MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 02068cam a2200289 a 4500
001 2005053598
003 DLC
005 20130430105815.0
008 051015s2006 nyuab b 001 0beng
010 $a 2005053598
020 $a0743260252
020 $a9780743260251
035 $a(OCoLC)ocm62172911
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dBAKER$dVPL$dC#P$dBUR$dDLC
050 00 $aQE22.K5$bW55 2006
082 00 $a551.092$aB$222
100 1 $aWilson, Robert,$d1951 February 21-
245 14 $aThe explorer King :$badventure, science, and the Great Diamond Hoax : Clarence King in the Old West /$cRobert Wilson.
260 $aNew York :$bScribner,$cc2006.
300 $aviii, 303 p. :$bill., maps ;$c24 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 265-267) and index.
520 $aA portrait of a scientist-explorer whose mountain-scaling, desert-crossing, river-fording, blizzard-surviving adventures helped create the new West of the nineteenth century. King in his youth was an icon of the new America: a man of both action and intellect, who combined science and adventure with romanticism and charm. He went west in 1863 at age 21 as a geologist-explorer. During the next decade he scaled the Sierra Nevada, published a book now considered an adventure classic, initiated a groundbreaking land survey, and ultimately uncovered one of the greatest frauds of the century--the Great Diamond Hoax--making him an international celebrity at a time when there were few. The book also provides the bigger picture of the West at this time, showing the ways in which the terrain was measured and charted and mastered, and how science, politics, and business began to intersect and influence one another during this era.--From publisher description.
600 10 $aKing, Clarence,$d1842-1901.
650 0 $aGeologists$zUnited States$vBiography.
651 0 $aWest (U.S.)$xIntellectual life.
856 42 $3Publisher description$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0641/2005053598-d.html
856 41 $3Sample text$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0641/2005053598-s.html