The Secret Life of Dust

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Hannah Holmes A mesmerizing expedition around our dusty world Some see dust as dull and useless stuff. But in the hands of author Hannah Holmes, it becomes a dazzling and mysterious force; Dust, we discover, built the planet we walk upon. And it tinkers with the weather and spices the air we breathe. Billions of tons of it rise annually into the air--the dust of deserts and forgotten kings mixing with volcanic ash, sea salt, leaf fragments, scales from butterfly wings, shreds of T-shirts, and fireplace soot. Eventually, though, all this dust must settle. The story of restless dust begins among exploding stars, then treks through the dinosaur beds of the Gobi Desert, drills into Antarctic glaciers, filters living dusts from the wind, and probes the dark underbelly of the living-room couch. Along the way, Holmes introduces a delightful cast of characters--the scientists who study dust. Some investigate its dark side: how it killed off dinosaurs and how its industrial descendents are killing us today. Others sample the shower of Saharan dust that nourishes Caribbean jungles, or venture into the microscopic jungle of the bedroom carpet. Like The Secret Life of Dust, however, all of them unveil the mayhem and magic wrought by little things. Hannah Holmes (Portland, ME) is a science and natural history writer for the Discovery Channel Online. Her freelance work has been widely published, appearing in the Los Angeles Times Magazine, the New York Times Magazine, Outside, Sierra, National Geographic Traveler, and Escape. Her broadcast work has been featured on Living on Earth and the Discovery Channel Online's Science Live.

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Hannah Holmes

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Dust is everywhere, both on planet Earth and throughout the cosmos. Usually regarded as an annoyance at cleaning time, this humble substance actually plays an important role in everything from the formation of stars to the falling of rain. A new book by noted science writer Hannah Holmes proves that the subject of dust is anything but dry.In The Secret Life of Dust, Holmes tell us that the substance-which comes in a bewildering array of shapes, sizes and compositions-may also be responsible for the extinction of several species, including the dinosaurs and, perhaps in time, our own. Holmes' fascinating and deeply researched account assembles the views of a number of scientists who devoted their career to studying this omnipresent substance.Dust coalesced billions of years ago to form the first stars, which in turn manufactured heavier atoms such as carbon, the basic building block of terrestrial life. When stars explode, they shatter into huge glowing clouds of gas and dust that become nurseries for new stars. Dark clouds of interstellar dust, though, can block earthbound telescopes and obscure these and other celestial marvels.A good deal of dust is manmade. As Holmes reveals, people don't just create it through agriculture and industry. Like Pigpen in the Peanuts comic strip, each of us walks the earth in a cloud of dust, shedding fragments of skin and bits of lint torn from our clothes through friction. With all that dust around, Holmes' look at the hazard it can pose is rather unsettling. A more immediate threat than some far-off nuclear winter, dust of various kinds kills people every day all over the world. Lung diseases such as silicosis affect desert dwellers who inhale tiny sand particles; people contract cancer from secondhand smoke; and babies play on floors that are the inevitable destination of gravity-bound lead and chemical dusts.A welcome addition to The Secret Life of Dust is an appendix of Web sites that illustrate Holmes' intriguing revelations about the topic. A gifted writer, Holmes turns a seemingly unremarkable substance into the stuff of a great story.(Gregory Harris, BookPage August 2001)Can the ordinary subject of dust lead to discussions of planetary evolution, allergies, lung disease, dinosaurs, and pollution? Holmes, a writer for the Discovery Channel Online and contributor to Outside, Sierra, and other magazines, enthusiastically show that it can, covering these areas and other in her enjoyable new book. Inspired by a trip to the Gobi Desert, during which she was inundated with dust, Holmes explores how dust has been crucial in the birth of the planets, how it affects the earth's environment and weather, and how humans create it as well. Out to communicate straight facts and science, she considers technical points in language that is clear and comprehensible even for those lacking a science background. In addition the bibliography, Holmes provides a listing of web sites for each chapter so that readers may easily obtain current information and graphics. Who would have known so much can come from so little? Strongly recommended for all popular science collections. (Michael D. Cramer, Raleigh, NC, Library Journal, July 2001)"A fascinating journey into the unseen flecks that underpin our world and those beyond. Holmes mixes playful language and a refreshing tongue-in-cheek humor with revealing detail and compelling stories from the field of dust science. Goes down as easy as the 150,000 dust motes you breathed while reading this." (Peter Tyson Author of The Eighth Continent)
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