Savage Earth: The Book of the ITV Series - Hardcover

Alwyn Scarth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002201062 ISBN 13: 9780002201063

Publisher: Harper Collins & Granada Television (London), 1997

Synopsis

A follow-up to the highly successful television series ‘Savage Skies’, ‘Savage Earth’ aims to explore the immense power of the forces acting on our planet through the eyes of those who have been most affected by it be they scientists, researchers or innocent bystanders.

This book puts earthquakes and volcanic activity into context by explaining the complexities of plate tectonics and continental drift using clear, accessible text and helpful diagrams.

Subsequent sections go into more detail looking first at earthquakes, and then at volcanoes, using a mixture of historical and contemporary accounts of major incidents in order to illustrate the often devastating effects. Real-life accounts by many of the interviewees featured in the television series are also included.

The final section deals with the science of earthquake and eruption prediction and the difficulties it presents to scientists around the world.

Full of dramatic photographs, gripping stories and concise explanation, Savage Earth is an essential reference guide to readers interested in the forces of science and nature.

About this title

Review:

It contains everything you wanted to know about earthquakes and volcanoes but were too embarrassed to ask your children. ‘The Times’

From the Back Cover:

· Slowly, but constantly, our planet is on the move.
· Continents collide with continents. Vast land masses creak and groan. Mountain ranges creep ever higher.
· Deep in the oceans volcanoes erupt and boil: new islands are born, while others are blown into the sky.
· Although Man has come to dominate the planet in many ways, he is unable to control the immense power of the Earth. By the year 2000 around 500 million people will be living in homes at risk from volcanoes. In the last five centuries alone nearly five million people have died as a result of earthquakes.
· Now that scientists have finally come to understand the processes that have shaped the Earth, they are striving to achieve the next step: the knowledge that might help them to predict, and therefore avoid, the disasters that have cost so many lives.

A sequel to the highly successful ITV series 'Savage Skies, Savage Earth' explores the immense power of the forces acting on our planet through the eyes of those who have been most affected by it – be they scientists, researchers or innocent bystanders.

Designed to accompany and complement the series, this book begins by putting earthquakes and volcanic activity into context, by explaining the complexities of plate tectonics and continental drift using clear, accessible text and helpful diagrams.

Subsequent sections look in greater detail, first at earthquakes, and then volcanoes, using a mixture of historical and contemporary accounts of major incidents in order to illustrate often devastating effects. Powerful and graphic first-hand accounts by many of the interviewees featured in the series are also include.

The final section deals with the science and the practicalities of earthquake and eruption prediction and the difficulties it presents to scientists and engineers around the world.

Packed with dramatic photographs, gripping stories and concise explanation, 'Savage Earth' will be both an essential companion to the series and a useful source of reference for years to come.

Produced by Granada Television, in association with Thirteen: WNET, as a sequel to the highly successful 'Savage Skies, Savage Earth' is a major series that tells the fascinating and cataclysmic story of volcanoes and earthquakes in four spectacular, one-hour films. It represents a unique and compelling blend of cutting-edge science, powerful, personal stories of survival and tragedy, and the dramatic, epic disasters of history.

Filming took place at locations throughout the world: from Kobe to Krakatoa; from Surtsey to San Francisco; from Mexico City to Mt. Pinatubo. The result is an absorbing, and definitive series which is aimed at the large and diverse audience reached by 'Savage Skies. Savage Earth' is available on video.

Programme one: Explains the continual processes that shape the living planet and the threats these pose to human lives.

Programme two: Examines the immense power unleashed when the Earth's crust slips and the devastation it can cause to people and property.

Programme three: From the searing ash fountains of Popacatapetl to the scalding lava of Mt. Etna, this film highlights the volatility of, and destruction caused, by the world's volcanoes.

Programme four: Undersea earthquakes can trigger devastating waves, or tsunamis, which can travel faster than a jet plane. But how do we predict natural disasters which come with so little warning? And where in the world are people more at risk?

"Staggering: this series has some of the most dramatic footage you are ever likely to see".
DAILY MAIL

"In the search for energy on the box, one need look no further than this".
THE TIMES

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Collins & Granada Television (London)
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0002201062
• ISBN 13: 9780002201063
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 24
• Editor: Bill Jones