<P>In a series of entertaining essays, geoscientist Jelle Zeilinga de Boer describes how early settlers discovered and exploited Connecticut’s natural resources. Their successes as well as failures form the very basis of the state’s history: Chatham’s gold played a role in the acquisition of its Charter, and Middletown’s lead helped the colony gain its freedom during the Revolution. Fertile soils in the Central Valley fueled the state’s development into an agricultural power house, and iron ores discovered in the western highlands helped trigger its manufacturing eminence. The Statue of Liberty, a quintessential symbol of America, rests on Connecticut’s Stony Creek granite. Geology not only shaped the state’s physical landscape, but also provided an economic base and played a cultural role by inspiring folklore, paintings, and poems. Illuminated by 50 illustrations and 12 color plates, Stories in Stone describes the marvel of Connecticut’s geologic diversity and also recounts the impact of past climates, earthquakes, and meteorites on the lives of the people who made Connecticut their home.</P>
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<P>Preface<BR>Acknowledgments<BR>Introduction<BR>In the Beginning: Continental Fusion and Breakup<BR>Weather and Climate: Hurricanes and Ice Ages<BR>Connecticut’s Geologic Treasures: Gems and Ores<BR>Sidebar: Gems in Quarry Tailings<BR>Sidebar: Other Historic Quarries and Mines in Connecticut<BR>Settlers and Soils in the Central Valley: The Legacy of Glacial Lake Hitchcock<BR>The Metacomet Ridge: The Scientific, Political, and Cultural Impact of an old Lava Flow<BR>Sidebar: The Curse of the Black Dog<BR>The Moodus Noises: The Science and Lore of Connecticut Earthquakes<BR>Sidebar: Moodus Tremors and Sonic Booms<BR>Visitors from Space: The Weston and Wethersfield Meteorites<BR>Afterword: Our Lithic Inheritance<BR>Bibliography<BR>Index</P>
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<P>JELLE ZEILINGA de BOER is the Harold T. Stearns professor of Earth Science emeritus at Wesleyan University and author, with D.T. Sanders, of Volcanoes in Human History (2002) and Earthquakes in Human History (2005).</P>