Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$23.70

Available instantly

Hardcover
$9.37

Paperback
$24.95

$24.95

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery May 20 - 21 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery May 16 - 17

Select delivery location

Usually ships within 2 to 3 days

$$24.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$16.08

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

Book is in Like New condition. Book has no signs of shelf wear, binding is tight, no underlining or highlighting. Book is in Like New condition. Book has no signs of shelf wear, binding is tight, no underlining or highlighting. See less

FREE delivery Wednesday, May 15 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$24.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by BigBTradingLLC and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (26) from $8.74 & FREE Shipping

Follow the author

David B. Williams

+ Follow

More books from this author

Stories in Stone: Travels through Urban Geology Paperback – Illustrated, August 19, 2019

by David B. Williams (Author)

4.6 27 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$24.95","priceAmount":24.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"24","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"JqWo5%2BO4u3DMhi30ZWIFzoZbwryIsUvM56lw3LGcLf30p74ka%2Fqy1B6ziU4MxjN9e8%2F8riSymJXMClO3qXXLeesY9fN2koSPqZaseTNCIT3rsb2zqU80BZ3s%2FVHNqL4CuG5tZUi5nOo2skwg6BcATw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$16.08","priceAmount":16.08,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"16","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"08","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"JqWo5%2BO4u3DMhi30ZWIFzoZbwryIsUvM3wxG%2Bta29aRQDIA%2FdYlKMPPnWWRGroXApR91Km25wtTcHSwAy4R32U2oi3gtfRQhHh%2BOo0gDYE4nRr4LePrdlv6ytkDl3pqDEp9BvtnpovXxfSnzHlah6EkhDMQhW83cf%2BTnHLHHFIGvQwoZ7B%2FuhP%2BeCTvHydwC","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Most people do not think to observe geology from the sidewalks of a major city, but all David B. Williams has to do is look at building stone in any urban center to find a range of rocks equal to any assembled by plate tectonics. In Stories in Stone, he takes you on explorations to find 3.5-billion-year-old rock that looks like swirled pink-and-black taffy, a gas station made of petrified wood, and a Florida fort that has withstood three hundred years of attacks and hurricanes, despite being made of a stone that has the consistency of a granola bar.

Williams also weaves in the cultural history of stone, explaining why a white fossil-rich limestone from Indiana became the only building stone used in all fifty states; how in 1825, the construction of the Bunker Hill Monument led to America's first commercial railroad; and why when the same kind of marble used by Michelangelo clad a Chicago skyscraper it warped so much after nineteen years that all 44,000 panels of it had to be replaced. This love letter to building stone brings to life the geology you can see in the structures of every city.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The more people live in cities, the less they see of the natural world. David Williams has neatly hacked this problem by using urban building stones as polished portals to intriguing stories about Earth's history."―Kirk Johnson, Sant Director, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

"Williams's lively mixture of hard science and piquant lore is sure to fire readers' curiosity about the built environment around us."―Publishers Weekly

"Each line of inquiry coaxes out some expressive scientific, emotional or philosophical nugget from a piece of travertine, slate or, in one Pop Art extravaganza, a gas station made of petrified wood. Makes stone sing."―Kirkus Reviews

"Stories in Stone is chock full of fascinating geologic tidbits . . . [but] how the geology is intercalated with the architectural and engineering aspects of building stone is really what this book is about and why it is a good read."―WIRED, reviewing a previous edition or volume

"Williams' record of human dreams worked in stone is as richly textured and full of life's imprints as a fossil-rich piece of travertine."―Booklist

"From a kitschy gas station in Lamar, Colorado, contructed of petrified wood, to the working quarries where Michaelangelo cut slabs for David, Moses, and the Pieta, Williams is a knowledgable and enthusiastic guide. . . . Stories in Stone invites readers to ground their intuitive sense on the bedrock of geologic knowledge."―Natural History Magazine

About the Author

David B. Williams is a freelance writer focused on the intersection of people and the natural world. He is the author or coauthor of six books, including Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle's Topography and Cairns: Messengers in Stone. He lives in Seattle.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Washington Press; Reprint edition (August 19, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0295746459
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0295746456
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 0.75 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,996,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #852 in Rocks & Minerals
- #2,433 in Geology (Books)
- #5,928 in Architectural Buildings

Customer Reviews:
4.6 27 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

David B. Williams

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I write about natural history, whether it is ecological recovery at Mount St. Helens, a journey to find salmon in Seattle, or an essay about seeing and holding first editions of On The Origin of Species. Some of my work can also be classified as science writing and/or environmental journalism. Over the past few years, I have focused in my books, including The Street-Smart Naturalist, primarily on urban landscapes.

