Sitting on the shelf at a quiet moment this summer, Assembling California by John McPhee beckoned once again. (My first read was before I started clock.) McPhee’s quiet, steady gaze at a topic feeds a similar curiosity in the reader, even about topics previously unconsidered. This story is how California arrived at its current physical state, through plate tectonics and other geologic theories writ large.
McPhee’s “drive” through the geology of Route 80 is one I’ve made many times, in both directions. Having his eyes on the side of the road, where mine rarely stray, teases out the cause and effect in a process moving too slowly to witness. Because McPhee knows that people may be more engaging than rocks (!), we learn much about Eldridge Moores, the geologist who guides the author and readers through the evidence and the evolving story of what the rocks tell us about the state’s formation. The impact of the earthquake isn’t forgotten, but it’s just the surface expression of the larger forces, however important the “surface” is to those of us living in harm’s way.
On the physical book
The front of the hardcover, beneath the dust-jacket, carries an indelible outline image. This filled lined drawing demonstrates the coastal range, the pool-table flatness of the Central Valley, and the jutting slab of the Sierra Nevada — all in almost iconic form. But it’s not the dust-jacket image so easily found on McPhee’s website or in every other presentation of the book, so it’s not as well-known as it should be. If I had a scanner here, I’d add it.
The frontispiece, I notice this morning, crops from Raven Maps: Landform and Drainage of the 48 States. I own their large map of California, but not this starker, broader representation. I recommend their maps to anyone, and have given some as gifts.