"Very few people have spent as much time as William E. Glassley in such deep wilderness. So it would behoove us to pay attention even if he had not brought back such a fascinating, lovely, and useful set of observations. This is a remarkable book." -Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Oil and Honey
"Glassley exhibits an uncanny ability to put us in the midst of Greenland's vast silence, where he takes us deep into the planet's soul. It is an important and well-told adventure that opens us to life's grand expanse and begs us to follow in spite of the brevity of our existence." -John Francis, author of Planetwalker and The Ragged Edge of Silence
"Reminds us of the degree to which climate change is damaging the planet. . . . Urgently recommended!" -Lawrence Millman, author of Last Places and At the End of the World
Greenland, one of the last truly wild places, contains a treasure trove of information on Earth's early history embedded in its pristine landscape. Over numerous seasons, William E. Glassley and two fellow geologists traveled there to collect samples and observe rock formations for evidence to prove a contested theory that plate tectonics, the movement of Earth's crust over its molten core, is a much more ancient process than some believed. As their research drove the scientists ever farther into regions barely explored by humans for millennia-if ever-Glassley encountered wondrous creatures and natural phenomena that gave him unexpected insight into the origins of myth, the virtues and boundaries of science, and the importance of seeking the wilderness within.
An invitation to experience a breathtaking place and the fascinating science behind its creation, A Wilder Time is nature writing at its best.
William E. Glassley is a geologist at the University of California, Davis, and an emeritus researcher at Aarhus University, Denmark, focusing on the evolution of continents and the processes that energize them. He is the author of over seventy research articles and a textbook on geothermal energy. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Show more"Very few people have spent as much time as William E. Glassley in such deep wilderness. So it would behoove us to pay attention even if he had not brought back such a fascinating, lovely, and useful set of observations. This is a remarkable book." -Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Oil and Honey
"Glassley exhibits an uncanny ability to put us in the midst of Greenland's vast silence, where he takes us deep into the planet's soul. It is an important and well-told adventure that opens us to life's grand expanse and begs us to follow in spite of the brevity of our existence." -John Francis, author of Planetwalker and The Ragged Edge of Silence
"Reminds us of the degree to which climate change is damaging the planet. . . . Urgently recommended!" -Lawrence Millman, author of Last Places and At the End of the World
Greenland, one of the last truly wild places, contains a treasure trove of information on Earth's early history embedded in its pristine landscape. Over numerous seasons, William E. Glassley and two fellow geologists traveled there to collect samples and observe rock formations for evidence to prove a contested theory that plate tectonics, the movement of Earth's crust over its molten core, is a much more ancient process than some believed. As their research drove the scientists ever farther into regions barely explored by humans for millennia-if ever-Glassley encountered wondrous creatures and natural phenomena that gave him unexpected insight into the origins of myth, the virtues and boundaries of science, and the importance of seeking the wilderness within.
An invitation to experience a breathtaking place and the fascinating science behind its creation, A Wilder Time is nature writing at its best.
William E. Glassley is a geologist at the University of California, Davis, and an emeritus researcher at Aarhus University, Denmark, focusing on the evolution of continents and the processes that energize them. He is the author of over seventy research articles and a textbook on geothermal energy. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Show moreWilliam E. Glassley (July 1, 1947 March 19, 2023) was a geologist at the University of California, Davis and a researcher at Aarhus University, Denmark, focusing on the evolution of continents and the processes that energize them. He was the author of over seventy research articles and a textbook on geothermal energy. A Wilder Time: Notes from a Geologist at the Edge of the Greenland Ice, his first book for a general audience, received the John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Natural History Book and the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, among other honors.
John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Natural History Book
New Mexico-Arizona Book Award Winner
Saroyan Prize Shortlist
Kirkus Reviews “Best Book of the Year” selection
Scientific American “Recommended Book” selection
Three-time San Francisco Chronicle “Top Shelf” selection“A richly
literary account. . . . Anchored by deep reflection and scientific
knowledge, A Wilder Time is a portrait of an ancient, nearly
untrammeled world that holds the secrets of our planet’s deepest
past, even as it accelerates into our rapidly changing future. The
book bears the literary, scientific, philosophic, and poetic
qualities of a nature-writing classic, the rarest mixture of beauty
and scholarship, told with the deftest touch.” —John Burroughs
Medal judges’ citation“Glassley ponders the nature of perception
and the human mind, describes the dramatic physical features of
Greenland’s makeup and recounts the thrilling adventures of his
extended visits there.” —Scientific American“Glassley eloquently
evokes a place where land feathers into Arctic sea, ice floes glide
by on mirror-smooth tongues of clear, frigid water and silence
reigns. . . . [His] vivid impressions of East Greenland attempt
what few scientist-writers try: to explore beyond the comfort zone
of his field.” —Nature“Straddles the line effortlessly between
poetic and scientific. . . . What really pushes A Wilder Time into
the upper echelons of nature books is its higher-reaching aims,
using this location and journey to explore time, self, and the
human relationship to nature.” —Glassworks Magazine“Builds a case
for the necessity of wild places, both as respite from the noise
and clutter of modern life and for their inherent values.”
