Visar resultat för..."Etna Vesuvius"

Today, mountains are spaces for adventure: treasured places for people to connect with nature, encounter the sublime and challenge themselves, whether it be skiing in the Italian Alps or scaling the heights of the Matterhorn in Switzerland. Some regard our love of mountains as relatively new, claiming that before modern mountaineers planted flags upon the peaks, the average European was more likely to revile and avoid a mountainous landscape than to admire it.Mountains Before Mountaineering tells a different narrative. It reveals the way mountains inspired curiosity and fascination and how they were enjoyed in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe. It gives voice to the early modern travellers who climbed peaks and passes with fear and delight; to the ‘real mountaineers’ who lived and died upon the mountain slopes; and to the scientists who used mountains to try to understand the origins of the world.This book invites you on a journey through the mountains, long before Everest was ‘discovered’ as the highest mountain in the world or before the first recorded ascent of Mont Blanc. It is the story of how our love of the mountains has been a part of us from the very beginning.

Though today largely dormant, volcanoes continue to erupt across the world, reminding us of their sheer physical power. In Volcano, James Hamilton explores the cultural history generated by the violence and terrifying beauty of volcanoes. He describes the reverberations of early eruptions of Vesuvius and Etna in Greek and Roman myth. Volcanoes have long been subjects in art – the earliest known wall painting of an erupting volcano was painted in 6,200 BCE – and Hamilton shows that volcanoes continue to influence the artistic imagination, as seen, for example, in the distinctive colours of Andy Warhol and Michael Sandle’s exploding mountains.Including works by famous artists, such as Salvator Rosa, Wright of Derby, Hokusai and Hiroshige, as well as previously little-known paintings, prints, drawings and photographs, this richly illustrated book will appeal to anyone interested in the science as well as the artistic impact of these spectacular natural phenomena.

There's a reason we pay top dollar for Champagne and that bottles of wine from prestige vineyards cost as much as a car: a place's distinct geographical attributes, known as terroir to wine buffs, determine the unique profile of a wine--and some rarer locales produce wines that are particularly coveted. In Volcanoes and Wine, geologist Charles Frankel introduces us to the volcanoes that are among the most dramatic and ideal landscapes for wine making.Traveling across regions well-known to wine lovers like Sicily, Oregon, and California, as well as the less familiar Canary Islands, Frankel gives an in-depth account of famous volcanoes and the wines that spring from their idiosyncratic soils. From Santorini's vineyards of rocky pumice dating back to a four-thousand-year-old eruption to grapes growing in craters dug in the earth of the Canary Islands, from Vesuvius's famous Lacryma Christi to the ambitious new generation of wine growers reviving the traditional grapes of Mount Etna, Frankel takes us across the stunning and dangerous world of volcanic wines. He details each volcano's most famous eruptions, the grapes that grow in its soils, and the people who make their homes on its slopes, adapting to an ever-menacing landscape. In addition to introducing the history and geology of these volcanoes, Frankel serves as a travel guide, offering a host of tips ranging from prominent vineyards to visit to scenic hikes in each location.This illuminating guide will be indispensable for wine lovers looking to learn more about volcanic terroirs, as well as anyone curious about how cultural heritage can survive and thrive in the shadow of geological danger.

*As heard on DESERT ISLAND DISCS*CHOSEN AS ONE OF WATERSTONES' BEST BOOKS OF 2023'If Michael Palin had been a volcanologist, this is the book he would have written... A darn good read.'LITERARY REVIEW'What the French adventurer Jacques Cousteau was to the hidden world under our seas, Oppenheimer is to the hidden, molten world bubbling under our feet.'SUNDAY TIMES'A book that will make all readers want to become volcanologists.'PETER FRANKOPAN'Gripping ... like a thriller ... Oppenheimer is better than good. This is terrific.'SPECTATOR'Beautiful. Mountains of Fire is bursting with poetry, with storytelling. ' WERNER HERZOG__________Volcanoes mean so much more than threat and calamity. Like our parents, they've led whole lives before we get to know them. We are made of the same stuff as the breath and cinders of volcanoes. They have long shaped the path of humanity, provoked pioneering explorations and fired up our imaginations. They are fertile ground for agriculture, art and spirituality, as well as scientific advances, and they act as time capsules, capturing the footprints of those who came before us.World-renowned volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer has worked at the crater's edge in the wildest places on Earth, from remote peaks in the Sahara to mystical mountains in North Korea. His work reveals just how entangled volcanic activity is with our climate, economy, politics, culture and beliefs. From Antarctica to Italy, he paints volcanoes as otherworldly, magical places where our history is laid bare and where nature speaks to something deep within us.Blending cultural history, science, myth and adventure, Mountains of Fire reminds us that, wherever we are on the planet, our stories are profoundly intertwined with volcanoes.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOARDMAN TASKER AWARD FOR MOUNTAIN LITERATURE 2024'If Michael Palin had been a volcanologist, this is the book he would have written' LITERARY REVIEW'Gripping' THE ECONOMIST'Wonderful' PETER FRANKOPAN'Like a thriller ... This is terrific' SPECTATOR'Beautiful ... bursting with poetry, with storytelling' WERNER HERZOGWe are made of the same stuff as the breath and cinders of volcanoes. No matter where we live on the planet, they have shaped our history and might one day decide our destiny.World-famous volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer has worked at the crater's edge in the wildest places on Earth, close enough to feel the heat of the lava. In Mountains of Fire we join him on hair-singeing adventures from Italy to Antarctica to learn how deeply our stories are intertwined with volcanoes.