The Glaciers of the Alps
Being a Narrative of Excursions and Ascents, an Account of the Origin and Phenomena of Glaciers and an Exposition of the Physical Principles to Which They Are Related

An account from 1860 of expeditions to study glaciers in the Swiss Alps, by a leading nineteenth-century geologist and mountaineer.

John Tyndall (Author)

9781108037815, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 October 2011

482 pages, 62 b/w illus. 5 colour illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.7 cm, 0.61 kg

John Tyndall (1820–93) was an influential Irish geologist who became fascinated by mountaineering after a scientific expedition to Switzerland in 1856. He joined the Alpine Club in 1858 and achieved the summit of the Matterhorn in 1868 - a feat which led to a peak on the Italian side of the massif being named after him. He also climbed Mont Blanc three times. A writer of scientific texts who was widely praised for the quality of his prose, Tyndall made clear that in this work, published in 1860, he had 'not attempted to mix Narrative and Science'. He divides his account into two parts: his Alpine adventures and observations, and the scientific explanations about the origins and structural aspects of glaciers. Both sections include explanatory illustrations. This book, a classic text of Alpine exploration, offers a unique account of Tyndall's mountaineering expeditions and the science that inspired them.

Preface
Part I: 1. Introductory
2. Expedition of 1856: the Oberland
3. The Tyrol
4. Expedition of 1857: the Lake of Geneva
5. Chamouni and the Montanvert
6. The Mer de Glace
7. Measurements commenced
8. Alone upon the glacier
9. The Jardin
10. Lightning and rain
11. First ascent of Mont Blanc, 1857
12. Life at the Montanvert
13. Expedition of 1858
14. Passage of the Strahleck
15. Ancient glaciers in the valley of Hasli
16. Ascent of the Finsteraarhorn
17. Subsequent days at the Aeggischhorn
18. First ascent of Monte Rosa
19. The Rothe Kumm
20. The Görner Grat and the Riffelhorn
21. Fog on the Riffelberg
22. Second ascent of Monte Rosa, 1858
23. The Furgge glacier
24. Need of observations on Alpine temperature
25. Second ascent of Mont Blanc, 1858
26. Hostility of chief guide
27. Winter expedition to the Mer de Glace, 1859
Part II: 1. Light and heat
2. Radiant heat
3. Qualities of heat
4. Origin of glaciers
5. Whiteness of snow
6. Colour of water and ice
7. Colours of the sky
8. The moraines
9. Glacier motion
10. Motion of the Mer de Glace
11. Ice wall at the Tacui
12. Winter motion of the Mer de Glace
13. Cause of glacier motion - De Saussure's theory
14. Rendu's theory
15. Anticipations of Rendu confirmed by Agassiz and Forbes
16. Forbes's theory
17. The crevasses
18. Further considerations on viscosity
19. Heat and work
20. Papers presented to the Royal Society by Professor Forbes in 1846
21. Thomson's theory
22. Pressure theory
23. Regelation
24. Crystallization and internal liquefaction
25. The moulins
26. Dirt-bands of the Mer de Glace
27. Veined structure of glaciers
28. The veined structure and differential motion
29. The ripple theory of the veined structure
30. The veined structure and pressure
31. The veined structure and the liquefaction of ice by pressure
32. White ice-seams of the Glacier Du Géant
33. Glacier Du Géant in a state of longitudinal compression
Summary
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: Geological surface processes [geomorphology RBGD]