Everyone wants something from Arrakis. The Emperor wants control, the great houses want spice, and the Fremen would quite reasonably like everyone else to leave. I would settle for a geological map. Preferably with a few cross-sections, although I realise that asking someone to carry a seismic survey across sandworm territory might complicate the risk …[Read More]
Book Review
The truth about The Odyssey: Geodynamics, lies, cries and the hunt for Ithaca
If you have ever tried to draw a geological cross-section under a fantasy map, Homer is surprisingly cooperative (and if you remember my Middle-earth geology post, you already know I live for this). The Odyssey is full of real places and real people—Troy, Mycenae, Sparta—stitched together with storms, monsters and divine interventions that would make …[Read More]
At the Mountains of Madness: Lovecraft Applied for Geology (and Failed)
“I am forced into speech because men of science have refused to follow my advice without knowing why. It is altogether against my will that I tell my reasons for opposing this contemplated invasion of the antarctic—with its vast fossil-hunt and its wholesale boring and melting of the ancient ice-cap —and I am the more …[Read More]
One Ring to Rule Them All: The Geology of Middle-earth
Few fantasy worlds have captured the imagination of readers and viewers like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Whether you first encountered it through The Lord of the Rings or the sweeping visuals of Peter Jackson’s films, chances are your eyes lingered on the same thing geologists can’t help obsessing over: the mountains. Towering, treacherous, mysterious — the …[Read More]
A journey to the centre of plate tectonics and mantle convection
“Dynamics of Plate Tectonics and Mantle Convection,” is edited by Dr. João C. Duarte and published by Elsevier. The book brings together contributions from more than 40 renowned authors in the fields of geology, geodynamics, tectonics, petrology and geophysics. It offers the unique authors’ perspective on the interconnected processes of plate tectonics and mantle convection …[Read More]
Notes on: ‘Notes From Deep Time’ by Helen Gordon
This week one of our editor’s, Aisling Dunn, brings back the book reviews, talking through her thoughts on her most recent read and why she recommends you all read it too. There’s no doubt about it – I am a self-confessed book lover. Whether its fantasy stories about imagined worlds, classic tales set in 19th …[Read More]
A love letter to science fiction
You know what has been missing from this blog so far? Book reviews! This week, Maeve Murphy Quinlan, PhD student at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom studying meteorites, comes to our rescue and discusses the science fiction genre with a review and recommendation of the novella To be Taught, if Fortunate. I know what’s …[Read More]