Book Review: "Out of the Crater" by Richard V. Fisher

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In his prologue, author Richard V. Fisher states this book is "mostly about walks and talks with some of the volcanoes that I have studied, visited, climbed, or contemplated. It is not a scientific document... This too, is a partial autobiography to explain to my children what I was doing those too many summers absent from home...” (p. 6) The book is a memoir, an older man looking back on his life's work, how he stumbled across the study of geology and vulcanology. He recalls mistakes, things he would have done differently, but speaks of no serious regrets. The love of what he does fills the pages as does his joy and satisfaction at finding things out. Fisher walks the reader through the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, as well as his not-quite-authorized witnessing of the detonation of atomic bombs on Bikini while in the service. We are led through examinations of Puu Hou in Hawaii, Mount Pelee in Martinique, and Mount Vesuvius. He is ever curious—trying to find out how structures formed. He describes the visible layers and remnants of the eruptions and creates a history. Black and white photos are scattered throughout the book, most of them taken by the author or an associate. Technical and semi-technical terms are italicized in the text on first appearance and explained in a glossary. The chapters end with a short list of books for further reading. Some of this may give the impression of a textbook, but it is not. It read mostly life a travel diary, with a descriptions of such things as camping out on a barren lava flat in Hawaii, or a tour through mainland China where he was invited to give university lectures, or tales of struggling with ornery burros on Mexican field trips. Fisher shows a sense of humor, about himself and many other things. Though he cautions that this is a personal rather than a scientific work, there is a good deal of information, thoroughly explained and quite readily understood by a non-geologist like myself. When I was a kid, I had an uncle who taught geology. On one trip across the northwestern U.S., he puzzled us kids by stopping a couple of times to pick up rocks. Rocks? We had plenty of those at home—prettier ones, too, according to my nine-year-old taste. How could I know then that beauty is not always "pretty"? After leaving the service and getting his degree, author Richard V. Fisher became professor of geology at UC Santa Barbara. Among his professional awards are Senior Scientist Awards from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany, the Bowen Award of the American Geophysical Union, and the Thorarinsson Medal from the International Association of Volcanologists (IAVCEI). _____ Title: “Out of the Crater” Author: Richard V. Fisher (1928-2002) Year: 1999 Pages: 180 *An earlier version of this review appeared on another site. It has been updated and expanded for its inclusion on myLot* Image is my of my copy of the book