—Anchorage Daily News“Engaging. . . . A treat for geology buffs.”
—Pasatiempo“Mesmerizing. . . . [Glassley] is a thoroughly
accessible guide whose wonder at the landscape that surrounds him
is infectious.” —Washington Independent Review of
Books“Transport[s] readers across the world and deep into the past,
while suggesting a way forward into the future. For budding
naturalists, armchair geologists, and anyone who loves a good
expedition, this is an ideal read.” —Bookish“Amazing. A Wilder Time
is a book for those who love nature and have that longing desire to
learn the unknown, all hidden along the walls of the fjords of
Greenland.” —North of Oxford“Writing with the same poetic
precision, artistry, and soulful receptivity as Gretel Ehrlich and
Barry Lopez, with the added impact of his rigorous
scientist-in-the-field expertise, Glassley is spellbinding as he
chronicles his exhilarating adventures.” —Booklist (starred
review)“Profound and moving. . . . A superb tool for a better
understanding of the natural world and why real science matters.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Poetic, enthusiastic. . . .
Combining the strengths of travel writing and lyrical memoir,
Glassley translates his own ‘incandescent experience of place’ into
a conservation message: ‘We must share and celebrate the wild so
that it might be saved.’” —Foreword Reviews (starred
review)“Thoughtful. . . . Evincing humility in the midst of the
great ‘unshaped wild,’ Glassley exudes a palpable and infectious
sense of wonder.” —Publishers Weekly“A poetic, metaphysical and
philosophical treatise on the wildness of life on earth. . . .
[Glassley’s] love of the wild is tangible, and his way with words
beautiful.” —Shelf Awareness“A Wilder Time is nature writing at its
informative and inspirational best.” —Midwest Book Review“Very few
people have spent as much time as William E. Glassley in such deep
wilderness. So it would behoove us to pay attention even if he had
not brought back such a fascinating, lovely, and useful set of
observations. This is a remarkable book.” —Bill McKibben, author of
The End of Nature and Oil and Honey“Glassley exhibits an uncanny
ability to put us in the midst of Greenland’s vast silence, where
he takes us deep into the planet’s soul. It is an important and
well-told adventure that opens us to life’s grand expanse and begs
us to follow in spite of the brevity of our existence.” —John
Francis, author of Planetwalker and The Ragged Edge of
Silence“While conveying the geological hypotheses, techniques of
data collection, and adventures of his expeditions to Greenland
with his two Danish colleagues, Glassley also brings startling
sensory precision to his descriptions. The velvety feeling of moss,
the taste of lichen, the alternating rhythms of terror and fluidity
in schools of fish through which a predatory sculpin cruises—such
experiences bring what might have seemed a stark world of rock and
ice alive. This delicacy of perception is the vehicle through which
not only the scientific quest but also the profound mystery of our
living Earth saturates this memorable book.” —John Elder, coeditor
of The Norton Book of Nature Writing and author of Picking Up the
Flute“A Wilder Time is a wonderful mix of science and poetry. It
delves into the kind of spiritual effect that wilderness has on
those privileged to work in it and how it changes the way we
experience and understand our surroundings and our lives. The
science, including the geological controversy at the heart of the
book, is lucidly explained, and readers will be absorbed by the
story Glassley tells as well as his many vividly described
encounters with nature. Next time someone asks me why I am a
geologist, I will just hand them this book.” —William L. Griffin,
professor of geology at Macquarie University“While conducting
research probing deep time and the origin of continents, Glassley
discovered a further source of fascination: the Arctic wilderness
of Greenland. In A Wilder Time, he shares his encounters with
unvarnished nature still free—for now—from the corruptions and
constructs of human settlement. With openness, clarity, and a keen
eye for detail, he weaves adventure, research, astonished awe, and
thoughtful reflection into an absorbing account of his sojourns.”
—Martha Hickman Hild, author of Geology of Newfoundland: Field
Guide“In this extraordinary narrative, Glassley, a geologist,
describes his intimate relationship with Greenland’s ancient rocks
in such a fashion that the reader who knows nothing about geology
is hooked; that reader feels like he’s not only been transported to
the rockribbed coast of West Greenland, but is also bent down and
studying its rocks right along with Glassley. At the same time, the
book reminds us of the degree to which climate change is damaging
the planet. . . . Urgently recommended!” —Lawrence Millman, author
of Last Places and At the End of the World“As geologists, we may be
rational scientists, but expeditions to remote places touch
something deep in us that moves us to also be poets. Glassley has
turned his experiences in Greenland into searingly beautiful
descriptions of a wild landscape and the ways in which that
landscape moves and changes him. Every sentence is evocative,
connoting curiosity, awe, and respect in equal measure. A Wilder
Time is a paean on the importance of wilderness to the human spirit
and a saddening reminder of what we lose when we divorce ourselves
from contact with wild places. Glassley’s voice will stay with me
the way the works of Loren Eiseley, Edward Abbey, Rachel Carson,
and Aldo Leopold have stayed with me over the decades.” —Jane
Selverstone, professor emerita in the Department of Earth &
Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico
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