The Old Red Sandstone; Or, New Walks In An Old Field

By Hugh Miller

Book Overview

Before Darwin, before plate tectonics, a stonemason from Cromarty read Scotland's cliffs like scripture in rock. Stone speaks. Miller listens well. In The Old Red Sandstone, Hugh Miller blends travelogue, observation, and argument into foundational geology essays that helped define Victorian natural history. He guides you through the old red sandstone formation of 19th century Scotland, where river-cut ravines and sea-worn flagstones reveal Devonian fossil fishes, buried forests, and the logic of time layered in colour and grit. The prose is vivid, the reasoning disciplined, and the wonder earned: a book for the armchair rambler and for anyone who wants a geology student reference with a human voice. First published in 1841, this unabridged geology classic sits beside Lyell's Principles of Geology as a landmark of Victorian Scottish geology, shaping how readers imagined deep history and how field workers spoke about Scottish stratigraphy and fossils. Miller also grapples with natural theology and science, balancing reverence with evidence in a way that illuminates the period as much as the rocks. Republished by Alpha Editions in a careful modern edition, this volume preserves the spirit of the original while making it effortless to enjoy today - a heritage title prepared for readers and collectors alike. For lovers of classic science writing, it is more than information: it is a collectors edition science book that still sharpens the eye on any hillside. Whether you collect nineteenth-century travel and science or simply love coastal walks, his pages make the landscape legible again, today.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9354501044
• ISBN13: 9789354501043
• Release Date: April 2021
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 382 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"