Fieldwork: A Geologist's Memoir of the Kalahari
by Christopher Scholz
Princeton University Press
In 1998, Miss Universe was a glamorous young woman from Botswana, the landlocked desert nation just north of South Africa. What a change has come upon this country since 1974, when seismologist Christopher Scholz spent a season in and near the Kalahari Desert. Then Botswana was on the edge—facilities were primitive, roads were few, support from the new postcolonial government was spotty, and the maps had large blank areas. But Scholz was there to carry out research despite all obstacles, and Fieldwork recounts it all in this lively, wide-ranging memoir.
In the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy," which took place in this same region, a bottle dropped from an airplane prompts a desert tribesman to leave his homeland for civilization. In Fieldwork an unsolicited research grant from the United Nations prompted Scholz, a professor in New York City, to lead an expedition into the desert. The prime purpose was to monitor small earthquakes, using sensitive portable instruments, to assess the seismic hazard for the Botswanan government.
Scholz was happy to do that, but he also made a scientific side bet that the peculiar geology hid new clues to the tectonic structure of the African continent—a crucial piece of his research into the large-scale behavior of the earth's crust. The trick was to balance the "pure" research project he wanted and the practical work that the money was paying for, all in a setting of bureaucratic apathy, colorful bush characters, overlapping cultures, equipment breakdowns, elephant herds, and fantastic scenery.
Scholz treats the whole travelogue with a sure storyteller's voice. He has a clear and fluent style that does not strain for effect, letting the remarkable events of his trip speak for themselves. The humor, the exasperation, the fear and the wonder come through as well, and the result is a classic, understated adventure story.
The author is a prominent scientist, and on every page Fieldwork shows Scholz's tireless curiosity and his pleasure in recounting details—how to approach elephants, the speech of the various Africans, the faded glories of the local hotels, and the peculiar landforms of the great Kalahari. His attention extends to himself as well, and he tells us of how he fell in love with earthquakes, what makes a successful scientist and the trials of leadership in treacherous back country.
Scholz talks about science, too, and for those familiar with geology Fieldwork is a rare pleasure—a close firsthand look at the craft of research. But these details can easily be bypassed for the thrills of adventure among the beasts, the boulders, and the people of this remote frontier at a special moment in history.
