The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City by Grant Heiken, Renato Funiciello, Donatella de Rita, and Walter Veltroni

The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City

Features

Cover Type: Paperback with 264 pages

Published by: Princeton University Press; New Ed edition April 23, 2007

Written in: English

ISBN 10 Number: 0691130388

ISBN 13 Number: 978-0691130385

Book Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches

Weighs: 13.6 ounces

Ian B. Gordon, Library Journal
"This is a truly unusual book of great interest to amateur geologists, historians, and travelers. Recommended". --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Review
A detailed description.
(Ingrid Rowland New York Review of Books )

Rome we know as a museum of empires and faiths, architecture and art collections: this fascinating little book shows how it may be a museum of the earth as well.
(Greg Woolf Times Literary Supplement )

This is a truly unusual book of great interest to amateur geologists, historians, and travelers.
(Library Journal )

A very interesting book on the geology of Rome and how that geology has strongly influenced the city's geography, history, economics, and culture since its earliest settlement.
(Choice )

This is a book of delights. A volcanologist and two geologists unpick the fabric of Rome, from its roots of silts and gravels overlain by volcanic flows to the summits of the seven hills.
(Maggie McDonald New Scientist )

Now here's a tourist guide to Rome with a difference. . . .This isn't just a guide. The authors have also set out to awaken people to Rome's geological framework in the hope of making the city itself more sustainable.
(Sarah Barnett Geographical Magazine )

This fascinating and easy-to-read guidebook shows how the geography and geology of Rome allowed it to grow into the great center of civilization that it became. . . . This book is for travelers and readers interested in both history and geology.
(Science News )

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City (Hardcover) This should have been a wonderful book. Instead it deeply flawed by very bad writing. The narrative is about as exciting as a glass of cold spit and the sentence construction reads as if it came from the pen of a sixth grader who slept through English class. On top of an impenetrable writing style the many photographs are all black and white, even when colour photographs or art work would have been better (the line draws are wonderful for the most part, clearly showing essential material). The photographs further suffer from poor quality/composition. For example the photo’s on page 6, 8 and 9 showing the Trevi Fountain at different scales are useless without a magnifying glass, and a photo interpreter’s loop would be even better. Page 57 shows a sink hole that could be from any part of the world and simply takes up space to no real effect. Again and again the photographs either add nothing to the readers ability to understand the narrative or indeed take away from the book. 1) page 91, the “church of San Vitate” according to the legend it’s surrounded by “debris. . .accumulated since medieval times” But from the picture it looks like a fast food restaurant under construction. 2) page 93, a picture of “Monte Testaccio” which shows a grassy mound with bits of crumbling masonry and a fence that could be Monte Testaccio or could be a grassy mound in NJ. 3) p112, caption “you can see evidence of the gradual slumping movement in the curved trunks of trees.” No, you can’t, or at least I can’t. It’s a picture of trees and brush that could be almost anywhere in the world. IF the reader looks very carefully they may see a tiny road sign in the background that, with a bit of imagination, might seem to show the curve of the trees. Or might not. 4) Page 115, a big hole in the ground with an earth mover. The picture quality is almost good enough to make out the strata. Almost. 5) Page 128, a riveting picture of what is supposed to be the “modern travertine quarry, Bagni di Tivoli . . .” Looks like a broken wall, with rubble and another earth mover that could have been taken at a construction site in Idaho. Fortunately I got this from the library. A book worth adding to your personal library, but not at retail price. I’m going to wait and buy my copy from the bargain bin at $5.00 or better yet, $0.99. Comment | | (Report this)

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Updated on 6-4-2008.