Thursday, January 20, 2011

Volcanoes in Human History, by Jelle de Boer and Donald Sanders


Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions, by Jelle Zeilinga de Boer and Donald Theodore Sanders
Princeton University Press, 2002
250 pages, plus glossary, notes and references, Selected Bibliography and index, as well as a few photos, diagrams and maps scattered throughout the text
Library: 551.2109 ZEI

Description
When the volcano Tambora erupted in Indonesia in 1815, as many as 100,000 people perished as a result of the blast and an ensuing famine caused by the destruction of rice fields on Sumbawa and neighboring islands. Gases and dust particles ejected into the atmosphere changed weather patterns around the world, resulting in the infamous "year without a summer" in North America, food riots in Europe, and a widespread cholera epidemic. And the gloomy weather inspired Mary Shelley to write the gothic novel Frankenstein.

This book tells the story of nine such epic volcanic events, explaining the related geology for the general readere and exploring the myriad ways in which Earth's volcanism has affected human history.

Table of Contents
Foreword by Robert W. Ballard
Preface
Acknowledgments
Table of Conversions
1. Volcanism: Origins and Consequences
2. The Hawaiian Islands and the Lgacy of Pele the Fire Goddess
3. The Bronze Age Eruption of Thera: Destroyer ofAtlantis and Minoan Crete?
4. The Eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE: Cultural REverbrations throuogh the ages
5. Iceland: Coming Apart at the SEams
6. The Eruption of Tambora in 1815 and the "Year without a summer"
7. Krakatau, 1883: Devastation, Death, and Ecological REvival
8. The 1902 Eruption of Mount Pelee: A Geological Catastrophe with political overtomes
9. Tristan de Cunha in 1961: Exile to the Twentieth Century
10. Mt. St. Helens in 1980: Catastrophe in the Cascades
Afterword
Glossary
Notes and References
Selected Bibliography
Insex


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