American continent, in the process exposing hundreds of millions of years of geological history. In Basin and Range, McPhee, accompanied at times by Princeton geologist Kenneth S. Deffeyes, demonstrates how the contorted and tilted rocks seen in these road cuts reveal how islands of the earth's crust have floated across the earth's surface, crashing and folding to form basin and range. This is a masterful and sometimes even poetic volume of popular writing about plate tectonics, communicating the profound satisfaction of using scientific research as a tool for understanding the world around us.

This is the first of four books on North American geology by McPhee, collectively entitled Annals of the Former World. The other volumes are In Suspect Terrain, Rising from the Plains, and Assembling California.

Review
“In Basin and Range, McPhee is not so much a visiting amateur as a rhapsodist of “deep time” . . . The result is a fascinating book.” – Paul Zweig, The New York Times Book Review
-- Review

He triumphs by succinct prose, by his uncanny ability to capture the essence of a complex issue, or an arcane trade secret, in a well-turned phrase. -- New York Review of Books, Stephen Jay Gould

In Basin and Range, McPhee is not so much a visiting amateur as a rhapsodist of "deep time".... The result is a fascinating book. -- The New York Times Book Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (April 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374516901
• ISBN-13: 978-0374516901
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,050 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #81 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Geology
  #85 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Nature Writing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's more to Nevada than Las Vegas.........., June 11, 2003

By	nto62 (Corona, CA USA) - See all my reviews

John McPhee's Basin and Range is a layman's geology explaining the formation of mountains and valleys between the Great Salt Lake and the Sierra Nevadas. McPhee intersperses his geology with an alluring mix of personal insight and travelogue commentary which enlivens an otherwise potentially dry subject matter. McPhee makes geology approachable and uncovers the deep intrigue of a science which can be punishing when presented in textbook style. Basin and Range is a short, interesting, and enjoyable explanation of the earth's early shifts of magnitude.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pure and noble quest, April 12, 2002

By	Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Reading John McPhee is such a delight that one wonders what he would be like as a teacher. Not a journalism instructor, for which he is amply qualified, but declaiming on science, particularly geology. McPhee is a master in understandably describing geologic processes and the people studying them. Under his touch, the stable earth is brought to life, compressing time and traversing space. Watching an aircraft descend for a landing, he muses that in another time its approach path would be deep under water. He explains how different the perception of time is in the mind of a geologist from that of our own. All civilization is but an eyeblink in contrast with the rise and fall of mountains and seas. According to McPhee, what geologists face is summarized in one sentence: "The summit of Mount Everest
is marine limestone."

Not long ago, he reminds us, the world was once considered to be like a drying apple. Some areas shrink driving other places to rise leaving a skin of folds. McPhee describes the history of the idea of plate tectonics and how it confounded this earlier concept. The starting point was an understanding of the earth's age. A Scottish "gentleman," James Hutton was an astute observer and an eloquent speaker. Putting his findings in writing, however, "trampled people with words." Hutton revealed the vast duration of time required to form earth's vistas. He was followed by a herald of Charles Darwin, Charles Lyell. Between them, the age of the earth and of life replaced the established biblical origins. In effect, Hutton had taken the next major step in science after Copernicus. Plate tectonics, a group, rather than an individual's insight, opened new fields of research and provided more detailed views of Earth's processes.
Among the pictures are better indicators of finding valuable resources.

McPhee's other works provide testimony to his physical courage, which is immense. Join him as he drives a twisting mountain road with a geologist on a quest: "We turned a last corner, with our inner wheels resting firmly on the road and the two others supported by Deffeyes' expectations." McPhee has joined Kenneth Deffeyes to learn about the building of the Basin and Range - the succession of mountain strings and the valleys separating them. Through McPhee, Deffeyes relates how the mountains were thrust up, eroding silt into the lowlands. Mountain building forces also produce other interesting results. Deffeyes, "a big man with a tenured waistline" by McPhee's description, has "pure and noble purposes in coming to Nevada." His quest for "pure science" investigation is one side of Deffeyes' character. The
other side is his pursuit of a "noble" metal - silver. Deffeyes knows of how plate tectonics works. He also grasps the history of the Nevada mining industry. The combination may make him a millionaire from refining abandoned mines. But there are risks and he tells McPhee " . . . if anybody comes after me, I want you to go to jail cheerfully rather than surrender your notes." Fortunately, McPhee is still outside prison walls writing for us.

This first of several works on the revolution in thinking inspired by plate tectonics remains a readable and valuable book. McPhee doesn't confine his talents to imparting what scientists do. Arcane topics are deftly woven with our everyday lives and ambitions. Sit beside him in a cafe in Nevada as he queries patrons on their reaction to the possibility that the sea will someday flood their region: "We got a boat." His careful balance of deep science and everyday life has received many accolades, but never quite enough. The best reward is to buy him and read him - and the benefits to the reader will be the more enduring.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK- BASIN AND RANGE, March 12, 2003

By	john elder (seattle,Wa) - See all my reviews

John McPhee's Basin and Range kept me wanting to read more, right up to the very end. His style was very interesting, keeping his story on basin and range full of knowledge. He describes two of North America's past basin and range provinces. An ancient one which was once along America's eastern seaboard and the active basin and range which is centered in Nevada. Even for those who are not knowlegdable on geology this is an easily understood book. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys to read, especially someone that is interested in learning about our natural environment.