EARTHQUAKES: The Human Dimension
By Jelle de Boer and Don Sanders
Princeton University Press (NYP)

Throughout history, earthquakes have profoundly and sometimes catastrophically altered the course of civilization. The long-range impact of these geological events has often been far greater than the immediate toll in terms of death and destruction. Indeed, their cultural aftershocks have reverberated for hundreds even thousands of years. Consider…

The great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 led thinkers in Europe to question the old order, inspired Voltaire to write Candide, and ushered in the Enlightenment.

This is just one of the geological events discussed in EARTHQUAKES: The Human Perspective. Intended for general readers, the book emphasizes the many ways in which selected geological events have affected humankind, while briefly explaining, in plain English, the underlying geological phenomena.