Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2019.
Description
"A down-and-out so-and-so gets more than she bargained for when new technologies developed for use in space allow an anthropologist a new perspective on earth's ancient histories and new ways of coping with those"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member breic
This is the kind of book that I usually love. But I was completely disappointed; this is is truly terrible. We get a middle-school level introduction to archaeology. No details at all, because Parcak doesn't want to scare little kids away. Very little about her own work—computers are scary. She
> Seneb smiled and looked back. Laughing at something Intef said, Meryt tucked her dark hair over her ear.
> The silt hits the alluvial fan, so to speak, when Pepi II (2278–2184 BC) inherits the throne at the age of six and rules for nearly a century.
> We've survived here for over 200,000 years, and that's a decent track record. I'm not saying we shouldn't attempt to travel to Mars.
> the absolute best part of being an archaeologist, bar none, is voyaging to the ancient parts of the world and getting behind-the-scenes tours from your expert colleagues.
> They discovered 451 additional sites, which included campsites, dams, enclosures, dwellings, and hamlets, giving a site density of 0.32 sites per square kilometer in the Registan Desert region alone. Afghanistan has a total area of 653,000 square kilometers; if the entire country was occupied to the same extent, there could be more than 209,000 additional sites.
> I believe there are more than 50 million unknown archaeological sites, from major settlements to small campsites, left to discover globally, above and below water.
> We must increase outreach to middle- and high-school students, have active recruitment to increase student and faculty diversity, include more graduate student support and postdoctoral opportunities, have junior faculty mentoring … and on and on.
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makes crazy extrapolations, and, I suppose to pad a 10-minute TED talk into 200+ pages, overloads the text with filler. Want to know Parcak's thoughts on Mars exploration and extrasolar planets? Me, neither, but it's all here. She makes up fictional characters and tells their stories. She gives a science-fiction story about an archaeologist 100 years in the future. The book needed severe editing. She's tried her best to include every pun possible, but the writing overall is poor. > Seneb smiled and looked back. Laughing at something Intef said, Meryt tucked her dark hair over her ear.
> The silt hits the alluvial fan, so to speak, when Pepi II (2278–2184 BC) inherits the throne at the age of six and rules for nearly a century.
> We've survived here for over 200,000 years, and that's a decent track record. I'm not saying we shouldn't attempt to travel to Mars.
> the absolute best part of being an archaeologist, bar none, is voyaging to the ancient parts of the world and getting behind-the-scenes tours from your expert colleagues.
> They discovered 451 additional sites, which included campsites, dams, enclosures, dwellings, and hamlets, giving a site density of 0.32 sites per square kilometer in the Registan Desert region alone. Afghanistan has a total area of 653,000 square kilometers; if the entire country was occupied to the same extent, there could be more than 209,000 additional sites.
> I believe there are more than 50 million unknown archaeological sites, from major settlements to small campsites, left to discover globally, above and below water.
> We must increase outreach to middle- and high-school students, have active recruitment to increase student and faculty diversity, include more graduate student support and postdoctoral opportunities, have junior faculty mentoring … and on and on.
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LibraryThing member 1Randal
I read this book as I also watched a great series on the National Geographic channel, Lost Secrets of the Maya. Both were absolutely fascinating! Although, the author's book goes into much more detail and has so much additional information and locations.
The gist of the story is that, due to
The author also tells many great stories of her experiences doing explorations. She's practically a real-life Indiana Jones!
If you have any interest at all in archaeology, or in past civilizations, this is a fantastic book to read! Highly recommend it.
The gist of the story is that, due to
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advances in satellite detection, THOUSANDS of archaeological sites are being discovered! All over the world! Using satellites, we can now see through thick rain forest vegetation and under vast sand dunes. It's a very, very exciting time to be an archaeologist!The author also tells many great stories of her experiences doing explorations. She's practically a real-life Indiana Jones!
If you have any interest at all in archaeology, or in past civilizations, this is a fantastic book to read! Highly recommend it.
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LibraryThing member eyes.2c
Informative, humorous and inspiring!
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
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
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
Show More
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
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LibraryThing member nancyadair
"Empires fall but people rise."~ from Archeology From Space by Sarah Parcak
Perhaps it was the old National Geographics that Dad kept in the basement on a shelf, ordered by month and year. When I was bored I would go down and grab a dozen to read. I loved articles about Egypt and the evolution of
Or perhaps it was the big Time-Life book about early humans in the living room magazine rack. Or Gods, Graves, and Scholars which I read over and over as a teen.
