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Title: Supercontinent: Ten Billion Years in the Life of Our Planet
ISBN: 0674026594
Author:
Ted Nield
Publicate Date: 2007-11-15
Publish: 2007-11-15
List Price: $29.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $18.74
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $18.48
Amazon Merchant Price: $19.77
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Absolutely Fascinating!
In this remarkable book, the author touches upon just about everything regarding long lost continents: how the idea of a supercontinent came about, ancient and not-so-ancient myths (Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu), why continents cannot simply sink, highlights in the lives of some of the individuals involved and, in particular, the fascinating science. After discussing how the existing continents are moving relative to each other (continental drift) and how they will likely collide in the distant future, thus forming another supercontinent, he discuses the supercontinents of the past. In so doing, the reader is treated to a history of the earth and how it works, brimming throughout with scientific facts, principles as well as theories and the evidence that supports them. The scientific processes involved and the dating techniques that are used by scientists are particularly well explained; this is not surprising given the author's credentials. The writing style is clear, elegant, authoritative, often witty and always quite engaging. As a result, this is a book that can be enjoyed by anyone, although science/geology buffs may be the ones that would savor it the most.
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2: Good science, bad writing
It's interesting in a sense that if it had been someone other than Neild writing this book, I probably would have given it five stars. As it is however, the presentation of the subject matter is at times vague and at other times condascending. Science is always evolving as new ideas are put forward and old ones become obselete. As such, there's no need to criticize old ideas, even if they've been rendered null and void.
The science is still good though, so I'd recomend picking this book up.
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3: Brilliant but Uneven
This book tackles the great subject of the geologic history of the Earth from the vantage point of plate tectonics. Along the way, the author writes compellingly of the origins and development of life and the history of our atmosphere. He also gets side-tracked in biographies of some key geologists in the Continental Drift controversy as well as a light-hearted discussion of fictitious 'Lost Continents'. Luckily the book is organized in such a way that these digressions can be skipped if desired. My main objection in this book is the lack of good and relevent illustrations and maps. At the very least, a detailed stratigraphic chart relating geologic periods to continent-building and other events would be helpful. Also, maps detailing the assembly and disassembly of the supercontinents would greatly enhance his narrative of these events.
In many ways this is a wonderful and informative work. Paradoxically, it is not an easy read in the most interesting sections but it is well worth the effort.
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4: The Grand Quadrille
"Did the Earth move for you?", asks the voice beside you. Well, yes. Because that's what it does. All the time. The continent you live on used to be someplace else, and far away from where it is now. Your home ground has even been part of a greater landmass known as a "supercontinent" - and will be again. Hence, the title of this book. Ted Nield provides us with a fine account of how we came to learn about these movements. He has brought together the years of research tracking where the rocks have been and where they are likely to go. He likens the movement of continents to a dance of landforms - a "Grand Quadrille". A fine synopsis of the history of geology and its compelling figures - scholars who had to project what was known in their time back into a distant past.
Earth has been a busy place for the past four billion years, and it hasn't stopped to rest. We speak of the "firmness of the Earth", but that phrase is a sham. The key figure in this story is the great supercontinent of Pangaea that began breaking up 250 million years ago. Assembled from previous continents that had once joined and also separated, Pangaea's breakup into places we live on today have been traced in exquisite detail. The matching of rocks in places separated by wide seas provided the clues. In fact, as Nield relates, it was the vast Atlantic that bears the responsibility for Pangaea's fracturing to form the basis for the continents we know today. The author explains how the continents have been engaging in a Grand Quadrille and will continue to do so - for another five billion years, at least.
The progenitor of the idea of "drifting continents" was Alfred Wegener. Using maps to show how western Eurasia and Africa matched the east coasts of the Western Hemisphere, Wegener proposed they had once been joined, but had pulled apart. He couldn't provide a mechanism for the movement, and his idea was rejected - most notably by the geologic "establishment" of the United States. Rejection of the proposal was so strong there that one British geologist described it as "regarding the Declaration of Independence as retroactive to the Palaeozoic". Continents formed separately and remained so through time, it was thought.
However, one US dissident, Reginald Daly of Harvard, had been in South Africa, encountering the work of Alexander du Toit, who noted similarities in rocks of the Great Karoo and South America. That discovery, enhanced by some detailed measurements in Greenland, suggested that movement was occurring. It took a war and the hunt for submarines to reveal what prompted continental movement. An Irish geophysicist, John Joly had already postulated the mechanism, heat from radioactive elements deep in the Earth required escape. That venting pushed the softer areas in the Earth's crust around. Sitting atop that stirring material, the continents track the flow patterns of the heat.
In moving, the continents encounter each other, joining, fusing and establishing mighty landmasses that break up again. Nield skilfully describes the mechanisms and the people who have read the rocks to understand how they work. Beyond Pangaea, for example, the author cites the work of Mark McMenamin, who proposes a yet older supercontinent, Rodinia. Rodinia's importance in the history of the Earth is that it was probably the extant landform around which complex life, after over 3 billion years, finally emerged. Nield's skill in presenting all these complex ideas and their significance never wanes throughout the book. He's achieved a fine summary of the history of modern geology, supported by a collection of portraits and some line drawings. The emphasis on Pangaea is slightly overdone, but his pointer to Chris Scotese's web page of geologic ages more than overcomes that small limitation. An excellent overview. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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5: Merely a historical survey, not particularly informative
Based on the subtitle of this book, I was expecting details on the changes in the earth's crust/continents over the last 10 billion years -- a very interesting survey that would be! However, the author begins with a parable on what an alien visitor would see from outer space, suitable for teenage readers, after which the bulk of the book is a survey of the history of plate tectonics. This survey focuses on the individuals involved, jumping back and forth between them, and offers little real information. It is not particularly scientific but would instead be a history of the research, with bios of the scientists/philosophers. I ended up skimming in order to find the kind of info I was looking for. Also, to note, the illustrations don't have captions, so you aren't entirely sure what you are looking at or where/why it applies to the text.
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