Book Review

The truth about The Odyssey: Geodynamics, lies, cries and the hunt for Ithaca

Manel Ramos and illustrated by Lea Pennacchioni July 15, 2026

Odysseus (drama queen) and Strabo trying to understand where is Itaka. Illustration made by Lea Pennacchioni

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 any structural geologist reach for a stress ten ...[Read More]

At the Mountains of Madness: Lovecraft Applied for Geology (and Failed)

Manel Ramos April 15, 2026

Howard Phillips Lovecraft © Wikimedia

“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 reluctant because my warning may be in vain.” The opening lines from At the Moun ...[Read More]

One Ring to Rule Them All: The Geology of Middle-earth

Manel Ramos August 13, 2025

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 Misty Mountains, the White Mountains, ...[Read More]

A journey to the centre of plate tectonics and mantle convection

João Duarte and edited by Michaël Pons September 4, 2024

This graphic by Fabio Crameri is adjusted from Crameri et al. (2019) is available via the open-access s-Ink repository.

“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 and their v ...[Read More]