By the time I took anthropology classes at college I was already long interested in humanity's distant past. I still enjoy reading articles about the latest finds and discoveries.
For Sarah Parcak, Indiana Jones in The Raiders of the Lost Ark fired her imagination. When she met Harrison Ford she brandished her fedora. (Hopefully, she never stapled it to her head to keep it on like Ford had to while filming!)
Parcak's grandfather was a WWII veteran of the 101st Airborne Division with a Ph.D. in forestry. He used aerial photography in his research.
Now Parcak is an archaeologist like Indy and uses space shots of Earth in her research. Archaeology from Space is the exciting story of how this cutting-edge technique helped her to discover thousands of previously unknown archeological sites, leading to new understandings of who we are by studying who we have been in the past.
I was enthralled by Parcak's imagining the life of an ancient Egyptian woman, spinning her story out of the excavated bones found at Tell Ibrahim Awad in Egypt.
She tells of the ups and downs of Egyptian empires to show how resilient humans are noting, "We've survived for over 200,000 years, and that's a decent track record." Yes, climate change is going to bring unimaginable challenges and disasters, but humans will survive.
Understanding how we have survived in the past helps us to understand--and affirm--our strengths. But sadly, looting has destroyed unstudied archeological sites all over the world. She describes landscapes littered with bones, mummy linens, and shards. The looted artifacts are sold online. Even the Christian founder of the craft and decor chain Hobby Lobby knowingly purchases stolen artifacts.
Parcak predicts all sites will be looted by mid-century. It is imperative to protect them. Her winning TED mission statement led to her creation of GlobalXplorer which gives the public a chance to participate in the important work of identifying unknown archeological sites using satellite imagery.
This is more than a book about digging around for the past; it's about the challenges of being a woman in archeology, envisioning new technologies, and how humans can use to past to better face the future.
I received a book from the publisher through LibraryThing. My review is fair and unbiased
Perhaps it was the old National Geographics that Dad kept in the basement on a shelf, ordered by month and year. When I was bored I would go down and grab a dozen to read. I loved articles about Egypt and the evolution of
Show More
mankind.Or perhaps it was the big Time-Life book about early humans in the living room magazine rack. Or Gods, Graves, and Scholars which I read over and over as a teen.
By the time I took anthropology classes at college I was already long interested in humanity's distant past. I still enjoy reading articles about the latest finds and discoveries.
For Sarah Parcak, Indiana Jones in The Raiders of the Lost Ark fired her imagination. When she met Harrison Ford she brandished her fedora. (Hopefully, she never stapled it to her head to keep it on like Ford had to while filming!)
Parcak's grandfather was a WWII veteran of the 101st Airborne Division with a Ph.D. in forestry. He used aerial photography in his research.
Now Parcak is an archaeologist like Indy and uses space shots of Earth in her research. Archaeology from Space is the exciting story of how this cutting-edge technique helped her to discover thousands of previously unknown archeological sites, leading to new understandings of who we are by studying who we have been in the past.
I was enthralled by Parcak's imagining the life of an ancient Egyptian woman, spinning her story out of the excavated bones found at Tell Ibrahim Awad in Egypt.
She tells of the ups and downs of Egyptian empires to show how resilient humans are noting, "We've survived for over 200,000 years, and that's a decent track record." Yes, climate change is going to bring unimaginable challenges and disasters, but humans will survive.
Understanding how we have survived in the past helps us to understand--and affirm--our strengths. But sadly, looting has destroyed unstudied archeological sites all over the world. She describes landscapes littered with bones, mummy linens, and shards. The looted artifacts are sold online. Even the Christian founder of the craft and decor chain Hobby Lobby knowingly purchases stolen artifacts.
Parcak predicts all sites will be looted by mid-century. It is imperative to protect them. Her winning TED mission statement led to her creation of GlobalXplorer which gives the public a chance to participate in the important work of identifying unknown archeological sites using satellite imagery.
This is more than a book about digging around for the past; it's about the challenges of being a woman in archeology, envisioning new technologies, and how humans can use to past to better face the future.
I received a book from the publisher through LibraryThing. My review is fair and unbiased
Show Less
LibraryThing member streamsong
Author Sarah Parcak begins her book with a look at what can be currently accomplished in archaeology with NASA’s state of the art satellite imaging.
Parcak enthuses over what satellite images from the 1700 earth-orbiting satellites can detect – from the older cold war Corona images, to the newer
She was first captured by aerial images from planes and hot air balloons which her grandfather shared with her when she was a child. And then, part way through her already successful archaeological career using very standard techniques such as magnetometry, she tried some satellite imaging – and detectied previously unknown Viking settlements in North America, followed by a huge extension of the ancient Egyptian capital of Tanis, along with Mayan and Cambodian ruins long unknown due to being hidden by dense vegetation.
