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Notes from Deep Time Helen Gordon

Notes from Deep Time By Helen Gordon

Notes from Deep Time by Helen Gordon


£6.30
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Condition - Very Good
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Notes from Deep Time Summary

Notes from Deep Time: A Journey Through Our Past and Future Worlds by Helen Gordon

'Astounding ... To call this a "history" does not do justice to Helen Gordon's ambition' Simon Ings, Daily Telegraph 'Awe-inspiring ... She has imbued geological tales with a beauty and humanity' Shaoni Bhattacharya-Woodward, Mail on Sunday The story of the Earth is written into our landscape: it's there in the curves of hills, the colours of stone, surprising eruptions of vegetation. Wanting a fresh perspective on her own life, the writer Helen Gordon set out to read that epic narrative. Her odyssey takes her from the secret fossils of London to the 3-billion-year-old rocks of the Scottish Highlands, and from a state-of-the-art earthquake monitoring system in California to one of the world's most dangerous volcanic complexes, hidden beneath the green hills of Naples. At every step, she finds that the apparently solid ground beneath our feet isn't quite as it seems. Join her to meet the unusual characters who are piecing this vast story together. Grapple with the theory that explains how it all works - plate tectonics, a break - through as significant as evolution or quantum physics but much younger than either, with many secrets still to reveal. And look ahead to the worlds to come, when only our traces will remain, enigmas for those who follow us. 'In deep time,' Gordon finds, 'everything is provisional. Bones become rock. Sands become mountains. Oceans become cities.' And life goes on.

Notes from Deep Time Reviews

Astounding ... To call this a "history" does not do justice to Helen Gordon's ambition. Her adventures in the deep time of Earth hark all the way back to its beginnings as a barren ocean planet, 4.4 billion years ago, while keeping one foot firmly planted in the depleted and desertified plaything we're left with today ... Notes From Deep Time sidesteps the maundering and finger-wagging that comes with much Anthropocene thinking, and shows us how much sheer intellectual and poetical entertainment there is to be had in the idea -- Simon Ings * Daily Telegraph *
Awe-inspiring ... It's Gordon's background as a literary writer that takes Notes From Deep Time to the next level. She has imbued geological tales with a beauty and humanity -- Shaoni Bhattacharya-Woodward * Mail on Sunday *
Notes From Deep Time is a marvel-rich masterclass of narrative non-fiction, one of those books that teaches its reader to see the world completely differently. That it does so with wit, wisdom and crystal-perfect prose only adds to the pleasure. To escape from the present into deep time with such a companionable guide is clarifying, almost therapeutic, and at times gratifyingly dizzying -- Max Porter, author * Lanny *
Helen Gordon's wonderfully expansive book encompasses a paradoxical fluidity, both tangible and immense, where human witnesses measure out deep time in golden spikes and ammonites, excavating lost seas and saurians for clues as to what we were and who we will be -- Philip Hoare, author * Leviathan *
A book as multi-layered as the deep-time planet itself -- Sara Wheeler, author * Terra Incognita *
Sublime ... a fascinating and thrilling descent into time, human in scale but full of moments of vertiginous wonder -- Jon Day, author * Homing *
Helen Gordon's terrifically readable book juxtaposes scenes from deep Earth time with telling accounts of how geologists forensically analyse the evidence for this enormous narrative - and looks to the future, too, as humans make their own additions to the planet's strata. Highly recommended -- Jan Zalasiewicz, author * The World in a Pebble *
Questing, thoughtful and profoundly moving, Notes From Deep Time is a remarkable TARDIS of a book -- Dan Richards, author * Outpost *

About Helen Gordon

Helen Gordon's books include a novel, Landfall (Penguin, 2011), and Being A Writer, a compendium written with Travis Elborough (Francis Lincoln, 2017). She is married to an earth scientist and lives mostly in the Holocene.

Additional information

GOR011285029
9781788161633
1788161637
Notes from Deep Time: A Journey Through Our Past and Future Worlds by Helen Gordon
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Profile Books Ltd
2021-02-18
336
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Notes from Deep Time