Book Review: Schmincke on Volcanism

Hans-Ulrich Schmincke
Springer, 2004
400 colour plates
ISBN 3-540-43650-2

This is a beautiful, detailed, technical but fascinatingly readable account of everything - and I mean everything - to do with volcanoes.

The magnificent illustrations alone would more than justify the book. Clear, precise, and wonderfully well-chosen, they show the scale and variety of volcanic phenomena from whole landscapes down to gloriously sharp and colourful photomicrographs. Figure 12.8, for example, shows the enormous column of gas and dust in Hokkaido. The picture is shocking because in the foreground is a highway junction.

But the book is far more than photographs and diagrams. The text is quite simply a marvel of technical writing. Complicated physical processes are described clearly and succinctly. Equations are given where necessary, but Schmincke absolutely does not hide behind technicality. He explains what happens using history, personal observation, sequences of diagrams, photographs, maps, graphs, and stories. You can open the book at any page and find something wonderful to read. For example, on page 282-3, you can read about black volcanic glass, obsidian. A fine photograph shows great blocks of obsidian "on the surface of a rhyolitic lava flow (Newberry crater, Oregon, USA)". A second photo shows a stone-built display "in Newberry Park of how Indians used obsidian". The section is about the uses of volcanic materials; it goes on to talk about the powerful attraction of volcanoes and volcanic landscapes. "When lecturing to school children, I found that volcanoes only compete with dinosaurs as the most attractive topic." Adults too may be drawn in by the wealth of carefully-organised knowledge on the awesome power of volcanoes. The facing page shows a melancholy but beautiful scene of a shattered church on the rim of the mighty caldera of the Greek island of Santorini. The earthquake of 1956 destroyed many of the buildings on the island. Volcanoes "are major magnets to tourists."

Schmincke's book has many useful features to help the reader, whether students of geology or us, the fascinated public. The glossary is clear and helpful; the book is splendidly organised and indexed. Chapters cover such topical subjects as volcanic catastrophes and disaster mitigation; volcanoes and climate; how eruptions are triggered; plate tectonics, and not least the terrifying pyroclastic flows. Are mass extinctions due to mega-eruptions? Can volcanic catastrophes be avoided? They are all discussed and explained with admirable clarity.