Floating Gold

Author: Christopher Kemp
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226821056
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Book Description
A fascinating natural history of an incredibly curious substance. “Preternaturally hardened whale dung” is not the first image that comes to mind when we think of perfume, otherwise a symbol of glamour and allure. But the key ingredient that makes the sophisticated scent linger on the skin is precisely this bizarre digestive by-product—ambergris. Despite being one of the world’s most expensive substances (its value is nearly that of gold and has at times in history been triple it), ambergris is also one of the world’s least known. But with this unusual and highly alluring book, Christopher Kemp promises to change that by uncovering the unique history of ambergris. A rare secretion produced only by sperm whales, which have a fondness for squid but an inability to digest their beaks, ambergris is expelled at sea and floats on ocean currents for years, slowly transforming, before it sometimes washes ashore looking like a nondescript waxy pebble. It can appear almost anywhere but is found so rarely, it might as well appear nowhere. Kemp’s journey begins with an encounter on a New Zealand beach with a giant lump of faux ambergris—determined after much excitement to nothing more exotic than lard—that inspires a comprehensive quest to seek out ambergris and its story. He takes us from the wild, rocky New Zealand coastline to Stewart Island, a remote, windswept island in the southern seas, to Boston and Cape Cod, and back again. Along the way, he tracks down the secretive collectors and traders who populate the clandestine modern-day ambergris trade. Floating Gold is an entertaining and lively history that covers not only these precious gray lumps and those who covet them, but presents a highly informative account of the natural history of whales, squid, ocean ecology, and even a history of the perfume industry. Kemp’s obsessive curiosity is infectious, and eager readers will feel as though they have stumbled upon a precious bounty of this intriguing substance.

Floating Gold

Author: Christopher Kemp
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226430367
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Book Description
An entertaining and lively history that covers ambergris--a digestive byproduct from whales that is in most perfumes and one of the world's most expensive substances. Kemp presents an informative account of the natural history of whales, squid, ocean ecology, and the perfume industry.

Floating Gold

Author: Christopher Kemp
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
ISBN: 0730497267
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
A fascinating modern hunt for a treasure from a most surprising source -- a whale's stomach. Journalist and biologist Christopher Kemp discovers, after reading an odd news report, a hidden world of money, intrigue and amazing wealth. A lump of something turns up on a beach in NZ, the lump so strange it may well have come from out of space. But it's not a dead alien, it's ambergris. Ambergris is a by-product of sperm whales, used for centuries as a perfume, medicine and aphrodisiac. It appears on beaches all over the world and depending on what state it's in, can be mistaken for all manner of things. For those in the know, it's an amazing source of wealth - ambergris trades for US$20 a gram, which is nearly as much as gold but it's harder to find and it cannot be mined. Christopher Kemp travels from the shores of NZ, to the Smithsonian and New Nedford Whaling museum; he meets amateurs, professional hunters, scientists, elusive vendors who traffic ambergris, people who won't confess to have found any, and strangers denying what they are looking for. As he discovers more about ambergris' origins, its uses present day and historic, the outrageous lengths people have gone to find it and the intriguing efforts people go to in order to keep what they know about ambergris a secret, the more his infectious obsession grows.

The Mining Magazine

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Mines and mineral resources
Languages : en
Pages : 540

Book Description

Hittel on Gold Mines and Mining

Author: John S. Hittell
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 65

Book Description
DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Hittel on Gold Mines and Mining" by John S. Hittell. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Gold Mines of the Rand

Author: F. H. Hatch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108061664
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 367

Book Description
This 1895 work covers geological, economic and legal aspects of South African gold mining shortly before the Second Boer War.

Advances in Gold Ore Processing

Author: Mike D. Adams
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080459080
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 1077

Book Description
The gold processing industry is experiencing change. As free-milling and oxide ores become depleted, more complex polymetallic and refractory ores are being processed, coupled with increasing pressure for stricter environmental compliance. Recent years have also seen a steady reduction in mineral processing and metallurgy graduates and a gradual loss of older operating experience. A contribution to documenting current and future best practice in gold ore processing seems timely.The focus of this volume is on advances in current gold plant operation, from conception to closure; chapters also cover innovations at the bench and pilot-scale level that would be expected to find commercial application at some stage. Sufficient coverage is also given to the chemistry and engineering aspects. The general principle behind the structure of the volume is that of flowsheeting based on unit operations and applied to a mineralogical classification of gold ore types. From concept to closure, this book covers all unit operations, mineralogies and processes that are relevant to dealing with today's complex orebodies.Practical experience is vital to the successful development, operation and closure of any operation. The 42 chapters have been contributed by a total of 66 authors and co-authors who are experts from countries spanning the globe, and representing exhaustive practical knowledge covering many disciplines relevant to gold processing.* Current best practice as elucidated by a select panel of experts in the field* Innovations at the bench and pilot-scale level that would be expected to find commercial application at some stage* Mineralogical-based approach to flowsheeting

Gold Miner 49 Er

Author: Reginald Gould
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1411679687
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 342

Book Description
This book is about exploring old gold and silver mines in Part One. Part Two is about actual experiences using various recovery equipment to find gold. Part Three is a look at some of the million dollar gold mines from present to the 1800's. Part Four is about new equipment to recover gold from rivers and streams.

Manual of Assaying Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper

Author: Walter Lee Brown
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Assaying
Languages : en
Pages : 560

Book Description

Revelations in Air

Author: Jude Stewart
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143135996
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
An extraordinary, strange, and startlingly beautiful exploration of smell, the least understood of our five senses The nose on your face is the Buckingham Palace Guard of your body, the maitre d' of all taste, as well as the seducer of your imagination, and memory—and Jude Stewart has charmed them all into a wicked, poetic and illuminating tour of their mysterious domains. —Jack Hitt, author of Bunch of Amateurs Overlapping with taste yet larger in scope, smell is the sense that comes closest to pure perception. Smell can collapse space and time, unlocking memories and transporting us to worlds both new and familiar. Yet as clearly as each of us can recognize different smells--the bright tang of citrus, freshly sharpened pencils, parched earth after rain--few of us understand how and why we smell. In Revelations in Air, Jude Stewart takes us on a fascinating journey into the weird and wonderful world of smell. Beginning with lessons on the incredible biology and history of how our noses work, Stewart teaches us how to use our noses like experts. Once we're properly equipped and ready to sniff, Stewart explores a range of smells—from lavender, cut grass and hot chocolate to cannabis and old books—using smell as a lens into art, history, science, and more. With an engaging colorful design and exercises for readers to refine their own skills, Revelations in Air goes beyond science or history or chemistry--it's a doorway into the surprising, pleasurable, and unfamiliar landscape of smell.