Out of the Crater: Chronicles of a Volcanologist

Description

In this text, Richard Fisher blends autobiography with science to the basics of volcanology and to the volcanoes he has studied. Following his travels from descending into the steaming crater of the Soufriere Volcano, to his research on lava flows on the desolate shores of the Island of Hawwaii, and his struggles to understand the explosion at Mount St Helens. The text involves his work on pyroclastic flows and surges - the hurricanes of gas, molten lava, and volcanic debris. Fisher tells of a historic scientific problem at Mount Pelee, where 29,000 people were killed in a pyroclastic flow. And also offers a volcanologist's view of the explosion of Mount Vesuvius that devestated Pompeii and Herculaneum. He writes about the cultural rewards and the challenges of conducting isolated researches in countries as Argentina, Mexico and China.

Richard V. Fisher is Professor Emeritus of Geological Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he has taught and researched since 1955. In 1997, he was awarded the Thorarinsson Medal, the highest honor of the International Society of Volcanologists. Fisher is the coauthor, with Grant Heiken and Jeffrey B. Hulen, of Volcanoes: Crucibles of Change (Princeton). He also wrote Pyroclastic Rocks with H.-U. Schmincke and coedited Sedimentation in Volcanic Settings with G. A. Smith.

"Interesting and entertaining reading... Fisher is a good writer and mixes tales of his travels, science, and personal anecdotes as well. The book is entertaining and an easy read... Perhaps the only regret is that the book is not a bit longer."--Steve Sparks, Nature "Good first-person descriptions of science are always welcome, and doubly so from scientists in fascinating fields... [Out of the Crater] reveals much about research in a tough environmental science where extensive fieldwork is the only road to enlightenment."--Martin Ince, New Scientist "R. V. Fisher is, without a doubt, one of the premier volcanologists of the latter half of the twentieth century. Fisher writes in a light and lucid prose... The result is an engaging, human and modest account."--David Pyle, Geological Magazine