A history of the relation of geology during the first 110 years of the US Geological Survey to the development of public-land, federal-science, and mapping policies and the development of mineral resources in the United States.

A bona fide classic, originally published in 1872, Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada is still exciting reading. It describes the perils and pleasures experienced by Clarence King (1842-1901) while conducting the first geological survey of California in the 1860s. His language was equal to the marvels he found, and here with unfading brilliance are his accounts of scaling such mountains as Tyndall, Shasta, and Whitney. The chapters on the Yosemite Valley and surrounding High Sierras were written while he was surveying the boundaries of a newly designated national park. There are also delightful vignettes of western characters, including a Sierra artist and a family of Pike County hog farmers. &

Guidebook to the Geology of Northern & Western Idaho & Surrounding Area. (Illus.). 156p. 1989. pap. 24.00 (ISBN 1-55765-027-6). Idaho Geol. Survey Pr. With this book those with a smattering of geology enjoy at their leisure, in easy-to-follow road logs, self-directed educational tours from the comfort of their cars. The book consists of nine field trips in Idaho & adjoining parts of Oregon & Washington. Articles cover late Cenozoic lake environments, the Idaho batholith & accreted terranes, tectonic & sedimentary sequences, & the Coeur d'Alene mining district. For those interested in other parts of Idaho, a companion volume includes broad areas of the rest of the state. Guidebook to the Geology of Central & Southern Idaho (Illus. 319p. 1988. pap. 35.00 ISBN 1-55765-026-8) contains 21 road logs describing the geology of central Idaho, the Snake River Plain, & southwest Montana in addition to the Paleozoic stratigraphy, economic geology, & Quaternary geology on this extensive region. Both guidebooks provide long-awaited summaries of the current geologic knowledge of the state. Another book of interest to serious students of geology is the Cenozoic Geology of Idaho (Illus. 725p. 1982. pap. 39.00 ISBN 1-55765-025-X).