ENGLISH

Grove Karl Gilbert: A Great Engine of Research

By Stephen J. Pyne

Book information

Publisher
University Of Iowa Press
Year
2007
ISBN
9781587296185, 1587296187
Open Library ID
OL12321638M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
8 MB (8836404 bytes)
Series
American Land & Life
Pages
321\321
Library
avaxhome.ws
Time added
2010-05-31 15:29:46

Description

As Stephen Pyne reveals in his biography, few other scientists can match Grove Karl Gilbert’s range of talents. A premier explorer of the American West who made major contributions to the cascade of new discoveries about the earth, Gilbert described two novel forms of mountain building, invented the concept of the graded stream, inaugurated modern theories of lunar origin, helped found the science of geomorphology, and added to the canon of conservation literature.     Gilbert knew most of geology's grand figures--including John Wesley Powell, Clarence Dutton,  and Clarence King--and Pyne's chronicle of the imperturbable, quietly unconventional Gilbert is couterpointed with sketches of these prominent scientists. The man who wrote that ''happiness is sitting under a tent with walls uplifted, just after a brief shower,'', created answers to the larger questions of the earth in ways that have become classics of his science.

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