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The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of…
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The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of Science, Sainthood, and the Humble Genius who Discovered a New History (edition 2003)

by Alan Cutler

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3971463,302 (3.74)28
Acceptable as a popular history, but without any citations or even a full bibliography, and nowhere near a complete biography of the fascinating Nicolaus Steno (it focuses almost strictly on his geologic studies). A few examples of anecdotal mistakes crept in, too, so even though there isn't much out there on Steno, this may be skippable notwithstanding. ( )
  JBD1 | Dec 13, 2014 |
English (13)  Swedish (1)  All languages (14)
Showing 13 of 13
This is like a Dava Sobel book. Fascinating topic, middling writing. ( )
  themulhern | Apr 29, 2022 |
More than one man may lay claim to the title as the father of modern geology, and Nicholas Stano is one of the earliest. His work with fossils from the late 17th Century did not make a significant contribution to the understanding of the world around us during his time, but his work as later re-discovered was revolutionary. Anyone who read Simon Winchester's book "The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology" should like this book as much if not more. An interesting element of the book is the description of how influential the church was in the late 16th and 17th Century regarding scientific understanding, and how so many things we take for granted today were impossible to believe given the biblical interpretations so strong during those times.
( )
  rsutto22 | Jul 15, 2021 |
Acceptable as a popular history, but without any citations or even a full bibliography, and nowhere near a complete biography of the fascinating Nicolaus Steno (it focuses almost strictly on his geologic studies). A few examples of anecdotal mistakes crept in, too, so even though there isn't much out there on Steno, this may be skippable notwithstanding. ( )
  JBD1 | Dec 13, 2014 |
Usually science books leave me cold; they are too abstruse and hard to read. This was a happy exception: the biography of the 'father of geology', his theories and how they were gradually accepted by the scientific community, and then by us laypeople. I can't imagine any other explanation than those Steno gave us, for basic geological principles. ( )
  janerawoof | Mar 23, 2014 |
Very interesting story of how scientists in the 17th century had to reconcile their scientific findings against religious tenets and passages from the bible or risk even beheading. I found this complete edition a bit repetitious however perhaps because I knew what the scientific outcome was. I think I would have been happy with just the abridged edition. ( )
  rxtheresa | Jan 18, 2012 |
The amazing biography of Saint (!?) Nicolas Steno: skilled anatomist, delicate "dissectionist", Lutheran turned devout Catholic, the "Galileo of Geology". This short book comprises an amazing amalgam of fossils, spontaneous generation, sharks and shark teeth, The Medicis, Ammonites, the Reformation, Genesis theories, The 30-years war, Descartes, Newton and a pack of other fascinating characters.

With a flicker of ongoing boyhood interest in paleontology, how did I not know about this guy? ( )
  Sandydog1 | Jan 25, 2011 |
One of the loveliest science history books I have ever read. Gives a great account of the life and times of the 17th C Danish scientist Nicolaus Steno who should (if he is not) be hailed as one of the founders of the science of geology.
Loved it! ( )
2 vote Ideiosepius | Dec 12, 2010 |
A wonderful first book for lovers of popular science and history of science. ( )
  dbeveridge | Jun 9, 2010 |
The Seashell on the Mountaintop is on the one hand, a biography of the scientist known in English as Nicolaus Steno, a fascinating man in his own right. But it's also a history of the foundation of the science of geology, and it's a window into the early days of scientific exploration.

Steno, a Dane, started as a brilliant anatomist, wandering Europe dissecting and teaching. He was the fist to propose the idea that muscular action comes from the contraction of muscle fibers not the ballooning of the muscle mass, the accuracy of which was not recognized for a hundred years. It was the dissection of a great white shark's head that lead to Steno to recognize that its teeth were identical to "tongue stones" found high up on the mountaintops all throughout Italy. That, along with other marine fossils that had been found in the Alps and the Alpines in Italy, led him to conclude that much of Europe had been covered by water and not just once simply to launch Noah, but again and again. Contrary to both the literal interpretation of the bible and the popular theory that the earth had some sort of "plastic power" that produced stones in the shapes of sea creatures, or anything else. He later publishes a short but more formal thesis of ideas entitled Concerning Solids naturally contained within solids. In which he lays down his four fundamental principles of stratigraphy: law of superposition, principle of original horizontality, principle of lateral continuity, and the principle of cross-cutting discontinuities (oddly omitted from the book). Ideas that for the most part were soundly rejected by his contemporaries for several decades after is death.

Steno later abandons his life as a renown scientist to live the life of an improvised priest after converting from Lutheranism to Catholicism. Steno dies rather sadly before he can complete more through treatment of his ideas. Leaving it up to his contemporaries: Hooke, Ray, and Leibniz to convince the scientific community that he was right.

Aside from a straight forward biography of Steno a defacto history of the early years of the science of geology right up to Hutton, Cutler also takes the time to explain a brief history of science from the ideas of the pre-Socrates (thinking) to the ideas that emerged during the enlightenment and scientific revolution (doing). ( )
3 vote stretch | Jun 1, 2010 |
Outstanding book about the birth of geology. Brilliant discussion of how a very religious person can hold true to their faith, even in the face of evidence to the contrary! Loved it! ( )
  Cygnus555 | Mar 22, 2008 |
The subtitle reads "How Nicolaus Steno Solved An Ancient Riddle and Created A Science Of The Earth." Steno was a 17th century scientist renowned mostly for his ability at dissection. However, he was also fascinated by the fossils found high above the sea, images that were obviously sea creatures where no sea -- to historical knowledge of the time -- had ever been. Steno's musing led to the beginnings of the science of geology and the realization that the breadth of historical time was far greater than anyone expected...
1 vote sleigh | Jul 30, 2007 |
Is it just beyond wacky to call a historical scientific biography “a fun romp that had me laughing and cheeringâ€?? How about “the roller coaster ride of the summerâ€?? Well, you don’t have to buy the second one, but the first statement accurately conveys the fun I had reading about this seventeenth century HUMAN. I emphasize human, because in amongst the joy of scientific discovery, we also find a man deeply wrestling with the spiritual, whose achievements rest alongside his human journey in a most fascinating and engaging way. The writing here is seemingly effortless and a pleasure to consume.

Nicholas Steno was the first person to truly understand and present basic geological concepts, the meaning of the strata in the rock, superposition, and what fossils truly were. Until this time, there was an almost universal belief in the immutability of God’s earthly creation. Steno began to unlock the puzzle of deep time and a changing earth, and in so doing birthed a new methodology and field of scientific inquiry.

Alongside the biography, you also get a fun peek into what the beginnings of scientific inquiry looked like, and it’s often hilarious. Witness the “scientistsâ€? who laid out various piles of dung and rotting meat to see if they could “create lifeâ€? (other than maggots and flies) spontaneously, or the theory that rocks must be alive, else how could they “knowâ€? to go down when dropped.

Ultimately, the frailty of human endeavor, and the uncertainty of scientific inquiry motivated Steno to seek certainty and comfort in the arms of the mother church. It’s complicated. But so’s life.

DO Read this delightful book for an absorbing peek into a time and a personality that were fraught with discovery, faith, contradictions, and humanity. ( )
3 vote Atomicmutant | Jun 16, 2006 |
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