by Deborah Emin
It was exciting to read Marcia Bjornerud’s book, Timefulness: How Thinking Like A Geologist Can Help Save The World (Princeton University Press, 2018).
This wonderfully written book tells the history of our planet as geologists have discovered what that history is. Time is one of the discoveries geologists made. The age of this planet and having divided the history into a geologic time scale, the route to understanding that timescale passes through an understanding of how rocks, mountains, the ocean basin, rivers, and air came into being and what has changed during the course of this planet’s life span.
The when and how of the Earth’s existence, as Bjornerud explains, is not a religious study trying to prove the Bible’s veracity. Geology, though a young science, still maintains the same scientific rigor regarding discovery and proof as any other scientific discipline.
To this reader, Bjornerud gave herself two tasks. The first was to teach the history of geology. She is an excellent teacher. It isn’t easy to portray the hunches and suppositions that have formed the basis of how geologists think and then explain how the more advanced scientific technology has worked to either prove or disprove these suppositions.
Supported by numerous illustrations, graphs, a helpful Appendix and notes that explain these concepts in greater detail or provide suggestions for further reading, the book is a gem of resources. Reading this book can turn into a foundation for a year-long course on geology. It includes that much detail and explanation.
I think that going beyond this foundational course was also important to Bjornerud because after all this incredible work to make geology clear as a science, she includes, as part of her second task, a final chapter on Timefulness. This chapter will inspire and encourage every environmentalist who picks up this book. If possible, this chapter should become required reading for anyone who does want to change the world.
Having spent over 150 pages providing a basis for understanding time and this planet, Bjornerud writes this: “The problem, in essence, is that rates of technological progress far outstrip the rate at which human wisdom matures (in the same way that environmental changes outpace evolutionary adaptation in mass extinction events).”
While a long sentence, I feel like tattooing it to my arm. For that is the dilemma we face. How to present coherent plans to meet our present needs that take into account the past and future of this planet? Living in a perpetual “now” is not the answer as this book ably teaches.
Deborah Emin is a novelist and publisher, and has written about and given talks on publishing and the environment. She is a member of the Sierra Club’s Pennsylvania Chapter in Bethlehem, PA.
This blog was included as part of the 2021 Winter Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!