Her enthusiasm extends to how our knowledge of other planets may be enhanced by studying ruins that explain their civilizations’ histories – even if the civilization is totally gone.
And lastly, she explains her platform GlobalXplorer or GX. This is a satellite imaging evaluation site where students and citizen scientists can examine satellite earth images for signs of unknown habitations and also evidence of looting. She was able to develop this platform by winning a $1 million dollar TED prize in 2016.
All applying for the TED prize are limited to fifty words. Here are hers:
“I wish for us to discover the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe. By building an online citizen-science platform and training a 21st army of global explorers, we’ll find and protect the world’s hidden heritage, which contains clues to humankind’s collective resilience and creativity.” P219
It leads users from game-like learning techniques of known sites to evaluating actual data. What an online learning adventure this would be during this era of homeschooling students!
Throughout the book, she writes in an easily understood, straightforward, enthusiastic style. Although some may be left wanting more information on her techniques, I was drawn quickly and happily through a complicated subject about which I previously knew nothing.
Fascinating narrative non-fiction – 4.25 stars.
Parcak enthuses over what satellite images from the 1700 earth-orbiting satellites can detect – from the older cold war Corona images, to the newer
Show More
techniques using false (amplified) color and a Laser imaging technology called LIDAR.She was first captured by aerial images from planes and hot air balloons which her grandfather shared with her when she was a child. And then, part way through her already successful archaeological career using very standard techniques such as magnetometry, she tried some satellite imaging – and detectied previously unknown Viking settlements in North America, followed by a huge extension of the ancient Egyptian capital of Tanis, along with Mayan and Cambodian ruins long unknown due to being hidden by dense vegetation.
Her enthusiasm extends to how our knowledge of other planets may be enhanced by studying ruins that explain their civilizations’ histories – even if the civilization is totally gone.
And lastly, she explains her platform GlobalXplorer or GX. This is a satellite imaging evaluation site where students and citizen scientists can examine satellite earth images for signs of unknown habitations and also evidence of looting. She was able to develop this platform by winning a $1 million dollar TED prize in 2016.
All applying for the TED prize are limited to fifty words. Here are hers:
“I wish for us to discover the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe. By building an online citizen-science platform and training a 21st army of global explorers, we’ll find and protect the world’s hidden heritage, which contains clues to humankind’s collective resilience and creativity.” P219
It leads users from game-like learning techniques of known sites to evaluating actual data. What an online learning adventure this would be during this era of homeschooling students!
Throughout the book, she writes in an easily understood, straightforward, enthusiastic style. Although some may be left wanting more information on her techniques, I was drawn quickly and happily through a complicated subject about which I previously knew nothing.
Fascinating narrative non-fiction – 4.25 stars.
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LibraryThing member Gwendydd
This book is part memoir, part introduction to archaeology, part discussion of the technological advances in the field, and part call to prevent looting of of archaeological sites. There is also a smattering of historical fiction stories as Parcak describes one particular Egyptian dig site in
The book covers enough different topics that I imagine a lot of readers will end up skimming or skipping parts of it, but Parcak's writing is clear and engaging. It's amazing how rapidly the field of archaeology is changing with technological advances. Parcak even has one science fiction chapter in which she imagines a near future where an entire archaeological site can be mapped and explored in a few hours with satellites and drones, and then she explains how this future really isn't very far off. Her enthusiasm and passion are contagious, and she makes a very strong case for why archaeology is important.
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detail.The book covers enough different topics that I imagine a lot of readers will end up skimming or skipping parts of it, but Parcak's writing is clear and engaging. It's amazing how rapidly the field of archaeology is changing with technological advances. Parcak even has one science fiction chapter in which she imagines a near future where an entire archaeological site can be mapped and explored in a few hours with satellites and drones, and then she explains how this future really isn't very far off. Her enthusiasm and passion are contagious, and she makes a very strong case for why archaeology is important.
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LibraryThing member catseyegreen
An overview of space archeology including development and possible future uses.
Ends with a discussion of looting and the possibilities of satellites to preserve the past.
library book read 4/14/2023
Ends with a discussion of looting and the possibilities of satellites to preserve the past.
library book read 4/14/2023
Subjects
Awards
Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science (Winner — 2020)
Language
Original publication date
2019
ISBN
9781250198280