Water, Ice, And Stone: Science and Memory on the Antarctic Lakes

by Bill Green

Bill Green goes to the lakes of Antarctica to do scientific field research, but finds in his own memories and in the beauty and brutality of a lonely, dangerous land, something of the awe and wonder that are the inspirations for scientific inquiry.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Geology

283 pages, Hardcover

First published June 6, 1995

Reviews

[CatReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up. Sad to say I DNFed this book at 50%. The topic is right up my alley but the overly flowery prose with excessive use of adjectives and the rambling, time-jumping, stream of consciousness narrative were not for me.

My statistics:
Book 215 for 2024
Book 1818 cumulatively

[Greyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill Green's meditation on the Antarctic, methods of science, art, and his own life combine to make a whopper of a read. One of those you pick up chapter by chapter so it lasts as long as possible.

[Bob Coats · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly remarkable book. Green captures the excitement of scientific research in a beautiful, remote and challenging environment, in a way that is accessible to both scientists and non-scientists. He weaves together the scientific story with his own personal and family narrative. He has the mind of a scientist and the heart of a poet. The writing ranks with that of Loren Eiseley, Barry Lopez, and Terry Tempest Williams.

Some technical material (periodic table, geologic time line) is included at the back, but (as a scientist) I would like to have seen a more substantial technical appendix, with chemical equations, Eh-pH stability diagrams, some profiles of metal concentrations in the Antarctic lakes, and selected references to the scientific literature (especially the author's own papers).

I hope we see more books soon from this brilliant author.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I passed up a chance to go to Antarctica for 6 weeks in grad school...and now I regret that decision even more. If I could give this book 3.5 stars I would...more nature writing than science, this is a descriptive account of a geochemist (yay!) working in Antarctica puzzling through some unusual lake chemistry. Yeah, I know, sounds thrilling...but the descriptions of the scientific process, the disappointments, the challenges of piecing together a complicated experiment in a forbidding landscape, and then the ultimate elation of having the results come together and finding something new, that nobody else in the world knows...well done. While I found the writing a little flowery, the author nonetheless paints an evocative and dream-like picture of a lost continent, starkly beautiful in its total wildness.

[Mr. Mullins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for one that appreciates naturalist and scientific writing combined. I am biased on this as he was one of college teachers way back in the day. But he has poetic prose and captures the insight of scientific questions, obstacles and beauty in such an unforgiving location.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

eloquent and riveting so far....

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the personal aspects of this book, more than the science. Click below for full review.

https://thatladywhoreadsalot.wordpres...

[Angie Reisetter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The overwhelming image I'm left with after reading this book is that of the sea breathing. Much of the science here is the taking in and giving out of various elements and molecules by water, be it in Antarctic lakes, the ocean, or rivers and the global water bodies in general. Green traces the chemistry of water and where it comes from and where it disappears to. He also paints the picture of the Antarctic he studies, its vastness and stillness and sterility.

The story is mostly science and poetry. I feel like the emphasis was more on the poetry. Green got to write up his science in scientific papers. This book was his opportunity to let loose, to try to convey the magic he sees in his research and in his work. There are bits of memoir, but they mostly show up in the vivid dreams he recorded while he was "on the continent". I felt like they were part of the poetry.

The science that's there is clear and accurate, while spiced with more poetry. But that's what makes this a beautiful, inspiring book. He lets us in on the questions, the mysteries in his field. The world's rivers dump copper and calcium in the ocean, but the ocean doesn't have much copper or calcium in it. So where does it go? How the the ocean cleanse itself?

The research summer in Antarctic is pre-internet, pre-phone service down south, so the whole thing has a ring of the ancient to it that would be entirely missing from a similar tale today. And the forward from 2008 to the edition I read that Green added to actually mention global warming lends more context to it, but the work exists in and of itself outside of time, the way Antarctica is described.

[Eamon McCarthy Earls · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best pieces of science writing that I've seen to date. I first perused Green's book around 2009, but I didn't return to read it until a few years later. I credit Green's brilliant blend of science, art, and personal philosophy--at least in part--for my decision to study geology in college.

[Ladiibbug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non-fiction - Library Book

2008 ed. of a 1995 non-fiction book. Bill Green is a field scientist who travelled to Antarctica to do research. Much more than a straight "science" book, this is part travelog, part science journal, and part philosophical musings of the wonders of nature.

[Bill Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I have read numerous times since I first got it a few years ago. There is an almost lyrical quality to some of the descriptions of Antarctica. Bill Green gives the reader a different look at the southern pole while discussing some very interesting science.

[Elizabeth]

As seen in Chemical and Engineering News .

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best science nerd book... Taking a while

[Adela Dziekanowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books. I buy it as a gift for people who I think will appreciate it as much as I did. It is a true story, but it reads like a well-written novel. It touched my soul.