Meditations at 10,000 Feet: A Scientist in the Mountains

Argues Trefil, if we want to understand the universe, a hike through the mountains is just as good a place to start as the laboratory. As in his A Scientist at the Seashore, he begins here with something encountered on a walk and lets that objectbirds or rocks or streamlead him to the universal laws of nature. Thus we learn about plate tectonics, rock and mountain formation, fluid mechanics and glaciers. Trefil also discusses black holes and satellites, rockets and meteorites. Near timberline, his discovery of twisted trees (right- and left-handed) elicits an explanation of what happens when the symmetry of nature is broken. This is an illuminating excursion into the physical world of mountains. Illustrations not seen by PW. (April)