Synopsis
Describes fifteen volcanic eruptions and provides analysis of the impact on the people in the path of the volcano
Reviews
When Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in 1991, it could have annihilated the half-million people living within range of its lava and ash; instead, it killed barely a thousand, because volcanologists and local authorities knew what would happen and evacuated the area. What eruptions taught them what they knew? In a neatly interdisciplinary (if at times sensational) work, Scarth (Savage Earth) describes 15 volcanic eruptions important to earth science or to human history, from Italy's Stromboli and Vesuvius (A.D. 79) to Mount St. Helens, Pinatubo, and Nevado del Ruiz, in Colombia (1985), whose eruption melted a mountain's ice cap, creating horrific floods. Scarth weaves together geology, sociology, folklore, politics and history. Sometimes he simply traces the consequences of an eruption, describing, for example, the "sulphuric aerosol" released by Krakatau (1883), which changed the color of sunsets the world over. Sometimes Scarth's book becomes a history of disaster relief and evacuation policy. After Mount Pel?e, in Martinique, erupted in 1902, the French colonial administration offered every displaced person 1.25 francs per day. This sum far exceeded a day's earnings for a nondisplaced Martinican laborer: the resulting social disruption led the new French governor to reduce relief for the displaced poor and increase it for the displaced rich. Scarth's readers will learn what authorities now know about how to predict and prepare for big eruptions, and the riveting accounts he provides of each calamity, eyewitness and secondhand, display the fascination that leads so many scientists to risk their lives to study volcanoes. 70 b&w, 30 color photos. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Eerie stories of 15 volcanic eruptions (of the geological variety), with much of the source material drawn from eyewitness and contemporary accounts and appearing in English for the first time, from geographer Scarth (Univ. of Dundee, Scotland; Savage Earth, not reviewed). As best as can be discovered, wondered Scarth, what really happened during the eruption of some better-known volcanoes? What did people see and what did they do? Who survived and who died, and why? He combed as much primary material as he could unearth to fashion these chronicles and also chose events that were spread through time and space and illustrate the multiformity of volcanic types. Writing with enthusiasm and vigor, Scarth covers the notorious cataclysmssuch as Vesuvius in 79 a.d., Etna in 1669, Krakatau in 1883, Pelee in 1902, and Mt. Saint Helens in 1980though perhaps sparking greater marvel are the more obscure eruptions. These include Iceland's Oraefajokuv (1727), where a priest described how the molten rock set an icecap aboil: ``As I stood before the altar, I was conscious of a gentle concussion under my feet.'' There were the blue fogs and blood-red sun and ``curious hairy lava fragments that shone bluish-black and looked like seal-hair'' that attended the blowing of Laki in 1783; and Paricutin (1943), the volcano that grew out of a field in upland Mexicoand grew and spewed and belched forth lava for nine yearsthat took the name of the village it ate. Then there was ghastly Lake Nyoi: from its waters, an earthquake (it is conjectured) jarred free a square kilometer of pure carbon dioxide. It was heavier than air and invisible and asphyxiated 1,742 people in 1986. Pockets of the poison lurked in depressions, making lethal mischief, for days. Scarth displays considerable yarn-spinning talent in these scary narratives, and to know that they come unadorned with tall talk makes them that much more hellish. (70 b&w, 30 color illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Scarth takes a different view of volcanoes than Haraldur Sigardsson in Melting the Earth (LJ 5/1/99). Sigardsson includes more of the legends affiliated with volcanic activity, but like Heiken Fisher in Volcanoes: Crucibles of Change (Princeton Univ., 1997), Scarth adds more of the human dimension plus an occasional touch of wry humor. As the author of the textbook Volcanoes: An Introduction, he provides the facts, but he also describes the periods leading up to and following volcanic activity and how people were affected. His chronologically arranged chapters (from Vesuvius in 79 A.D. to Pinatubo in 1991) reveal what we have and have not learned from earlier eruptions; it is certainly clear that not all volcanoes are alike. Sometimes the volcano itself is not even the chief cause of death, but Scarth reminds us that "the volcano always wins." His readable style makes this relatively accessible to an interested reader. The only drawback for U.S. readers is the use of metric measurements. For academic and larger public libraries.AJean E. Crampon, Science & Engineering Lib., Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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