Etna: A History of the Mountain and of its Eruptions

Rodwell, G. F. (George Farrer), 1843-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.3
Word count
202K words
Chapters
21

Tags

English Originals World HistoryNatural Sciences Historical ReappraisalGeological ResearchScience EnlightenmentNature ObservationAdventure JourneyCuriosityGeography ScienceAcademic StudyDisaster ChronicleExotic Culture

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Etna: A History of the Mountain and of its Eruptions by G. F. RodwellAuthor: Rodwell, G. F. (George Farrer), 1843-,Language: English, Class: QE: Science: Geology, Release Date: Mar 30, 2010

Editor's review

This book is a nineteenth-century history of Mount Etna by the British popular-science writer Rodwell, weaving geological observation, eruption records and mountain life into one narrative. It does not aim at the precise data of modern volcanology; instead, in a first-hand voice, it reconstructs how volcanic activity shaped the lives of those living around the mountain, reading at once like a scientific chronicle and an on-the-spot travel account. Its accounts of past eruptions and descriptions of the mountain's form can serve as a sample for understanding the evolution of volcanic knowledge in the modern era. It suits readers interested in the history of geology, nature writing and Italian local life, and can also serve as a reference for popular-science writing. It need not be read in linear order: begin with the eruption chronicles, then return to the overview of the mountain.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the eruption chronicle chapters in the table of contents, establish a chronological thread, then return to the overview of the mountain.
  2. Note old place names or obsolete units as you go, so you can compare them with modern maps.
  3. Read alongside a modern general introduction to volcanology to sense the difference in understanding.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21

FAQ

Is this a specialist work on volcanic geology? It is not a volcanology textbook in the modern sense, but a nineteenth-century author's narrative record of Etna's history and eruptions, with scientific conclusions bearing the marks of their time. Readers may treat it as a work on the history of geology and nature writing, not as a reference for the latest data.
Is the original English edition hard to read? The text is nineteenth-century English, with rather long sentences, but the terminology consists mostly of common geological words, so it is not especially difficult overall. Readers with university-level English can read it through with a dictionary; those who only want the content can start with the eruption chronicles and skip the descriptive passages.
Is it suitable as background reading before a trip? It can serve as background reading; its descriptions of the mountain's form and surroundings add a sense of immediacy. But it was written long ago, and information on transport and safety is long out of date, so itineraries still need to rely on current sources.

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About the author

Rodwell, G. F. (George Farrer), 1843- Author · British · 1843

George Farrer Rodwell (born 1843) was an English author and science writer. Public information about his life is limited: he is known to have been born in 1843, and one work by him is held in this collection. His representative work, Etna: A History of the Mountain and of its Eruptions, describes the history of Mount Etna and its eruptions, and stands at the intersection of volcanology and natural history writing. The work suggests that he combined geological observation with historical narrative, introducing volcanic activity and related knowledge to general readers while emphasizing the careful ordering of facts and the clear tracing of events. Writing of this kind was characteristic of nineteenth-century British efforts to popularize science, and it offers later readers a useful reference for the study and record of Mount Etna.