BARCELONA TIME TRAVELLER / BARCELONA LA VIAJERA EN EL TIEMPO

“An engaging mixture of the deep past of geology and some of the more fraught stories of the human species that focuses on the corner of Iberia known as Catalonia. A very enjoyable and enlightening combination”./“Una mezcla que engancha sobre el pasado profundo de la geología y algunas de las historias más tensas de la especie humana, enfocada en el rincón de Iberia conocido como Cataluña. Una combinación muy amena y esclarecedora”.  James S. Amelang, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.

A wonderful guide to Barcelona because this one travels through time and not just space, leaving you with a real sense of where the city came from, right back through human history and into deep-time prehistory”. / “Una magnífica guía de Barcelona que viaja en el espacio y en el tiempo, dejándote con un sentido real sobre de donde viene la ciudad, retrocediendo a través de la historia humana hasta el tiempo profundo de la prehistoria”. Peter Burgess, University of Liverpool, UK.

“I really enjoyed the way this book cleverly and entertainingly interweaves the history and geology of the Barcelona region”. /“Me encanta la forma en que el libro entreteje inteligente y entretenidamente la historia y la geología de Barcelona”. Laurence Coogan, University of Victoria, Canada.

“A very interesting and original exercise which places no divide between natural and anthropogenic history: the fruit of an open, researching and communicative mind that never ceases to ask itself the why, how and when of everything that surrounds us. An enjoyable read that provides an excellent vision of the origins of Barcelona and its surroundings with an imaginative approach to the measurement of time past”. /“Ejercicio muy interesante y original en el que no se pone límite entre la historia natural y la antrópica, fruto de una mente despierta, investigadora y comunicativa que no cesa de preguntarse el ¿por qué?, ¿cómo?, y ¿cuándo? de todo lo que nos rodea. La lectura es amena y da una excelente visión sobre los orígenes de Barcelona y su entorno con un manejo imaginativo de la medida del tiempo pasado”. Xavier Querol, Spanish Research Council (CSIC), Spain.

“Impressive in concept and execution, this book will demystify geological history for the general reader”. /“Impresionante en concepto y ejecución, este libro va a desmitificar la historia geológica para el lector general”.  Nigel Woodcock, University of Cambridge, UK.

 “I am pleased to introduce you to a publishing novel that has excited me. It’s the popular science book that I have enjoyed most for a long time. The book has an agile, rich and precise style and the multidisciplinary scientific vision with great doses of history and humanism reminiscent of giants like Jared Diamond or Stephen Jay Gould; but using geology as a reference base. And he does not talk about remote islands or lost civilizations: he talks about us and our country. This is Barcelona Time Traveller. Twelve tales from Wes Gibbons“./”Us presento amb goig una novetat editorial que m’ha entusiasmat. És el llibre de divulgació que més bé m’ha entrat en molt de temps. Està en l’escola de l’estil àgil, ric i precís i la visió científica multi-disciplinària amb grans dosis d’història i humanisme de gegants com Jared Diamond o Stephen Jay Gould; però amb la geologia com a referent base. I no parla d’illes remotes ni de civilitzacions perdudes: parla de nosaltres i del nostre país. Es tracta de Barcelona la viajera en el tiempo. Doce cuentos, d’en Wes Gibbons.“ Isaac Camps, Bloc de Camp (http://www.blocdecamp.cat/2017/12/barcelona-time-traveler-barcelona-la.html)

“There is more to Barcelona than you can ever imagine. Take these twelve trips into Deep Time and allow the Traveller to be your guide. Find out about the creation of the ground on which Barcelona is located, the plants and animals that have made it their home, and how and why it was established through pre-history to the modern day. This book proves that reality is much more interesting than fiction. Read it and then go and enjoy the place.“ Amazon Reviewer 15 December 2016.

Barcelona Time Traveller Twelve Tales is a sci-fi history book written by a geologist and designed to amuse, teach and tease the reader into thinking about the immensity of time. On one level its approach is local, focusing on the city of Barcelona and the surrounding region of Catalonia, and merging the dramas of human history with those of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, droughts, plagues and volcanic eruptions. On another level it is global, viewing these events against the grand and astonishing backdrop of Earth evolution. It is written not only for those who have visited (or plan to visit) the city of Barcelona, but for anyone who likes stories. The Twelve Tales are stories about humans, of our place in the scheme of things, and of the mysteries of travelling through Deep Time.

Wes Gibbons is a British geologist who was born in London and later lived in Portsmouth and the island of Sark prior to following an academic teaching and research career at Cardiff University. He moved to Barcelona in 2004 and currently lives in Sitges. His publications include books on the geology of Sark, The Weald, Corsica, Spain, Chile, Japan and Barcelona. In his latest book, Barcelona Time Traveller Twelve Tales, he reaches out to a general readership with an unusual and entertaining mix of history and geology.

The HOLIDAY GEOLOGY GUIDES by Wes Gibbons: New Zealand Volcanoes / Sad Hill Cemetery / Kruger Big Five Geology on Safari / Ishigaki / Monte Cassino: Geology and War / Train across Spain / How to get away with Mordor / Bilbao and the Golden Spike / Las Medulas: Roman gold mine/ Tokyo to Osaka: subduction by slow train / Azores volcanoes / Gothenburg: have a gneiss day/ The Weald / The rocks of Sark / A day out on Herm

Web page created by Antonio Moreno Pérez.