Even stones can tell stories, so also can seashells on mountaintops.

The book is an in-depth geological study that tries to redefine some popular beliefs and tries to answer some questions that have been unanswered or loosely answered since times immemorial.

Questions, such as "how a seashell ended up on a mountaintop" which theology and religion makes us believe is a freak accident of nature or by God's design.

The book details the remarkable progress of one man, Nicolaus Steno (1638-1686), a Danish anatomist, also considered as the father of Modern Geology.

Nicolaus Steno identified a means by which one could determine the formation of the Earth, and predict the age by the different sedimentary layers. The top layer denoting the youngest while the bottom most layer denoting the oldest.

He unraveled the mystery of the fossils, and their formation.

Steno redefined the popular belief that seashells ended up on mountaintops with the great Biblical flood. The cornerstone of his research belied this belief and intoned that Seashells, found their way to mountaintops by constant erosion and the sedimentation of soil.

Steno published his discoveries in De Solido.

But ironically, this man of science and geology tread the path of theology. His quest for scientific facts came to an end with his conversion to being Catholic priest, and bishop. Steno became an ardent practitioner of the Catholic faith and was beatified later on.

This book reveals to us the journey of one man, Nicolaus Steno, from medicine (anatomy), science to geology and finally to belief. It recounts a tale that is like no other tale. It is biography not worth missing for its intrinsic revelations and for its imaginative narrative style.

Science, Research, Geology, Theological study, Earth Sciences, Biography

The events, the rational and objective treatment of the subject. The narrative.

Share it with the World and read it once again.

Increased my knowledge quotient

Dr. Alan Cutler is a Science writer, who was a contributing editor to "The Forces of Change: A New View of Nature". His articles have appeared in publications such as "The Washington Post".

Dr. Cutler is a Ph.D in Geology and is a writer affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.

It is educative and informative

An excellent book that adds a new dimension to our thinking and our existence.

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Created Feb 08, 2007 at 2:33am • Submit your own review...