Last week, I finished reading Living in the Appalachian Forest: True Tales of Sustainable Forestry, by Chris Bolgiano. It’s a grab-bag of stories from the forested mountains of the south-central Appalachians, ranging from Pennsylvania down to Kentucky and maybe Georgia, too. West Virginia and Virginia get the most attention. The driving question behind the book … Read more
Found this caterpillar in the dirt the other day outside my house… Here it is (in the palm of my leather work gloves – the width of a finger may be seen blurrily in the background): I spent some time looking for matches on Bug Guide and in Garden Insects of North America by Whitney … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I was killing time down in Front Royal, and I spent a pleasant hour in the Royal Oak Bookshop. I saw a used paperback copy of Tony Horwitz’s classic Confederates in the Attic there, and bought it, thinking I could give it away to a friend or visitor who didn’t … Read more
In the delivery room last week, while we waited for Lily’s labor to ramp up, I finished reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. I think it was one of the most insightful, important books I’ve ever read. I was pre-disposed to like it, because I really enjoyed Pollan’s earlier book The Botany of Desire, … Read more
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJNSw1XtU6c”] Here’s the link to the book on Amazon.
Callan’s Canadian Rockies field course visits an outcrop of Cambrian slate in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Folded and boudinaged carbonatite dikes are seen.
Mountain Beltway reader “Earth Mama” responded to the recent geo-meme (which started here, folks!) by compiling all these visit-worthy locations in a single Google Earth KMZ file. If reading the lists from the various geobloggers didn’t whet your appetite, now you’ve got the ‘virtual globe’ option…. Hi Callan, I wanted to thank you for the … Read more
After our “pre-honeymoon” sojourn to the Canadian Rockies last summer, Lily and I returned to the U.S. via Porthill, and then drove over to a place I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time: Yaak, Montana. Yaak (or “the Yaak“) is way up in the Kootenai National Forest, in way-way-way-northwesternmost Montana. We camped out … Read more
I just finished reading 101 American Geo-Sites You’ve Gotta See, one of the latest publications by geology-friendly (and Missoula-based) Mountain Press. I’m grateful to the the publishers for sending me a review copy. It’s a nicely written and produced book highlighting sites across the United States of America of geological interest. The book is organized … Read more
Callan and his wife hike Cory Pass in Banff National Park, Canada, and encounter some geology, some solitude, and a spectacular landscape.
Callan reviews two books about climate change: the nonfiction account by Michael Mann, and a fictional thriller set in the warmed Arctic of the future.
Callan reviews a book about the historical battle over the meaning of coral reefs. Protagonists include Charles Darwin and the son of Louis Agassiz. The book’s author, David Dobbs, answers some questions for Callan and readers.
Callan has a conversation with Scott Mandia, a community college professor working on the national level to improve the public’s understanding of climate science.
On the airplane ride back from Texas, I bought a copy of Michael Crichton’s semi-posthumous final novel, Micro, which was co-authored by Richard Preston after Crichton’s death in 2008. Preston wrote a superb book about Ebola virus in the DC area, so I was intrigued to see his influence. Plus, and of utmost priority, I … Read more
Here’s where to get yourself a copy: Smithsonian Institution Secretary, Charles Doolittle Walcott My visit to Walcott’s grave (alluded to in the video) is here. [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=armXHEa4PGo”]
A brief video review of two books presented in a cartoon format: Feynman, by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick The Book of Genesis Illustrated, by R. Crumb [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsbcS2_ZAhg”]
I’m on the plane home from the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, held this year in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This annual event features a robust smorgasbord of science, with talks and posters detailing the research efforts of thousands of geoscientists from the US and other countries. It’s an amazing experience on many, many … Read more
I was sent a review copy of a new book about the Earth’s magnetism, and I finished reading it last week. It’s called North Pole, South Pole: The Epic Quest to Solve the Great Mystery of Earth’s Magnetism, and the author is Gillian Turner, a senior lecturer in physics and geophysics at Victoria University in … Read more
I’ve been reading some books lately about atheism. Though I’ve been a functional atheist for many years, I’ve been paying more attention to it lately in light of religiously-inspired idiocy from around the globe. I’ve become convinced that religious belief does more harm than good, and my sense of incredulity has deepened at how far … Read more