A whopping tale about a California ranching family (1923 to 1940) who are already rich but become crazy rich when one of the sons discovers oil—giving them a money printing machine they can use any way they like—which they proceed to do and then some. The oil business and endless stockholders meetings, horse racing, show business, movie stars, art, politics, oh yes, sex―that about covers it. Sometimes hitting it just right, but mostly going on too long and meandering too far, Busch opted for more when he should have aimed for less.

The first edition appeared fourteen years ago. Since then there have been significant advances in our science that warrant an updating and revision of Sand and Sandstone. The main framework of the first edition has been retained so that the reader can begin with the mineralogy and textural properties of sands and sandstones, progress through their organization and classification and their study as a body of rock, to consideration of their origin-prove nance, transportation, deposition, and lithification-and finally to their place in the stratigraphic column and the basin. The last decade has seen the rise of facies analysis based on a closer look at the stratigraphic record and the recognition of characteristic bed ding sequences that are the signatures of some geologic process-such as a prograding shallow-water delta or the migration of a point bar on an alluvial floodplain. The environment of sand deposition is more closely determined by its place in such depositional systems than by criteria based on textural characteristics-the "fingerprint" approach. Our revi sion reflects this change in thinking. As in the geological sciences as a whole, the concept of plate tectonics has required a rethinking of our older ideas about the origin and accumu lation of sediments-especially the nature of the sedimentary basins.

Ten-years-in-the-making, Austin Granger's Elegy from the Edge of a Continent: Photographing Point Reyes is a earnest beacon to an extraordinary place. It is a book about Sir Francis Drake and the Golden Hind, Miwok Indians and eucalyptus trees, sea lions and elk. It is a book about wind and fog, lupine and firs, starfish and granite and daffodils. Combining haunting black and white photographs with wide-ranging prose, that is at turns penetrating, humorous, and poignant, Elegy from the Edge of a Continent is both a heartfelt memoir to a singular land, and a luminous meditation on how we make, and are made by, the world around us. It is, above all, a work of love.

This multi-disciplinary book will cater to students and those who want to have a more critical look behind the scenes of Antarctic science. This book will take a systems approach to providing insights into Antarctic ecosystems and the geophysical environment. Further, the book will link these insights to a discussion of current issues, such as climate change, bio prospecting, environmental management and Antarctic politics. It will be written and edited by experienced Antarctic researchers and scientists from a wide range of disciplines. Academic references will be included for those who wish to delve deeper into the topics discussed in the book.