Volcanoes : A Historical Account and Tribute to George Eiby and John Latter

"George A. Eiby and John H. Latter prepared this book on volcanoes in the tradition of Eibys earlier 168-page standard work Earthquakes that was first published in 1957 by Frederick Muller Ltd (London) and achieved its 5th and final edition in 1989. Theoriginal manuscript was prepared nearly three decades ago with the title Volcanoes, and was provisionally accepted for publication prior to the death of Eiby in 1992. It was planned to be published in late 1994 with the title The Worlds Volcanoes: A Panorama in Science and History, but publication was delayed andfinally abandoned when the New Zealand publisher was unable to sign up an overseas co-publisher. By this stage, John Latter had added a postscript regarding the eruptions in 1991 of Pinatubo and Unzen volcanoes.

Instead, the primary purpose of this publication is to acknowledge the important contribution that Eiby and Latter made to volcanology and to preserve their work as an historical record of volcanic knowledge towards the end of the last century.

However, the content of this book still provide a useful resource to a broad spectrum of the public. To the volcano specialist, the book acts as a reminder of the breadth of the volcanology and its wide outreach to society; perhaps every specialist needs to step back and revise forgotten knowledge. To the teacher, the authors have provided an abundance of anecdotes, stories and interesting facts that could be replicated in any classroom or public presentation. To any member of the public, much of the fundamental knowledge is still valid and presented in an interesting and captivating style.

Volcanoes: A historical account and tribute to George Eiby and John Latter has a unique style blending history and culture with science communication, and it is endowed with a range of informative illustrations..."