SC-Earthborn

Gathering 80 color photographs with an accompanying text by nature photographer and mountain climber Beatty, this book captures Scotland's diverse Hebridean islands; rock-climbing in the U.S. and Europe; a 400-mile trek Beatty and five companions took across the frozen wastes of Greenland; the remote inner gorges of the Grand Canyon; and Beatty's geological research trip to Antarctica. The photographer's strong emotional ties to the various locales is evinced through pictures infused with strength and beauty, the views carefully and wisely observed. Many sites--rocky or freezing or both--are lonely and overwhelming by human standards, yet Beatty and his camera manage to connect with them, while still respecting, and revealing, their powerful isolation. The short chapter introductions and photo captions talk nobly of human ties to nature and the abiding obligation to preserve our planet. The message is admirable, although the writing is often flowery and a bit preachy; the photographs speak with more grace and ease. (Mar.)