Unearthing the Underworld: A Natural History of Rocks

by Ken McNamara

A geological saga that digs deep, revealing how even the most ordinary rocks can be stepping stones to the hidden history of our planet.
 
Unearthing the Underworld reveals the hidden world of rocks—the keepers of secrets of past environments, changing climates, and the pulse of life over billions of years. Even the most seemingly ordinary stone can tell us much about the history of this planet, opening vistas of ancient worlds of ice, raging floods, strange unbreathable atmospheres, and prehistoric worlds teeming with life. Remarkably, many types of rocks owe their existence to living organisms—from the remains of bodies of dead animals to rocks formed from rotting ancient forests, or even created by the activity of fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Anything but dull and uninteresting, rocks are intriguing portals that illuminate the secret underworld upon which we live.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

296 pages, Hardcover

Published September 11, 2023

About the author

Ken McNamara is like a child who never grew up. Like many children, he had an early fascination with fossils (though not dinosaurs, particularly). He grew up in Brighton, England, which lies on chalk hills called the South Downs. When he was eight or nine years old, he discovered that the hills contained fossils—shells, sea urchins, ammonites, shark teeth—and he was hooked! Most people grow out of their childhood hobbies … and he tried, honestly.

After earning a degree in geology and mineralogy at Aberdeen University, he went on to complete a Ph.D. at Cambridge University in England. When he finished his studies at Cambridge, he decided it was time for a change and immigrated to Australia.

Ken has been collecting fossils for so long that he almost feels like one at times. He is very happy to work as a paleontologist at the Western Australia Museum in Perth, where they pay him to spend time on his hobby. As well as collecting, studying and writing scientific papers and books about fossils, Ken and his colleagues at the museum have created a great fossil display called “Diamonds to Dinosaurs.”

When he is not being a curator or writing about fossils, Ken likes listening to music and playing the piano. He lives in the Jarrah Forest in the hills above Perth, in a glass and timber house that has a large eucalyptus tree growing up through the middle of it. He lives there with his wife, three children, two cats, countless zebra finches, opossums in the roof, bandicoots in the garden, and the odd kangaroo that visits from time to time.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. Ken McNamara loaded the book with enthusiasm and delivered some cute wording and humor as well. While McNamara does an adequate job of explaining most things, some of the information was over my head as the book turned out to be more technical than I expected. I suspect that people with greater knowledge of geology will love this book. The photos are excellent. But to me, the high point of the book is the start of each chapter where McNamara offers up a great poetic introduction. I normally cringe when science writers try to be poetic, but McNamara pulls it off splendidly. Thank you to Edelweiss and University of Chicago Press for the digital review copy.