Fieldwork: A Geologist's Memoir of the Kalahari (Princeton Legacy Library, 360) - Softcover

Scholz, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691600856 ISBN 13: 9780691600857

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Christopher Scholz, an internationally recognized expert in the geological fields of seismology and tectonics, here offers a captivating memoir of a three-month-long field expedition to northern Botswana. Fieldwork tracks the adventures of a group of American scientists trying to gather critical data in some of the wildest and most inhospitable parts of Africa. Scholz effectively captures the unique challenges and obstacles faced in this kind of scientific endeavor, including mysterious encounters with a primitive bushman tribe and unavoidable dealings with belligerent local officials and even near-fatal stampedes by rampaging elephants. It is through this absorbing tale that Scholz offers a paean to the long and unique traditions of geological fieldwork, and provides readers with an inside view of the trials and joys of scientific fieldwork.

The goal of the Scholz expedition was to determine, by recording tiny natural earthquakes, if a previously unknown arm of the East African Rift system had propagated into the Kalahari Desert from the north. Fieldwork tracks the quest of the scientist for a solution to a specific geological problem from the motivations of the scientist, to the initial formulation of the problem, through to the data collection, and finally, the assembly of the critical evidence.

Originally published in 1997.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

About this title

Review:

In 1974, tectonic theoretician Christopher Scholz was at the beginning of what has become a distinguished career. Seeking field experience after graduate school, he signed on with the United Nations to conduct a seismological study of Botswana's Okavango Delta, where, he surmised, might lie a hitherto unknown branch of the great East African Rift. His account of how geological fieldwork is done presupposes that the reader have some knowledge of earth science, but it is also accessible to general readers. Of interest to all are Scholz's misadventures among 3.8-billion-year-old rocks, the oldest known on the planet, "remnants of a time when the Earth was a hot, roiling mass, just beginning to sort its primordial matter into crust, mantle, and core."

From the Inside Flap:

"Fieldwork is delightful. Like Bill Menard's The Ocean of Truth, this book gives an account of how earth science works. However, it also has a story to tell. Often the logistical problems behind a scientific expedition are as captivating as the science itself. Christopher Scholz's primary objective is to spell out the logistical planning and execution that is required to make a scientific discovery."--Terry Engelder, Pennsylvania State University

"In Fieldwork, we learn about aspects of science and about the motivation of a scientist as well as about the problems facing a country emerging from a colonial past. The book makes a bridge between various kinds of human endeavors. It's very well-written, very readable, and hard to put down."--Alfred G. Fischer, University of Southern California

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0691600856
• ISBN 13: 9780691600857
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 198