Imagine a place where the ground lurches and trembles, where groundwater erupts hundreds of feet into the air. A place where there are lively oceans, active volcanoes, tropics, and enormous mountains that once lay beneath sediment. All of these geologic phenomena are contained within the cross sections of Wyoming. In the non-fiction novel, “Rising from the Plains” written by John McPhee, the reader is taken on a journey through the life of David Love, as well as on a journey alongside Love where he describes the history of Wyoming’s geology.
A summary of this book entails the descriptions of Love’s western upbringing on a ranch in Riverton, Wyoming where his parent’s homesteaded the harsh land. Love’s passion for Rocky Mountain geology was kindled here where there wasn’t much else besides the terrain to occupy one’s vision and thoughts. Love grew up familiar with the area’s topography and seasonal changes. He tells McPhee how he used to sit and submit to his thoughts as he gathered the landscape with his eyes. He examined everything, and by this route, Love came to his profession as a passionate field …show more content…
The main one in this book being the successful compilation of two editions (1955 and 1985) of Wyoming’s geological map when he worked in the USGS (United States Geological Survey). He was only the second person in American geologic history to do so. Geology in the 19th century focused on the inquest of Earth’s age, but by the 20th century, during which David Love lived, the advancement of absolute dating solved much of this dilemma. Thus much of this time was dedicated to refinement of the planet’s known age, and emergence of revolutionary theories including plate tectonics, seafloor spreading, and continental drift. These provided scientific foundations for Love’s research. Specifically, in Wyoming, geologists during Love’s time were concentrating on mining and energy resource