A scholarly curiosity, this one. To See the Fellows Fight (British Society for the History of Science, monograph) by John Thackray offers us a fascinating glimpse into the early days of geology: the records of discussions at the Geological Society of London in the 19th century, pieced together from notebooks and diaries of such luminaries as Roderick Murchison, Adam Sedgwick, Charles Lyell and Gideon Mantell. These debates were largely kept from the 鈥渏ohnny raws鈥�, the contemporary name for the public, Thackray tells us.
If you want a modern perspective on the appeal of geology, why not try Geological Journeys (Geological Society of Australia, W. A. Division, A$30) by John Glover? He is a geology professor with a pile of fascinating stories, from a wartime fear of bombing near volcanoes to why obsidian was so prized.