Turning to Stone

A remarkable study of rocks, the stories they can tell us and the various ways they continue to shape and influence our lives, from the author of Timefulnes s.

This lyrical, wise book will change your relationship to the living Earth. Marcia Bjornerud offers a nuanced celebration of the languages of stone , from the subtle whispers of sand grains to the delightfully complex inner lives of mountains disclosed by eroding outcrops. Her careful attention not only reveals unexpected stories of stone, but teaches us what it means to be boundlessly curious and caring about our world and one another.

Marcia Bjornerud has done it again! With flowing grace, technical mastery, and poetic insight , she takes us on a geological odyssey across the vastness of deep time and to the literal ends of the Earth. Turning to Stone interweaves the profound testimony of ancient rocks-granite, basalt, sandstone, and flint - with her inspiring personal journey from curious youth to avid student, from struggling junior faculty member to master field geologist and revered educator. In the process, we share in the eventful, poignant life journey of a gifted scientist who has gained the expertise and nurtured the passion to share astonishing stories of Earth in a unique and timeless book.

At times i ntimate and confessional , but the overarching idea is vast and arresting . . . invigorating and necessary .

Having extracted profound insight from the substance she has dedicated her life to, Bjornerud demonstrates how the scientific can ascend to the philosophical. Hers is a remarkably human take on the geological world.

Wonderfully vivid and clear . . . Turning to Stone is an eccentric and charming introduction to geology .

MARCIA BJORNERUD is Professor of Geosciences at LawrenceUniversity, researching the physics of earthquakes and mountainbuilding. She is a two-time Fulbright Senior Scholar as well as aFellow of the Geological Society of America and the WisconsinAcademy of Sciences, Arts & Letters.

Bjornerud is a contributing writer to the New Yorker , Wall StreetJournal , Wired and Los Angeles Times , and the author of Readingthe Rocks , Timefulness and Geopedia . Timefulness was longlisted forthe 2019 PEN/E. O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing,and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize forScience & Technology and the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science. Turning to Stone was awarded the 2025 John Burroughs Medal fordistinguished natural history writing.