A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906Unleashed by ancient geologic forces, a magnitude 8.25 earthquake rocked San Francisco in the early hours of April 18, 1906. Less than a minute later, the city lay in ruins. Bestselling author Simon Winchester brings his inimitable storytelling abilities to this extraordinary event, exploring the legendary earthquake and fires that spread horror across San Francisco and northern California in 1906 as well as its startling impact on American history and, just as important, what science has recently revealed about the fascinating subterranean processes that produced it—and almost certainly will cause it to strike again. |
From inside the book
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Page 1
... western Ohio with the arresting name of Wa- pakoneta . It rang a distant bell . Once , very much longer ago , I had passed by the town on what I seem to recall was a driving expedition from Detroit down to Nashville . But , so far as I ...
... western Ohio with the arresting name of Wa- pakoneta . It rang a distant bell . Once , very much longer ago , I had passed by the town on what I seem to recall was a driving expedition from Detroit down to Nashville . But , so far as I ...
Page 6
... western American city of San Francisco one twilit California morning in the middle of April 1906. Many other scientific disciplines that are revolutionary and daunt- ingly modern—cosmology, genetic engineering, quantum mechan- ics—have ...
... western American city of San Francisco one twilit California morning in the middle of April 1906. Many other scientific disciplines that are revolutionary and daunt- ingly modern—cosmology, genetic engineering, quantum mechan- ics—have ...
Page 11
... Western Christian mankind had chosen to call April 18, 1906. Had any geologist at the time been able to look down at the planet in its entirety and witness what took place then, he would at the very least have been utterly amazed by the ...
... Western Christian mankind had chosen to call April 18, 1906. Had any geologist at the time been able to look down at the planet in its entirety and witness what took place then, he would at the very least have been utterly amazed by the ...
Page 12
... western darkness pushing its way rapidly toward the Pacific. The earth would have been moving relentlessly at a speed of some hundreds of miles an hour eastward toward it, opening ever more populated parts of the landmasses to the light ...
... western darkness pushing its way rapidly toward the Pacific. The earth would have been moving relentlessly at a speed of some hundreds of miles an hour eastward toward it, opening ever more populated parts of the landmasses to the light ...
Page 13
... western part of that great entity called by most English- speakers North America and particularly in and around the fragile and rather delicately constructed young northern city of San Francisco, a number of people grasped all too ...
... western part of that great entity called by most English- speakers North America and particularly in and around the fragile and rather delicately constructed young northern city of San Francisco, a number of people grasped all too ...
Contents
1 | |
23 | |
29 | |
49 | |
SEVEN The Mischief Maker | 157 |
City of Mint and Smoke | 201 |
ELEVEN Ripples on the Surface of the Pond | 335 |
Ice and Fire | 369 |
APPENDIX On Taking an Earthquakes Measure | 387 |
Index | 435 |
Other editions - View all
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California ... Simon Winchester Limited preview - 2013 |
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California ... Simon Winchester No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
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