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Book Review |
M. R. Smith (ed.). Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special Publications, 16, 1999. £89.00 hardback; xx + 478pp. ISBN 1-86239-029-0.
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Introduction |
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The volume contains an immense amount of information, some might even say a surfeit in some chapters, on a wide spectrum of specialist fields directly concerned or closely associated with Britain’s stone industry. One hopes that budding entrepreneurs looking to develop smaller quarries will not be put off by the shear volume of data that now appears to be required for even a preliminary exploration assessment.
It has been a long wait for a modern reference volume which could update, but not wholly replace, the only previous attempt (by Greenwell & Elsdon in 1913: Practical Stone Quarrying, Crosby Lockwood & Son, London) to cover the subject in any depth. This new volume more than adequately summarizes current industry practices and, in the process, demonstrates how much modernization the stone industry has undergone over the last few decades.
The volume is divided into ten substantial and well illustrated chapters ranging from a general introduction to the geology of stone, through exploration and extraction procedures, processing and testing techniques and comprehensive
