Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance

by Mariana Gosnell

Book Overview

More brittle than glass, at times stronger than steel, at other times flowing like molasses, ice covers 10 percent of the earth's land and 7 percent of its oceans.Mariana Gosnell here explores the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679426086
• ISBN13: 9780679426080
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Ice is a fascinating book!

I just love this book. I have 2 copies now and waiting for my third.

The Substance of Life in Solid Form

This book is just plan amazing. One would think that no one could write a 560 page book on frozen water and make it not only interesting, but fascinating. I found myself turning the pages and reading despite myself. Mariana Gossnell has a style that leads one on from wonder to wonder. Indeed "Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance" is a masterpiece of science writing. From a pond freezing over in winter to the ice on Jupiter's moon Europa and the ice in comets (indeed at least half of the water currently on earth may have originated in these deep space travelers) here is everything everyone might have ever wanted to know about this amazing substance and a lot more beside. Gossnell introduces us to ice in human history, its associations with living things, its uses and its origins. With a lot of ice (the world's glaciers and Greenland's ice cap among others) now melting apparently due to global warming, this is a very timely book. Water has always fascinated me and this book just confirms the wonder that is water in all of its forms. It is a truism that without water life simply would not exist on the planet. DNA may be the molecule that determines life, but water is the molecule that allows it, at least in a form that we know. If you think the subject boring, read "Ice" and be surprised! I recommend it highly.

astonishing complete

The book is very complete on ice as it has changed our environment. The cycling of ice ages is very well presented and documented. The stories about ice adventures add to the book. Every environmentalist should read this book to understand the massive temperature cycling that has occured since the beginning. I recommend it to any interested intelligent person.

Ice is amazing--everything you didn't know about ice

Ice in your drink, on the pond, at the North Pole, in your gas line of your car on a 42-below morning in Northern New Hampshire. "Ice" goes into some exciting detail about a mundane substance, frozen Haitch-Two-Oh, or water. The very structure of ice makes life possible on this planet (did you know?) Because of hydrogen bonding that keeps the structure of ice lighter than liquid water, ice floats on the top of a pond, letting critters below delve into mud and survive a long winter. I happened to open the book to the story of the soldiers at Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War. When the temperatures dropped to 45 below zero, many of the Marines suffered frostbitten feet and to this day, have troubl walking due to their injuries. It happens I know one of these Marine vets of the Korean War and he does indeed have trouble walking. Not many people know the role cold weather and freezing limbs have played in military history, from Xenophon in 400 BC to the Korean War. Frogs and fish actually have antifreeze in their blood, a fact the author discusses. There is a considerable amount devoted to frostbite and various cures. Then there is the section on the Ice Age. I have always wondered what life was like when the earth was covered with a polar cap extending down into Europe. Even with global warming, it's believed the Ice Age will return. The author also discusses icebergs, the Titanic and a good dissertation into the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and what its melting could mean in terms of a disastrous result. All fascinating reading; if you are a science buff, this is a very fun read. If you are a home-schooling science teacher, I highly recommend "Ice" for your home library.

Lots of fun

If you like learning new things. I got it for the holidays and was sorry when I finished it -- can't wait for ice II

A Corrective to Publishers Weekly

As a friend of the author, I feel an appropriate corrective to the Publishers Weekly review would be either of the two very positive New York Times' reviews, one of which says...."this astonishingly boring-sounding book turns out instead to be an astonishment: an engaging, literate, mischievously written and only occasionally maddening voyage, far beyond everything most readers might possibly have wanted to know about hard water." Neal Karlen , December 26, 2005, Books of The Times