Reviews
Galway
in Stone: a geological walk in the heart of Galway
by Martin Feeley with contributions by Jon Hunt, Jerry Lidwill and Kevin Barton.
Published November 2002. Price €9.00. ISBN 0-954312-0-1. Orders or enquiries
to Geoscapes, 3 Fontenoy Street, Dublin 7 (Email: matthewparkes@eircom.net).
This A5-size soft cover book will be fully reviewed in the next ES2k magazine (publication scheduled for April 2003). In the meantime, Tony Bazley makes the following comments:
"I congratulate Martin Feeley and all involved with this book. The area covered includes the famous Connemara Marble Quarries and the Galway Granite, and both are described in a chapter on the history of quarrying. Good colour illustrations, a glossary of technical terms and an excellent map of Galway City combine to make a thoroughly good read. Even if you don't know Galway and won't be following the walk, it is full of interest. In fact I dare you to buy it and not want to visit!
This book sets a high standard
for future writers. Wouldn't it be good for geology if every large town in Ireland
could boast such a publication?"
Ingenious
Ireland: a county-by-county exploration of Irish mysteries and marvels
by Mary Mulvihill. Published November 2002 by Town House, Dublin. Price €30.00.
ISBN 1-86059-145-0. For further information please contact Aislinn Casey (Email:
marketing@townhouse.ie).
You could be forgiven for thinking that Irish innovation began in the Celtic Tiger era. But the innovative Neolithic Irish built an observatory at Newgrange 5,000 years ago, even before the pyramids were built! And did you know that the Irish invented the hypodermic syringe, the ejector seat, the modern submarine - and the bacon rasher?
Ingeneous Ireland is a unique celebration of Irish scientists and inventors, natural history and landscape, and industrial heritage. Dip in and discover why half of Ireland really belongs to North America. Marvel at such natural wonders as the oldest fossil footprints in the Northern Hemisphere and the disappearing springs of Fore. Read about the advent of railways and modern timekeeping, and about Wicklow's gold rush of 1795. Discover that history was made on your own doorstep!
Ingenious Ireland brings together a wealth of information drawn from a huge number of sources and is packed with fascinating facts about Irish wildlife, local history, landscape, inventors, oddities - the list goes on and on.
Mary Mulvihill is one of Ireland's foremost science journalists. She contributes regularly to The Irish Times and, for ten years, she was an editor of Technology Ireland. Such is her passion for her subject that she gave up working for three years to devote her time to compiling this book. She has spent the last six years relentlessly trawling the libraries and museums of Ireland for stories of the little-known people and places whose contribution to scientific history have put Ireland on the map.
Tony Bazley writes: "This
is another book that we hope to say more about in the next issue of the ES2k
magazine or on this website at a later date. It was launched in November
2002 and the geological content is obviously only part of a wide spectrum of
information. At €30 it doesn't seem too expensive for a sizeable volume but
you will probably want to check it out at your local bookseller before purchase."
The
Making of Ireland: Landscapes in Geology
by Michael Williams and David Harper. Immel Publishing, London. 1999. £19.95
HB ISBN 1-898162-06-9
Although dated 1999, this book only made it into the shops in 2001. As stated on the back cover, the book 'brings the reader on an unforgettable journey through deep time, unfolding the Irish landscape from the distant past to the present day'.
In the first chapter, How to create a country, basic principles of plate tectonics, the rock cycle and geological time are outlined. The next six chapters vividly describe the variety of geological processes, climatic environments and life-forms that are recorded in the rocks during Ireland's assembly and northward journey since the Precambrian. The text is mixed with simple diagrams and photographs (unfortunately all in grey-tone), and boxes explain geological terms as necessary. A glossary and references are appended at the back.
Six trail guides complete the book, covering south-west Donegal, Connemara, Clare, Dingle, Wexford and the Antrim coast. The guides (each 4-6 pages long) include simple geological maps and assume that the reader has vehicular transport. To see all the localities would require 1 or 2 days per trail. The addition of grid references would have helped for localities which are difficult to locate from the directions given.
With a book of this scope, informed readers may be disappointed, but the authors have produced a well-illustrated book on the Earth history of Ireland that is accessible to an interested lay-person. Unfortunately, the publishers have let them down and produced a thin, monotone book - why wasn't it printed in colour? I hope that they will produce a softback version with an eye-catching cover at a more reasonable price of, say, £12 to encourage a wider readership of what is otherwise an excellent book.
Norman Moles
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