Book Description

Hardbound. This book seeks to explore seismic phenomena in elastic media and emphasizes the interdependence of mathematical formulation and physical meaning. The purpose of this title - which is intended for senior undergraduate and graduate students as well as scientists interested in quantitative seismology - is to use aspects of continuum mechanics, wave theory and ray theory to describe phenomena resulting from the propagation of waves.

The book is divided into three parts: Elastic continua, Waves and rays, and Variational formulation of rays. In Part I, continuum mechanics are used to describe the material through which seismic waves propagate, and to formulate a system of equations to study the behaviour of such material. In Part II, these equations are used to identify the types of body waves propagating in elastic continua as well as to express their velocities and displacements in terms of the properties of these continua. To solve the equati ... Read more

Book Description

The legendary annihilation in 1883 of the volcano-island of Krakatoa -- the name has since become a byword for a cataclysmic disaster -- was followed by an immense tsunami that killed nearly forty thousand people. Beyond the purely physical horrors of an event that has only very recently been properly understood, the eruption changed the world in more ways than could possibly be imagined. Dust swirled round the planet for years, causing temperatures to plummet and sunsets to turn vivid with lurid and unsettling displays of light. The effects of the immense waves were felt as far away as France. Barometers in Bogota and Washington, D.C., went haywire. Bodies washed up in Zanzibar. The sound of the island's destruction was heard in Australia and India and on islands thousands of miles away. Most significant of all -- in view of today's new political climate -- the eruption helped to trigger a wave of murderous anti-Western militancy by fundamentalist Muslims in Java: one of the first outbreaks of Islamic killings anywhere.

Simon Winchester's long experience in world wandering, as well as his knowledge of history and geology, gives us an entirely new perspective on this fascinating and iconic event as he brings it tellingly back to life.

Reviews (4)

Volcanic Photography
This book has some of the best photography of volcanoes I have ever seen. It's a great volcano book.

fire on the mountain
I think this book is well writen, and easy to understand, but the thing i like the most about this amazing book is the coolerfull pictures. Most of this book is pictures of erupting valcanoes with captions explaning the pictures. This book taught me many, many things about volcanoes. I recumend this book, Fire on the Mountain for all ages.

Excellent photography & captions, interesting reading
This book covers the different types of volcanoes with excellent photographs accompanying and expanding on the text. Even if you just look at the photos, the book's price is worth it, but the text really added to the book as well with very accurate geologic information in a non-textbook format suitable for the general public. The reading level is probably 9th grade and up. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and plan to give more copies to others as gifts.

Gorgeous coffee table book!
After having worked and lived on Kilauea volcano, I can assure readers that Dorian Weisel's exquisite photographs are the next best thing to being in Hawaii! While lacking in serious scientific content, Fire on the Mountain is a gorgeous coffee table book that any house guest will enjoy browsing. Fire on the Mountain is also a wonderful introduction to Hawaiian volcanoes for the curious. Carl Johnson's writing is a bit flowery in places, but he describes the beauty and fury of Hawaiian volcanoes with genuine awe and appreciation. ... Read more

Book Description

Non-quantitative and carefully illustrated, unique in both organization and approach, this three-books-in-one book introduces the scientific, historical, and personal safety aspects of earthquakes.Significantly broad in perspective on the subject, this book provides the basic scientific facts about earthquakes, explaining how the study of earthquakes has progressed through time, offering details on the development of earthquake instruments, and covering immediately practical aspects such as personal safety, building and living in areas prone to earthquakes, and earthquake geography.For a variety of careers in Geology, Environmental Science, Forestry, or Urban Planning professions. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very Excellent Book.
I read this book because I took a class about earthquakes taught by the auther Dr. David Brumbaugh. He is not only an awesome teacher, but he knows his stuff. The book is very detailed without getting too difficult to understand. The book talks not only about the physics of an earthquake , but also the history and culteral myths sourounding earthquakes. The book is a great book to buy if you want have a great understanding about earthquakes. The author teaches at Northern University Arizona, so if you are there TAKE THE CLASS AND BUY THIS BOOK! ... Read more

Book Description

A lively introduction to the basic principles of geology and other earth sciences. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Salt of the Earth
In the introduction to "Music of the Earth," Morton laments that his editor removed a great deal of his "cornball humor" from early drafts of the book. She obviously didn't get it all, but what remains shows that Morton has a genuine and even charming enthusiasm for his subject.

"Music of the Earth" explores a wide range to geological topics, from continental drift, volcanoes and earthquakes to geysers, ice ages, deserts and mass extinctions. Morton explains the basics of geology using analogies that sometimes seem a bit forced (try using "grandma's apple pie" to illustrate plate tectonics), but I have to admit that the corny examples helped me to understand the subject better than more elegant discussions in other books.

All in all, I enjoyed reading Morton's book because he has a genuine and infectious enthusiasm for geology. You may shake your head at the occasional bad pun, but I suspect that you'll learn more from Morton than you will from other, stuffier earth science texts.

Learn geology while being entertained
If you want to learn some geology, with emphasis on volcanism, this is the place to start. Ron Morton gives a good overview of geological sciences, entertaining us all the way, and at times even painting frightening word pictures. With comments on poetry, literature, politics, engineering, and human behaviour, Dr.Morton appears as the modern renaissance man. We are all the richer for having this book, and we envy the real winners, who surely are the students in Dr. Morton's geology classes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Volcano information at your fingertips..
The volcano registry is a brief register of the fifteen hundred or so known volcanoes on Earth. Each volcano is listed alphabetically, with a sentence or two that summarises the key data: coordinates, height, and known activity. The book is is a useful handbook size, and is attractively typeset. The register closes with four very brief appendices, and a useful index.

While this handbook might satisfy your need to know that little-bit-more about a volcano in the news, the true volcanophile will want to turn to the original source of most of the information contained in the registry: 'Volcanoes of the World', by Tom Simkin and Lee Siebert of the Smithsonian Institution. ... Read more

Book Description

Dramatic full-color photos of eruptions such as Mount St.Helens helpshow how volcanoes are created, different kinds of eruptions and cone formations, andwhy tsunamis often follow. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great volcano book. Wonderful illustrations.
I grabbed a whole bunch of volcano books from our local public library (because our little boy thinks volcanoes are "neat").

This book was the best.

It is so excellent that I decided to buy it. ... Read more