Limestone in the Built Environment: Present-day Challenges for the Preservation of the Past (Geological Society Special Publications)

Limestone is a highly successful and widely used building material, found in many important historic buildings and new monuments around the world. Whilst its success reflects its durability under a wide range of environmental conditions, there are still important questions surrounding the selection, use and conservation of building limestones. In order to make best use of new limestone today, and to conserve old limestone most effectively, we need to bring modern research methods to bear on understanding the characteristics of different limestones, what mortars to use, and how key limestones have responded to polluted atmospheres. This volume brings together recent inter-disciplinary research on these issues, illustrating the diversity of innovative techniques that are now being applied to furthering our understanding of building limestones.

The Geological Society of London

Founded in 1807, the Geological Society of London is the oldest geological society in the world, and one of the largest publishers in the Earth sciences.

The Society publishes a wide range of high-quality peer-reviewed titles for academics and professionals working in the geosciences, and enjoys an enviable international reputation for the quality of its work.

The many areas in which we publish in include:

-Petroleum geology
-Tectonics, structural geology and geodynamics
-Stratigraphy, sedimentology and paleontology<Bb>-Volcanology, magmatic studies and geochemistry
-Remote sensing
-History of geology
-Regional geology guides

This book is a compilation of 22 papers with a strong focus on mediterranean case studies....

The book summarizes many aspects of today's situation in working with (ancient) building stones. Contributions dealing with different kinds of weathering as well as restoration make this compendium important for geoscientists in their daily work in seeking answers for the preservation of our cultural heritage; which, in many cases, is built of limestones. --Thomas Hofmann, Library & Publishing, Geological Survey of Austria
Featured in Gabhandlungen Der Geologischen Bundesanstalt, November 2010