Michael Welland was a scientist, an explorer, and a writer. Trained as a geologist at Cambridge and Harvard, employed by energy companies in two hemispheres as Vice-President for Exploration, and winner of the John Burroughs Medal for Natural History, he had wide interests (see map) and a fine style. Other Burroughs medalists include Rachel Carson, Roger Tory Peterson, and John McPhee.

His first book, *Sand: The Never-Ending Story*, appeared in 2009\. Encouraged by his publisher, he started his blog, *Through the Sandglass,* at the same time, continuing to post until his death in 2017\. The blog allowed him to respond to comments on the book, also to publish new material as he found it. He was an eager reporter on all matters related to sand, in both arts and sciences. Comments and guest blog posts by his readers broadened the contents; his own activities as speaker, panelist, and film subject added to the mix.

Michael Welland's second book was The Desert: Land of Lost Borders (2015). As preparation for writing it, he learned to ride a camel. The book covers in its sweep the meteorology, history, peoples, and politics of a quarter of Earth's land area, home to half a billion people. It introduces hundreds of personalities, from mildly eccentric to very odd, vividly described.

Some explorers are solitaries, others rejoice in meetings. Welland declared that a chief pleasure of writing *Through the Sandglass* was the many new friends it brought him. Here are the words he sent to them, their replies, and an enormous number of new ideas in all directions, all resting on a grain of sand.

— Richard Bready, contributor to *Through the Sandglass* and reviewer of The Desert