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Title: Extremely uncritical, in colloquial british
Review: This extremely fannish book (he actually calls Smith his hero at one point) is a biography of William Smith, the man who developed the first Geological map (of Britain). It details his difficulties, many self-caused, and his many "uniquely positive" incidents. (Yes, that was contradictory). Additionally, the extreme political correctness of the author (as with most authors/academics, it seems) makes him constantly abashed at the class snobbery of early 19th century England. Well duh! You can't judge the actions of people divorced from their culture.It also leaves the impression that the map shows the geological layers beneath each point, whereas I think what it actually says is that the map only shows the rock types of the top layer - a far less amazing accomplishment.Written by a brit to an colloquial audience that knows the geography of Britain well, as an american I found at least a third of the book incomprehensible.
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