Bretz's Flood: The Remarkable Story of a Rebel Geologist and the World's Greatest Flood
The land between Idaho and the Cascade Mountains is characterized by gullies, coulees, and deserts—in geologic terms, it is a wholly unique place on the earth. Legendary geologist J Harlen Bretz, starting in the 1920s, was the first to explore the area. Bretz, a former science teacher at Franklin High School in Seattle and then a professor at the University of Washington and later the University of Chicago, eventually formed the theory that the land was scoured in a virtual instant by a...
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Conventional geologic thinking always said that the landscape between Idaho and the Cascade Mountains — a unique place characterized by gullies, coulees, and deserts — was created over millions of years by rivers that had long since gone dry. Science professor J Harlen Bretz (who made up his own name and intentionally didn’t use a period after J), thought otherwise. Based on extensive research and keen observation, he believed this area had been scoured in a virtual instant by a massive flood. Because Bretz was a gadfly in the scientific community and his idea sounded like an attempt to prove the biblical flood, he was personally and professionally attacked and humiliated. Undaunted, he applied all of his skills to proving his thesis, but he would have to wait for confirmation until satellite photography became widespread years after his retirement. Bretz's Flood tells an exciting story of an epic mystery of the western landscape, how it came to be solved, and the fascinating scientist who did it. Publishers Weekly J Harlen Bretz was an unusual geologist: more than a maverick-turned-icon, more than a conscientious and thorough field worker, and more than a demanding professor, he also had a remarkable sense of humor and the strength to persevere despite professional obloquy. Author Soennichsen (Live! From Death Valley) delivers a vivid portrait of the man whose pioneering work began by accident, when a 1921 summer field trip to the Cascade Mountains fell through. Instead, Bretz led his students on foot through the Washington Scablands around Spokane, and returned every summer after with his students and family to map, measure, and record the unique terrain-including the gigantic "ship" of eroded basalt at Grand Coulee and the dried remains of the world's largest waterfall. Bretz's conclusions, of a massive flood unlike anything ever observed, met with intense opposition (largely from those who never observed the Scablands in person). Only over time, and with the advent of aerial photography, were Bretz's ideas confirmed; it's now known that glacial Lake Missoula drained dozens of times, each time unleashing a vast flood across the Pacific Northwest. Soennichsen's book explores a fascinating life in science, and should have appeal for Pacific Northwesterners and science buffs. 20 b&w photos. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
An Introduction to the ScablandsPt. 1 First StepsCh. 1 Birth of an Obsession 3Ch. 2 Bright Prospects and Early Disappointments 21Ch. 3 Chicago: The Early Years 43Ch. 4 Baraboo, Boulderstrewn, and Booze 55Pt. 2 Wandering the ScablandsCh. 5 A Toe in the Water 77Ch. 6 Diving In 103Ch. 7 Parting the Waters 123Ch. 8 A Deluge of Evidence 143Ch. 9 Swimming Upstream 169Ch. 10 To the Brink and Back Again 189Pt. 3 The Trail to AbsolutionCh. 11 Putting the Scablands Behind Him 215Ch. 12 Following a Path to the Sea 235Ch. 13 The Scablands After Bretz 249Notes 271Bibliography 283Photography and Illustration Credits 286
\ Publishers WeeklyJ Harlen Bretz was an unusual geologist: more than a maverick-turned-icon, more than a conscientious and thorough field worker, and more than a demanding professor, he also had a remarkable sense of humor and the strength to persevere despite professional obloquy. Author Soennichsen (Live! From Death Valley) delivers a vivid portrait of the man whose pioneering work began by accident, when a 1921 summer field trip to the Cascade Mountains fell through. Instead, Bretz led his students on foot through the Washington Scablands around Spokane, and returned every summer after with his students and family to map, measure, and record the unique terrain-including the gigantic "ship" of eroded basalt at Grand Coulee and the dried remains of the world's largest waterfall. Bretz's conclusions, of a massive flood unlike anything ever observed, met with intense opposition (largely from those who never observed the Scablands in person). Only over time, and with the advent of aerial photography, were Bretz's ideas confirmed; it's now known that glacial Lake Missoula drained dozens of times, each time unleashing a vast flood across the Pacific Northwest. Soennichsen's book explores a fascinating life in science, and should have appeal for Pacific Northwesterners and science buffs. 20 b&w photos. \ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.\ \
