History of Cave Science: the Exploration and Study of Limestone Caves, to 1900; by Trevor R. Shaw; with a foreword by Professor Hubert Trimmel

Large quarto in b&w illus wraps; xiv, 338 pages: numerous illustrations in b&w (photos and drawings); maps, portraits; 28 cm; bibliographical references and index. An impressive work. Well documented and illustarted. / Contents: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAVE EXPLORATION: Motives for exploration -- The way in which cave exploration developed -- FROM PREHISTORIC TIMES TO THE THE RENAISSANCE: Prehistoric -- Israel and Assyria -- Ancient China, Greece and Rome -- Mediaeval -- LATE 15TH TO 16TH CENTURIES -- THE 17TH CENTURY: Slovenian caves in the 17th century -- THE 18TH CENTURY: Slovenian caves in the 18th century -- Development of exploring equipment -- 1880-1878: Belgium -- England -- The search for underground Reka -- The Postojna cave system -- Schmidl's discoveries in Postojna -- Schmidl's other explorations -- 1879 -- 1900: THE WORK OF CAVE EXPLORING SOCIETIES: Cave photography in Europe -- E.A. MARTEL -- CAVE EXPLORATION IN AMERICA: Saltpetre exploitation -- Cave surveying in USA -- Other cave explorations in USA -- Cave photography -- Exploration in central and south America -- CAVE EXPLORATION ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD: China -- Edible birds' nests in caves -- Guano deposits -- Mining -- Explorers and government surveyors -- Exploration for tourist exploitation -- HYDROLOGY AND CAVES -- UNDERGROUND RIVER COURSES: Southern Greece -- Slovenia-the Reka river -- Slovenia -- the Cerknica-Postojna area -- Slovenia -- rivers on early maps -- Northern and central Europe -- America -- Great Britain -- Submarine springs -- Karst water pollution -- THE ORIGIN OF KARST SPRINGS: In classical times -- The seawater origin of springs -- Rainwater as the source of springs -- THE WATER TABLE CONCEPT: Intermittent lakes -- Groundwater and the water table -- Phreatic flow in submerged channels -- The water table controversy HOW CAVES ARE FORMED -- A GENERAL VIEW, PRESENT AND PAST: Present-day views on how caves are formed -- Past opinions on cave formation -- CAVES BELIEVED TO BE MADE BY MAN -- TECTONIC ORIGIN: Caves formed at the creation of the world -- Centrifugal uplift near the equator -- Collapse into the abyss -- Expansion or explosion of underground vapours -- 'Convulsions' unspecified -- Internal subsidence -- Parting of strata during folding -- Fissures formed by folding -- Cavities and fissures due to contraction -- Growth of coral -- Eruption of soft limestone -- Electrical action -- DRAINS FOR THE DELUGE -- GAS BUBBLES IN NEW LIMESTONE -- EROSION OF 'EARTH AND MARL' -- EROSION OF SOFT LIMESTONE -- MECHANICAL EROSION OF LIMESTONE: The erosion-solution controversy of the 1890s -- SOLUTION OF ROCK SALT: Removal of salt inclusions by solution -- Solution in beds of rock salt -- SOLUTION BY JUVENILE AND THERMAL WATER: Solution in juvenile water -- Corrosion by acid volcanic gas and Virlet's other hypotheses -- Solution in hot thermal water -- Solution by geyser action -- SOLUTION BY VADOSE WATER: Vadose solution in water without carbon dioxide -- The significance of carbon dioxide -- Particular solutional features -- Multi-level caves -- The importance of joints -- The source of carbon dioxide -- Solution concurrent with mechanical erosion -- SOLUTION BY PHREATIC WATER: Pointers towards phreatic solution -- First recognition of phreatic solution -- Belgium 1893-1900 -- Cviji and Grund -- CORROSION BY THE ATMOSPHERE -- THE ORIGIN OF DOLINES AND PITS: Formation by collapse -- Formation by solution -- SPELEOTHEMS AND THEIR HISTORY: Terminology -- Some early descriptions of stalactites -- Some of the theories to explain their formation -- Early collections of speleothems -- FORMATION BY VEGETATIVE GROWTH -- FORMATION BY SOLIDIFATION OF WATER: By an external petrifying power -- By extreme cold -- By extreme stillness -- By unspecified causes -- DEPOSIT FROM VAPORS -- THE LAPIDIFYING JUICE -- DEPOSIT FROM SUSPENSION OR SOLUTION: Avicenna and Palissy -- 1600-1699 -- Deposition of particles from suspension -- Deposition from solution -- Deposition c. …