art - Through the sandglass

art coastal history photography rivers_water sand science travel

Drawing lines in the sand - the art of Jim Denevan

Anyone who builds a sandcastle, or doodles on the beach, feels the impermanence of such creations. It’s one of sand’s many qualities - for a material that lends...

February 1, 2009 4 min read

art books coastal education geology geomorphology history photography sand science travel wildlife

From Bogart to Bugs - the Angle of Repose

I try to make a point of watching all movies that feature sand in a significant role (probably the subject of a future post), and my 88-year-old father-in-law w...

February 1, 2009 6 min read

art books climate_change coastal education geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

Magic Crystals - Tales Zircons Tell

The picture on the left is of our oldest earthly possessions. They are sand grains, but special ones, each an individual crystal of zircon, the silicate of the...

February 1, 2009 8 min read

art coastal history photography rivers_water sand science travel

February 2009

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

February 1, 2009 4 min read

art coastal education environment history photography sand science travel wildlife

Grain-by-Grain (1): worm superglue

We are not the only species that builds homes and condominium complexes from sand. For example, some foraminifera construct shells from sand grains, as does the...

January 1, 2009 4 min read

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Grain-by-Grain (2): the amazing sand bottles of Andrew Clemens

Sand has always provided a medium, a muse, an inspiration in many ways, but the way in which it inspired Andrew Clemens was extraordinary - and unique. Clemens...

January 1, 2009 13 min read

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Granular stuff, earthquakes, and power laws - again

Back in November, in my post on the sandglass, I commented that watching avalanches of sand in a sandglass is to witness one of nature’s most fundamental laws i...

January 1, 2009 4 min read

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Of Mice and Sand - Evolution in Action

This is the year of the great Darwinfest and, inevitably, sand makes its contribution. The immediate reference would be to the “sand walk” at Down House in the...

January 1, 2009 6 min read

art coastal education environment geology history photography sand science travel

Sediment Budget Busting

Sometimes you have to wonder. And the good tax-paying citizens of Bournemouth are certainly wondering. An article in yesterday’s UK Guardian newspaper highlight...

January 1, 2009 6 min read

art books coastal education geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel wildlife

The man who figured out how deserts work

Among the many things that are intoxicating about the desert, the things that draw us back, I find the silence perhaps the most compelling. In a world where noi...

January 1, 2009 16 min read

art climate_change coastal education environment history photography sand science travel wildlife

January 2009

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

January 1, 2009 5 min read

art books climate_change coastal education geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

Sand, Earth Systems, and the Importance of Size

Now, back to the subject of this blog, but still following the global theme. In the course of researching and writing the book, I learned a lot and came across...

December 1, 2008 8 min read