Informative, humorous and inspiring!
Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past
by Sarah Parcak
Sarah Parcak is enthusiastic and stimulating about archaeological data gathering, and advances in that field, of how satellite imaging has helped amongst many things, new archeological discoveries and assisted in the investigation of looting of sites globally. A leader in her field, a winner of the Ted talk 2015 million dollar award, and a force to be reckoned with.
Yet there is a humility to her writing that makes this book so much more engaging. She's witty and a fabulous communicator making this work so very approachable.
I felt like I was actually there with her. I'm no archeological or technological buff but I was mostly able to understand what she was talking about. She brings to the topic excitement, awe and the ability to inspire. This book is just so very readable!
Her humorous part about meeting Harrison Ford I found delightful. Actually she has quite a few humorous, even self deprecating asides throughout the book.
I remember traveling by bus (yes it was dangerous) across Mexico many, many moons ago, looking at the shapes of the mountains and the jungles and wondering what was hidden there. It seems Sarah and her associates may have found that way.
I read with some excitement about the investigations in Newfoundland. Having followed Norse settlements around that isle including L’Anse aux Meadows, over to Ireland, and whenever I'm in a part of the world where this is relevant, added to my delight. Her remarks about Vinland are fascinating, including her statement, 'I believe that more Norse sites will be found in Canada in the next decade.'
And then at the last there is what is happening now via the GlobalXplorer (GX) platform where ordinary folk can contribute to discovering the history of our civilizations. Parcak's 'inspiring idea' for the Ted talk award 'that would lead to global change', was to 'discover the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe. By building an online citizen-science platform and training a 21st-century army of global explorers, [to] find and protect the world’s hidden heritage, which contains clues to humankind’s collective resilience and creativity.'
As Sarah so aptly paraphrases at one stage, 'The game is afoot.'
And we could be part of it!
A Henry Holt ARC via NetGalley
*****
by Sarah Parcak
Yet there is a humility to her writing that makes this book so much more engaging. She's witty and a fabulous communicator making this work so very approachable.
I felt like I was actually there with her. I'm no archeological or technological buff but I was mostly able to understand what she was talking about. She brings to the topic excitement, awe and the ability to inspire. This book is just so very readable!
Her humorous part about meeting Harrison Ford I found delightful. Actually she has quite a few humorous, even self deprecating asides throughout the book.
I remember traveling by bus (yes it was dangerous) across Mexico many, many moons ago, looking at the shapes of the mountains and the jungles and wondering what was hidden there. It seems Sarah and her associates may have found that way.
I read with some excitement about the investigations in Newfoundland. Having followed Norse settlements around that isle including L’Anse aux Meadows, over to Ireland, and whenever I'm in a part of the world where this is relevant, added to my delight. Her remarks about Vinland are fascinating, including her statement, 'I believe that more Norse sites will be found in Canada in the next decade.'
And then at the last there is what is happening now via the GlobalXplorer (GX) platform where ordinary folk can contribute to discovering the history of our civilizations. Parcak's 'inspiring idea' for the Ted talk award 'that would lead to global change', was to 'discover the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe. By building an online citizen-science platform and training a 21st-century army of global explorers, [to] find and protect the world’s hidden heritage, which contains clues to humankind’s collective resilience and creativity.'
As Sarah so aptly paraphrases at one stage, 'The game is afoot.'
And we could be part of it!
A Henry Holt ARC via NetGalley
*****
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