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4.5 AVERAGE
4.5 AVERAGE
As a native Californian, someone who is curious about geology, and someone interested in social history and human nature, I adored this book. He accurately divides California into 7 parts, by area and culturally, and writes about the geology, history, social history, and everything California. I was really engrossed by this fascinating book. It shows the diversity that is California, and some of the reasons for it. Some little map drawings and photos; I wish there were more.
3.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book and found it very readable and fun, with all kinds of interesting stories and facts. I liked the synthesis of natural and human histories. I was disappointed that the areas I was most interested in (Bay Area, because I live there, and Central Valley, because its farmland is so central to CA's economy) were given short shrift in fairly brief sections which addressed only narrow areas. The book intentionally did not try to cover every single thing in Cali's history and ecology but skipped around according to the book's themes and the author's fancy. This made for interesting reading but often I found I had questions that weren't addressed (for example, about water use in the Central valley). A few facts I learned:
The earth's mantle is thinner underneath Death Valley, which is one reason why it's the hottest place on earth.
There were 81 people in the Donner party.
When Chinese crews were drilling through the granite of the Donner Pass to make railroad tunnels, the average daily gain was less than 2 feet.
Some people think Mt. Shasta is home to Lemurians (an advanced version of humans, like people from Atlantis).
The earth's mantle is thinner underneath Death Valley, which is one reason why it's the hottest place on earth.
There were 81 people in the Donner party.
When Chinese crews were drilling through the granite of the Donner Pass to make railroad tunnels, the average daily gain was less than 2 feet.
Some people think Mt. Shasta is home to Lemurians (an advanced version of humans, like people from Atlantis).
I picked this book up as natural history, and have indeed learned much about it, getting beyond a simple coast/valley/mountains/desert mindset into the different mountain regions, their formation and more.
Of course, it's arguable that the way Fradkin breaks up the coast ranges into separate sections is more social history than natural history. But that's fine.
Speaking of that, his phrase names for each section also reflect social history as much as natural history. And are insightful in both ways.
Fradkin paints a good social history, not just of California as a whole but each of its regions individually, such as loggers in the northern coast, corporate farmers in the Central Valley, the paradoxes of Los Angeles, and so forth.
I would recommend this book to native or semi-native Californios as a fresh look at their state, as well as to outsiders.
Of course, it's arguable that the way Fradkin breaks up the coast ranges into separate sections is more social history than natural history. But that's fine.
Speaking of that, his phrase names for each section also reflect social history as much as natural history. And are insightful in both ways.
Fradkin paints a good social history, not just of California as a whole but each of its regions individually, such as loggers in the northern coast, corporate farmers in the Central Valley, the paradoxes of Los Angeles, and so forth.
I would recommend this book to native or semi-native Californios as a fresh look at their state, as well as to outsiders.