Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 61 ratings

Price: 17.71

Last update: 12-26-2024


About this item

Earth is vibrantly alive and full of wisdom for those who learn to listen.

Earth has been reinventing itself for more than four billion years, keeping a record of its experiments in the form of rocks. Yet most of us live our lives on the planet with no idea of its extraordinary history, unable to interpret the language of the rocks that surround us. Geologist Marcia Bjornerud believes that our lives can be enriched by understanding our heritage on this old and creative planet.

Contrary to their reputation, rocks have eventful lives—and they intersect with our own in surprising ways. In Turning to Stone, Bjornerud reveals how rocks are the hidden infrastructure that keep the planet functioning, from sandstone aquifers purifying the water we drink to basalt formations slowly regulating global climate.

Bjornerud’s life as a geologist has coincided with an extraordinary period of discovery in the geosciences. From an insular girlhood in rural Wisconsin, she found her way to an unlikely career studying mountains in remote parts of the world and witnessed the emergence of a new understanding of the Earth as an animate system of rock, air, water and life. We are all, most fundamentally, Earthlings and we can find existential meaning and enduring wisdom in stone.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.


Top reviews from the United States

  • G. MCDONOUGH
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book About Contemporary Geology!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2024
    This book took me on a fascinating exploration of recent developments in geology. I have a moderately strong understanding of plate tectonics, and how rocks form, but according to the author, it is time to update my ideas. The book is beautifully written, involving, personally touching, and quite easy to understand. I live in a place with extraordinary geology, yet Marcia Bjornerud makes me want to go back soon to Wisconsin where I once lived, as well as a half dozen other of the places we visited together in this book.
    As astronomers establish the existence of planets around nearly every star in the Universe, it becomes easy to imagine that there must be many inhabited ones all over the place. This book describes many of the ways that Earth is not just lucky to be its size and distance from our star, but is strange and full of wondrous mechanisms that combine in marvelous ways that may well make it unique in the universe. We are indeed lucky to be Earthlings.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Deep insight into the world beneath our feet.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2024
    I truly enjoyed this book for its insights and perspective on part of the wold most of us hardly ever think about. She makes an excellent case that we should think a whole lot more about this part of our world and she does so in an accessible way. It makes me regret that I didn't take a geology course in college, but then again a vast amount has been learned since then (I was in college in the late 1970s), as she so aptly describes.
  • Tawney L. Mazek
    4.0 out of 5 stars Rocks = Life on earth
    Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2024
    A geologist writing a book that is part life story, part story of stones makes sense. But I’m probably not the only one who wishes the two threads were separate. I found the geological information fascinating. It is not some wide overview of present day geology, but gives glimpses of the changes in the field in the past half century. The book is structured in chapters that each concentrate on one type of stone and one period of Bjornerud’s life. This allows for more detailed information about some of the rocks and how they fit in to the Rock Cycle (yes, like the Water Cycle, etc.). Although I didn’t find the autobiographical passages very interesting, the entire book is very well written and easy to read.

    Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for a digital advanced readers copy.
  • Chris Laning
    5.0 out of 5 stars Clear writing, excellent science.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2024
    An excellent book full of recent understanding of the earth and our future. Written by someone to whom language comes fluently. She testifies to her own experiences without making the book sentimental or subjective.
  • miss o
    5.0 out of 5 stars clear and enjoyable read
    Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2024
    love ms. bjornerud's thoughtful and informative discussion of stones.
  • Roi Rat
    5.0 out of 5 stars Personal reflections on geology
    Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2024
    New and insightful. Original; a women's point of view.
  • customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect sequel to her first book
    Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2024
    If you loved Reading the Rocks, this is equally as informative. Again, as eloquently written as her first book, this information fleshes out the first book with out repeating . She is a gifted teacher and writer.
  • Robert Vermeulen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
    Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2024
    Interesting but not too technical on geology. Author is a fascinating petson

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