Timefulness

How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World

By: Marcia Bjornerud

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Few of us have any conception of the enormous timescales in our planet's long history, and this narrow perspective underlies many of the environmental problems we are creating for ourselves. The passage of nine days, which is how long a drop of water typically stays in Earth's atmosphere, is something we can easily grasp. But spans of hundreds of years - the time a molecule of carbon dioxide resides in the atmosphere - approach the limits of our comprehension. Our everyday lives are shaped by processes that vastly predate us, and our habits will in turn have consequences that will outlast us by generations.

Timefulness reveals how knowing the rhythms of Earth's deep past and conceiving of time as a geologist does can give us the perspective we need for a more sustainable future. Marcia Bjornerud tells how geologists chart the planet's past, explaining how we can determine the pace of solid Earth processes such as mountain building and erosion and comparing them with the more unstable rhythms of the oceans and atmosphere. These overlapping rates of change in the Earth system - some fast, some slow - demand a poly-temporal worldview, one that Bjornerud calls "timefulness".

©2018 Princeton University Press (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Excellent

It is not easy to write about geology but Bjornerud writing leaves you at time breathless. The metaphors she is using and her understanding of the world makes you just look for more.

Geological concepts made simple

Awesome insight into geology things and nicely adapted to explain concepts very simply. Narrator was disappointing for a semi scientific book - what stood out to me was mispronouncing decimal numbers, e.g. "one point thirty six" instead of "one point three six". Call me a pedant, but I care about that stuff.

Enlightening and encourage moe study of geology

I enjoyed the book. it has encouraged me to learn more about Geology. I look forward to listening to the book again, after having increased my knowledge of science , in general, and Geology, in particular. I appreciate the author's wit and wisdom, and look forward to fuller appreciation of both on the second listen.

The narration was so bad I put it aside

Geology 101. This might have been interesting but the narration was so bad I couldn't stay with it. She speaks much to quickly for me to follow when I'm driving, which is when I do audiobooks. Her delivery was annoying. It is hard to put the reason into words but her tone was sing-song-y and pedantic.She is obviously not an actress, or not a good one. I gave her two stars because her diction was clear.

From the limited amount I heard the book might have been informative. The author is not the best prose stylist and there was some awkward word usage but the topic is important. Might be a lot better on paper or as a Kindle book.

Terrible Narration

The narrator sounds as if she is reading a children’s book. Her misplaced and inappropriate zeal applied seemingly randomly to certain phrases or words interferes significantly with the well-written and otherwise accessible book.

SOOOO GOOOOD

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this book. I strongly recommend it. I can't believe how thorough it is despite being short. looking forward to reading more of her books on the future!

3rd time through 🧐

I find this book so fascinating! I don’t have much science background so there are many concepts new to me and are mind blowing. I read it the first time when it came out and then again a couple years later. This is the first time I’ve listened and will probably keep coming back to the book hoping to more deeply understand our beloved earth.

Review of "Timefulness."

The book is a bit "preachy." The author's political bias is quite obvious. The narration was very good, although some scientifix terms were mispronounced.

Puts things in perspective

Wonderfully written, very well narrated, overall just a fantastic listen. Not just for geology nerds, but for anyone interested in this singular home we call Earth.

tiempo amigo

Más la idea que cada afloramiento geológico es un portal al pasado. Each outcrop is a portal to the pasta. Menos alguna frase sobre qué rocas son más importantes que otras