A central goal in my writing is to encourage people to look more carefully at the natural world around them. I hope that my essays and articles will provoke the reader to ask more questions, to go outside and investigate, to delve deeper into the subject, to reevaluate what they may have taken for granted. I have written for publications as diverse as Smithsonian, Earth, Northwest Palate, and American History.

I grew up in Seattle, went to college in Colorado, worked as park ranger at Arches National Park and the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Park, and moved back to Seattle in 1998. I write full time, like to hike and bike, and explore urban nature.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

27 global ratings

2 star

0%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Mark A. Ardagna

Where did the stone from your house come from?

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book explains where stones used for houses, sidewalks, courthouses and so on came from. It gives the history of the stone, how it was formed, where it was found and why it is special. The geology of the stone is only a part of the story, and some stories are surprising and amusing. The book is organized in chapters talking about each kind of stone. It is easily read and the language pulls you into each story. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Steve

Enjoyable armchair geology

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2014

Verified Purchase

Geology is all around us, even if you live in a completely unnatural environment, you don't need to leave the city to read the stories in stone. This is not a geology text, this is like going on a walk with a naturalist who makes the walk even more interesting by sharing not just geology but the natural history of how the stone ended up where it did.

Helpful

steamduck43

I expected to read about the building stone used in major cities, and its origins. This book is not about that.

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2015

Verified Purchase

Could have provided a lot more information about the stone used in cities, which I thought was the point of the book. A lot of digression, including one whole chapter about a California poet, whose only connection was that he lived in a stone house! Also, a lot of information about stonecutting. I wanted to read about the stone you would find in buildings in the world's major cities, and its relationship to local geology. Such a book is evidently yet to be written.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

J.B. Lyle

Rocks and history: what could be better?

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

Since the other reviewers have done a good job of discussing Williams's book substantively, I'm just here to cheer. In addition to everything else that's good about this book, it's one that can be dipped into pretty much at random--or while planning travel to a particular site that he covers. Enjoyable, full of information and surprises; recommended.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Suineg

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2016

Verified Purchase

I work with stone daily. Design with it, detail it. I thought I knew a lot about it. And then this book taught me to see it in a new light. This is an excellent book. (...)

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Hedgehog

Excellent Geological Information

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

Well written with expert treatment of geology and lots of facts from local histories. This author should be a professor!

Helpful

C. Griffith

Building stone throughout the ages

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2009

Ages both of human and geological history, that is. In this well-written book, the author discusses building stones that have been used in America (including the rocks from Italy), the history of their use by humans, their geological formation, and often how they were quarried. Sometimes changes in fashion are important in determining demand-for example, the use of Indiana limestone increased after the 1893 Columbia exposition in Chicago made white a popular color for building.

The 10 chapters of the book are entitled:

1. "The most hideous stone ever quarried" - New York Brownstone
2. The granite city - Boston granite
3. Poetry in stone - Carmel Granite
4. Deep time in Minnesota - Minnesota gneiss
5. The clam that changed the world- Florida Coquina
6. America's building stone - Indiana limestone
7. Pop rocks, pilfered fossils, and Phillips Petroleum - Colorado petrified wood
8. The trouble with Michelangelo's favorite stone - Carrara marble
9. Reading, writing and roofing - East Coast Slate
10. "Autumn 20,000 Years ago" - Italian travertine

Some of changes in taste are ironic. The use of brownstone, a brown sandstone readily available from near the Connecticut River and used as a sort of siding rather than as a structural feature of the building, declined not so much as a result of changing tastes but as a result of poor construction and quarry practices. The carrara marble used by Michelangelo, whatever its merits for sculpture, is not a good choice for the exterior of a building, because it is weakened by the daily swings in temperature and by the infiltration of water between the grains of the stone - but his use gives it prestige. The travertine from near Rome was imported for the Getty center in Los Angeles to give a "natural" feel, though its from another hemisphere.

In a couple of areas, minor improvements or corrections could be made to the book. A chart of the geological timescale, with indications in the chart of when each of the rocks discussed were formed, would be helpful. When discussing the ways the rocks were quarried, some diagrams to supplement the author's excellent descriptions would be helpful given the several spatial dimensions involved. In the discussion of the possible microbiological aspects of the formation ot travertine, on page 209, the author writes that "they excrete carbon dioxide during photosynthesis" - I would presume he meant to write cellular respiration rather than photosynthesis, which produces oxygen rather than carbon dioxide.

The author sees a common trend in which stones were used for building in human history. First, the stones local to an area were used. Subsequently transportation was the limiting factor. Today, cost and taste are the determinants.

All in all, a most enjoyable and readable book for those interested in geology.

21 people found this helpful

Helpful

S. Andrews

On architecture, not gravestones.

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book is on architecture and masonry. I was expecting gravestones. I was very pleasantly surprised once I started reading the book. It is extremely interesting.

Helpful

Return this item for free

Return this item for free

Follow the author

Image Unavailable