Synopses & Reviews
In The Voice of This Stone, a widely published and respected volcanologist with five decades of scientific study and boots-on-the-ground experience shares his expert knowledge. Through more than a dozen case studies from around the globe, Dr. Kevin Scott offers chilling details about what happened before, during, and after infamous volcanic cataclysms. During his lengthy career as a field geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Scott traveled extensively to visit sites that were dramatically altered by forces within the earth. He has witnessed firsthand what happens when tectonic plate movement ignites earthquakes and volcanic activity such as eruptions and killer lahars, massive mud-and-debris landslides that roar down mountainsides. Scott’s case studies highlight some of the best known events and advance warnings regarding future episodes. By deciphering the histories of other disasters, Scott proposes, lives can and will be spared.
Review
"So many of the classic case histories in one place! Scientists will want to read The Voice of This Stone to better understand these geohazards. Emergency managers will want to read it to understand the conditions that lead to these natural disasters. Kevin wrote this book to save lives — I believe it will." Scott Burns
Emeritus Professor of Engineering Geology, Portland State University; President, International Association of Engineering Geology and the Environment
Review
"What do you cry out when there MAY be a wolf? Kevin Scott addresses this question and others in vivid detail. Public interest is at the heart of the book. It is written in a personal, lucid, highly readable style that will inform and often entertain the general reader, but will also illuminate lessons essential for emergency managers and decision-makers working in the shadow of volcanic danger. Highly recommended." Barry Voight
Emeritus Professor of Geology Pennsylvania State University
Review
"...the most authoritative, lucid, and inspiring guide to volcanic hazards and their mitigation available for the non-specialist reader, and required reading for all those charged with the safety of the millions of people living in mountainous volcanic regions around the world." Peter J. Baxter, M.D.
University of Cambridge, Cambridge Institute of Public Health; World Health Organization advisor
About the Author
Kevin Scott is among the fraction of geologists who’ve spent their careers in the field, traveling internationally, venturing up and down mountains, observing altered landscapes, and studying volcanic history stored in the rock record. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Scott pursued his doctoral degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Curiosity and adrenaline seem to have fueled his lengthy career, surviving a helicopter crash in Alaska, escaping from a near-kidnapping in South America, and emerging alive from a close call with a flowing lahar in the Philippines. Scott is a respected member of the Geological Society of America and has published often with the United States Geological Survey.