To many of us, the Earth’s crust is a relic of ancient, unknowable history. But to a geologist, stones are richly illustrated narratives, telling gothic tales of cataclysm and reincarnation. For more than four billion years, in beach sand, granite, and garnet schists, the planet has kept a rich and idiosyncratic journal of its past.Fulbright Scholar Marcia Bjornerud takes the reader along on an eye-opening tour of Deep Time, explaining in elegant prose what we see and feel beneath our feet. Both scientist and storyteller, Bjornerud uses anecdotes and metaphors to remind us that our home is a living thing with lessons to teach.She shows how our planet has long maintained a delicate balance, and how the global give-and-take has sustained life on Earth through numerous upheavals. But with the rapidly escalating effects of human beings on their home planet, that cosmic balance is being threatened—and the consequences may be catastrophic.Containing a glossary and detailed timescale, as well as vivid descriptions and historic accounts, Reading the Rocks is literally a history of the world, for all friends of the Earth.

貝鳶業如為結構地質學家，曾在挪威、加拿大的高緯度北極區以及北美洲的前寒武紀地盾，研究古老山岳帶的構造運動。貝鳶業如是羅倫斯大學教授，於二○○三年獲提名為美國地質學會會員，二○○○至二○○一年間，以美國「傅爾布萊特學人」的身分前往挪威研究。現居於美國威斯康辛州阿波頓市；三個兒子也都熱愛岩石。

譯者簡介

太巴塱人（阿美族），台大法律系畢，哈佛大學科學史研究所碩士，譯有《土地的守護神》、《公司男女》、自然科學及人文社會科學各類教課書。現從事台灣原住民傳統知識研究，及台灣學研究論文的翻譯工作。