Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance

Author - Mariana Gosnell ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Knopf was reviewed on 3-Nov-2008.

Search ISBN:0679426086 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance Reference Book. Classifications : General AAS Natural Resources Outdoors & Nature Subjects Books Reference Outdoors & Nature Subjects Books Hydrology Environmental Civil Engineering Professional & Technical Subjects Books Geography Ea . Click the following link to view the cover of Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance.

Related topics: General AAS. Natural Resources. Outdoors & Nature. Subjects. Books. Reference. Outdoors & Nature. Subjects. Books. Hydrology.

1) Hardcover Book Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Knopf. Ignore the PW print review: This is a wonderful treasure chest of science, stories, lore and quotes about ice in all its many, many forms. Recommended for all lovers of popularized science--and of natural beauty.¤

2) Hardcover Book Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Knopf. Mariana Gosnell is a former Newsweek reporter and pilot, and her so her exploration of the science and nature of ice reads easily for the general-interest reader - yet contains plenty of science to support research and latest theories. ICE: THE NATURE, THE HISTORY, AND THE USES OF AN ASTONISHING SUBSTANCE surveys different kinds of ice in North America, discusses its effects on nature and the human body, and surveys the latest scientific research into ice´s developments. An excellent survey which will appeal to general interest audiences and students alike
¤

3) Hardcover Book Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Knopf. I´m a sucker for intensive studies of a single topic (e.g. "Cod", or "Salt"), AND I love arctic exploration books, so I was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, this author takes a fascinating subject and manages to wring all the life out of it by writing in a such a dull, plodding fashion. I tried skipping ahead, hoping it would get better, but after skimming several chapters, I finally gave up. I´m sure there´s a great book to be written about ice, but this isn´t it.¤

4) Hardcover Book Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Knopf. This book is just plan amazing. One would think that no one could write a 560 page book on frozen water and make it not only interesting, but fascinating. I found myself turning the pages and reading despite myself. Mariana Gossnell has a style that leads one on from wonder to wonder. Indeed "Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance" is a masterpiece of science writing. From a pond freezing over in winter to the ice on Jupiter´s moon Europa and the ice in comets (indeed at least half of the water currently on earth may have originated in these deep space travelers) here is everything everyone might have ever wanted to know about this amazing substance and a lot more beside. Gossnell introduces us to ice in human history, its associations with living things, its uses and its origins. With a lot of ice (the world´s glaciers and Greenland´s ice cap among others) now melting apparently due to global warming, this is a very timely book.

Water has always fascinated me and this book just confirms the wonder that is water in all of its forms. It is a truism that without water life simply would not exist on the planet. DNA may be the molecule that determines life, but water is the molecule that allows it, at least in a form that we know. If you think the subject boring, read "Ice" and be surprised! I recommend it highly.¤

5) Hardcover Book Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Knopf. "ICE" is of interest to a very few people. It gets into the nitty gritty of all things snowy and cold.
It is well-written but I can´t imagine the average reader really getting into the esoterica of how frozen lakes form or the difference between a frozen lake and a frozen river. The book even gets into how a frozen lake breaks up.
The historical notes are interesting but again, not for everyone. In short, this is the kind of book only a nerd such as myself would love.¤

6) Hardcover Book Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Knopf. Like the adventurer who circled an iceberg to see it on all sides, Mariana Gosnell, former Newsweek reporter and author of Zero Three Bravo, a book about flying a small plane around the United States, explores ice in all its complexity, grandeur, and significance.

More brittle than glass, at times stronger than steel, at other times flowing like molasses, ice covers 10 percent of the earth’s land and 7 percent of its oceans. In nature it is found in myriad forms, from the delicate needle ice that crunches underfoot in a winter meadow to the massive, centuries-old ice that forms the world’s glaciers. Scientists theorize that icy comets delivered to Earth the molecules needed to get life started, and ice ages have shaped much of the land as we know it.

Here is the whole world of ice, from the freezing of Pleasant Lake in New Hampshire to the breakup of a Vermont river at the onset of spring, from the frozen Antarctic landscape that emperor penguins inhabit to the cold, watery route bowhead whales take between Arctic ice floes. Mariana Gosnell writes about frostbite and about the recently discovered 5,000-year-old body of a man preserved in an Alpine glacier. She discusses the work of scientists who extract cylinders of Greenland ice to study the history of the earth’s climate and try to predict its future. She examines ice in plants, icebergs, icicles, and hail; sea ice and permafrost; ice on Mars and in the rings of Saturn; and several new forms of ice developed in labs. She writes of the many uses humans make of ice, including ice-skating, ice fishing, iceboating, and ice climbing; building ice roads and seeding clouds; making ice castles, ice cubes, and iced desserts.

Ice is a sparkling illumination of the natural phenomenon whose ebbs and flows over time have helped form the world we live in. It is a pleasure to read, and important to read—for its natural science and revelations about ice’s influence on our everyday lives, and for what it has to tell us about our environment today and in the future.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 1-Dec-2008, 06794260869780679426080, 4X0-230-440-860-610-040-011-8

Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance, Book, Image © Knopf

Search: Knopf, Book Posters, Book Art