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Distributed for Reaktion Books

Meteorite

Nature and Culture

Among the rarest things on earth, meteorites carry an air of mystery and drama while having left a pervasive, outsized mark on our planet and civilization. In Meteorite, Maria Golia tells the long history of our engagement with these sky-born space rocks. Arriving amid thunderous blasts and flame-streaked skies, meteorites were once thought to be messengers from the gods. Worshipped in the past, now scrutinized with equal zeal by scientists, meteorites helped sculpt Earth’s features and have shaped our understanding of the planet’s origins. Prized for their outlandish qualities, meteorites are a collectible and a commodity, objects of art and artists’ desires and a literary muse; and ‘meteorite hunting’ is an adventurous, lucrative profession for some and an addictive hobby for thousands of others.           

A richly illustrated, remarkably wide-ranging account of the culture and science surrounding meteorites, Golia’s book explores the ancient, lasting power of the meteorite to inspire and awe.

240 pages | 70 color plates, 30 halftones | 6 x 8 1/4 | © 2015

Earth

Earth Sciences: General Earth Sciences


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Reviews

“It is pretty feeble merely to accept that meteorites come from the sky without considering the variegated significance of the falling rocks. Meteorite does a splendid job in countering the widespread lack of curiosity by illustrating the religious, social, literary, artistic, political, economic, and even culinary impact of meteorites, with the help of reportage and anecdote as well as site photographs and portraits. . . . Golia writes vividly and wittily and her text is fully but discreetly referenced. . . . And if meteorites are exploited to sell chocolates, ale, and face powder, they also tell us, as she puts it, that the universe is grand past all imagining.”

Times Literary Supplement

“Book of the Month. . . . In Meteorite we are introduced to the science and culture surrounding the rocks from space that we know as meteorites but that were once looked upon as being messengers from the gods. In this well-researched and copiously-illustrated book, the author looks back in time to discover how the arrival of these celestial visitors induced a sense of awe and wonder in our ancestors. . . . Golia introduces us to a large number of meteorite aficionados and scholars, hunters and collectors, including the meteorite enthusiast and former punk rock musician Geoffrey Notkin who, we are informed, once said that ‘’like the sound of the ocean in a seashell, meteorites carry within them a faint murmur of infinity.’ Notkin’s words sum up the fascination we have with meteorites, a fascination which this book brings across very well.”

BBC Sky at Night Magazine

“Enjoyable survey . . . shows that meteorites still occupy an anomalous space where science, myth, art, commerce, and apocalypse collide . . . Meteorite is an object of beauty, with the sumptuous colour illustration we have come to expect from Reaktion’s natural history monographs. The images include ancient artefacts, pulp illustrations, ethnographic tableaux, and stunning aerial photography of craters, but focus primarily on the meteorites: portraits that reveal the patterns sculpted by heat and g-forces in their passage through the atmosphere and precision-cut magnified sections that turn their fine-grained structures into kaleidoscopic works of art.”

Fortean Times

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Alpha and Omega
2. Fallen Gods
3. To Have and To Hold
4. All Things Said and Done
5. Strange Landings
 
References
Select Bibliography
Associations and Websites
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index

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