William O. Field is recognized by many as the father of modern glaciology in North America. His life and work are the subject of this beautifully illustrated oral biography, which demonstrates both his major scientific contributions and his instinctive ability to visually capture history being made all around him.
Field’s major insight was that glaciers hold secrets to climate and environmental change. Thus, from 1926 until his death, he systematically documented changes in glaciers in stunning and scientifically informative photographs. He continued monitoring glacial change until his death, leaving a longitudinal record of immense value to glaciology and the study of climate change. Field discusses this scientific process amidst colorful tales of the people he traveled with and met on the way and of the history he witnessed.
C Suzanne Brown supplements the scientific, historical, and personal aspects of Bill’s oral biography with additional photographs, maps, references, and background information, creating a richly visual book. Simultaneously useful, beautiful, and engrossing, With A Camera in My Hands makes an important contribution to glaciology, geology, biography, the history of science, and the history of the North.
About the Author
C Suzanne Brown holds degrees in mathematics from the University of New Hampshire and atmospheric science from the University of Washington, where she did fieldwork on the Blue Glacier. She subsequently worked for ten years in the U.S.G.S. Project Office of Glaciology, primarily on glaciers in Alaska. Brown spent twenty years working with William O. Field on his collection and his oral biography and is assisting in the archiving of the Field Collection at the Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
