The Floating Egg: Episodes in the Making of Geology

by Roger Osborne

The Floating Egg begins with the search for an alchemist's secret, and ends with the re-imagination of a past world. Each chapter is connected to a particular corner of north-east England, and each explores the uncertain line where myth is dissolved into science, and belief gives way to knowledge. Different episodes show how the fall of Constantinople converted the common rock of the Yorkshire cliffs into a source of extraordinary wealth and power, and how this in turn uncovered the inhabitants of a succession of past worlds; how a stone falling from the sky near this same coast changed the minds of all the natural philosophers of Europe; and how a new science was born on the top of the tower of York Minster. We learn about the cloak-and-dagger world of fossil trading in the town of Whitby; and we see the entire life-work of a forgotten scientific genius who died from consumption at the age of twenty-five, having revolutionised his science. The stories move from documentary accounts to fictional recreations of historic events, from contemporary writing and illustrations to present-day reflection. By using different ways of describing the world of scientific endeavour, the author has produced a fascinating visually beautiful and highly entertaining book which allows us to witness the birth of a new science - the science of geology.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Geology, History, Natural History

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Roger Osborne was a publisher of scientific, medical and technical books before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of The Floating Egg and The Deprat Affair.

Reviews

[Matthew Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hurrah for National trust second hand book shops. A history of geology focused on North Yorkshire. Told through lots of primary sources (when can I start writing letters signed “your most obedient servant”?) A wonderful read.

[Overbylass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read about my favourite landsapes .I particularly enjoyed the chapter about the meteor 'falling from the heavens' .I've always known that this part of the country was special but didn't realise that my fossil hunting on Redcar/Saltburn beach could uncover something altogether bigger and better than an elephant's toenail. I'm now looking for a plesiosaur.

[Webcowgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first non-fiction book in ages. Probably very enjoyable to geology buffs or people interested in the history of English science - it feeds right in to Dr Strange and Mr Norrel. It also gave me an unbearable urge to travel to Whitby and look at the fossils and glacial land up that way.

[Coracaskia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so want to go back to Whitby!

[Sarah D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a fair amount in the history of geology and paleontology, so I almost passed this one by when I saw it at the museum in Whitby, thinking I already knew a lot of the stories already. Fortunately, my friend bought it for me. Yes, I did know some of the stories (Kirkdale Cave, the meteorite, etc., big stories that are well known in the field), but I hadn't noticed that Osborne focuses mostly on the 19th-century Yorkshire coast. Oh! Lots of local stories I knew nothing about, and they're fascinating! I now know a bit about alum, jet, and a brilliant theorist who died far too young.

Osborne knows how to explain the state of scientific understanding of what are now accepted as the basic facts of geology, and in a highly entertaining manner. I love it that each chapter takes a different approach: one is nearly all extensive quotes from letters involving museums arguing over who would get a particularly good fossil; another is a fictionalized imagining of a real journey to York; another is about the founding of a geological museum. The variety of approaches keeps things fresh and moving along

Highly recommended if you enjoy nonfiction and are at all curious about the natural world and how science has learned to explore it over the last couple of centuries.

[Julia Greig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

A series of episodes, in different voices, which manages to combine a history of the science of geology, a geological history of the East coast of Yorkshire, a true alchemist's secret, the real value of Captain Cook's voyages, and wonderful heated discussions between eminent geologists over the costs of purchasing near complete fossil skeletons - this book had everything. I laughed out loud at points, was taken back in memory to wonderful views from the York Moors, the significance of which I only now realise, thanks to this book.

[Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. A quirky and historical book detailing some of the geological stories of the North East coast around Whitby.

[Harry De St Croix · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book on the history of geology and the geological landscape of the Yorkshire coast.

[Reuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gift from Larry Turtil, who remembered that I love geology and history of science.

[Eric]

the making of a scientific discpline that reads like a detective story.