July 23, 2009
David Williams to read from ‘Stories in Stone’ July 29 at the Burke
Natural history writer David Williams, author of Stories in Stone: Travels Through Urban Geology, will read from his work at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, at the Burke Museum.
Press notes for the event state, “When Williams looks at the stone masonry, façades, and ornamentations of buildings, he sees a range of rocks equal to any assembled by plate tectonics. In Stories in Stone, he introduces us to a three-and-a-half-billion-year-old rock called Morton gneiss that is the color of swirled pink-and-black taffy; a 1935 gas station made of petrified wood; and a fort in St. Augustine, Fla., that has withstood 300 years of attacks and hurricanes, despite being made of a stone (coquina) that has the consistency of a granola bar.
“Stories in Stone will inspire readers to realize that, even in the modern metropolis, evidence of our planet’s natural wonders can be found all around us in building stones that are far less ordinary than we might think at first glance.”
The event is free. For more information about the Burke Museum and its programs, visit www.burkemuseum.org.
