in-making-war-with-nature-there-was-risk-loss-in-winning-john-mcphee
catch-release-fishing-may-be-cruelty-masquerading-as-political-correctness-john-mcphee
Bradley is one of the few basketball players who have ever been appreciatively cheered by a disinterested away-from-home crowd while warming up. This curious event occurred last March, just before Princeton eliminated the Virginia Military Institute, the year's Southern Conference champion, from the NCAA championships. The game was played in Philadelphia and was the last of a tripleheader. The people there were worn out, because most of them were emotionally committed to either Villanova or Temple-two local teams that had just been involved in enervating battles with Providence and Connecticut, respectively, scrambling for a chance at the rest of the country. A group of Princeton players shooting basketballs miscellaneously in preparation for still another game hardly promised to be a high point of the evening, but Bradley, whose routine in the warmup time is a gradual crescendo of activity, is more interesting to watch before a game than most players are in play. In Philadelphia that night, what he did was, for him, anything but unusual. As he does before all games, he began by shooting set shots close to the basket, gradually moving back until he was shooting long sets from 20 feet out, and nearly all of them dropped into the net with an almost mechanical rhythm of accuracy. Then he began a series of expandingly difficult jump shots, and one jumper after another went cleanly through the basket with so few exceptions that the crowd began to murmur. Then he started to perform whirling reverse moves before another cadence of almost steadily accurate jump shots, and the murmur increased. Then he began to sweep hook shots into the air. He moved in a semicircle around the court. First with his right hand, then with his left, he tried seven of these long, graceful shots-the most difficult ones in the orthodoxy of basketball-and ambidextrously made them all. The game had not even begun, but the presumably unimpressible Philadelphians were applauding like an audience at an opera.
John McPhee
bradley-is-one-few-basketball-players-who-have-ever-been-appreciatively-cheered-by-disinterested-awayfromhome-crowd-while-warming-up-this-curious-event-occurred-last-march-just-b
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If basketball was going to enable Bradley to make friends, to prove that a banker's son is as good as the next fellow, to prove that he could do without being the greatest-end-ever at Missouri, to prove that he was not chicken, and to live up to his mother's championship standards, and if he was going to have some moments left over to savor his delight in the game, he obviously needed considerable practice, so he borrowed keys to the gym and set a schedule for himself that he adhereded to for four full years-in the school year, three and a half hours every day after school, nine to five on Saturday, one-thirty to five on Sunday, and, in the summer, about three hours a day.
John McPhee
if-basketball-was-going-to-enable-bradley-to-make-friends-to-prove-that-bankers-son-is-as-good-as-next-fellow-to-prove-that-he-could-do-without-being-greatestendever-at-missouri-
basketball quotesenable quotesbradley quotesmake quotesfriends quotesprove quotesbankers quotesson quotesgood quotesfellow quotesgreatestendever quotesmissouri quoteschicken quoteslive quotesmothers quoteschampionship quotesstandards quotesmoments quotesleft quotessavor quotesdelight quotesgame quotesneeded quotesconsiderable quotespractice quotesborrowed quoteskeys quotesgym quotesset quotesschedule quotesadhereded quotesfull quotesyearsin quotesschool quotesyear quoteshalf quoteshours quotesday quotesschool quotessaturday quotesonethirty quotessunday quotessummer quotesday quotes
The Himalayas are the crowning achievement of the Indo-Australian plate. India in the Oligocene crashed head on into Tibet, hit so hard that it not only folded and buckled the plate boundaries but also plowed into the newly created Tibetan plateau and drove the Himalayas five and a half miles into the sky. The mountains are in some trouble. India has not stopped pushing them, and they are still going up. Their height and volume are already so great they are beginning to melt in their own self-generated radioactive heat. When the climbers in 1953 planted their flags on the highest mountain, they set them in snow over the skeletons of creatures that had lived in a warm clear ocean that India, moving north, blanked out. Possibly as much as 20,000 feet below the sea floor, the skeletal remains had turned into rock. This one fact is a treatise in itself on the movements of the surface of the earth. If by some fiat, I had to restrict all this writing to one sentence; this is the one I would choose: the summit of Mount Everest is marine limestone.
John McPhee
the-himalayas-are-crowning-achievement-indoaustralian-plate-india-in-oligocene-crashed-head-on-into-tibet-hit-hard-that-it-not-only-folded-buckled-plate-boundaries-but-also-plowe
himalayas quotescrowning quotesachievement quotesindoaustralian quotesplate quotesindia quotesoligocene quotescrashed quoteshead quotestibet quoteshit quoteshard quotesfolded quotesbuckled quotesplate quotesboundaries quotesplowed quotesnewly quotescreated quotestibetan quotesplateau quotesdrove quoteshalf quotesmiles quotessky quotesmountains quotestrouble quotesstopped quotespushing quotesheight quotesvolume quotesgreat quotesbeginning quotesmelt quotesselfgenerated quotesradioactive quotesheat quotesclimbers quotes1953 quotesplanted quotesflags quoteshighest quotesmountain quotesset quotessnow quotesskeletons quotescreatures quoteslived quoteswarm quotesclear quotesocean quotesindia quotesmoving quotesnorth quotesblanked quotespossibly quotes20000 quotesfeet quotessea quotesfloor quotesskeletal quotesremains quotesturned quotesrock quotesfact quotestreatise quotesmovements quotessurface quotesearth quotesfiat quotesrestrict quoteswriting quotessentence quoteschoose quotessummit quotesmount quoteseverest quotesmarine quoteslimestone quotes
going-to-have-industrial-society-you-must-have-places-that-will-look-terrible-other-places-you-set-asideto-say-this-is-way-it-was-john-mcphee
he-said-americans-look-upon-water-as-inexhaustible-resource-its-not-if-youre-mining-it-arizona-is-mining-groundwater-john-mcphee
Speaking of libraries: A big open-stack academic or public library is no small pleasure to work in. You're, say, trying to do a piece on something in Nevada, and you go down to C Floor, deep in the earth, and out to what a miner would call a remote working face. You find 10995.497S just where the card catalog and the online computer thought it would be, but that is only the initial nick. The book you knew about has led you to others you did not know about. To the ceiling the shelves are loaded with books about Nevada. You pull them down, one at a time, and sit on the floor and look them over until you are sitting on a pile five feet high, at which point you are late home for dinner and you get up and walk away. It's an incomparable boon to research, all that; but it is also a reason why there are almost no large open-stack libraries left in the world.
John McPhee
speaking-libraries-a-big-openstack-academic-public-library-is-no-small-pleasure-to-work-in-youre-say-trying-to-do-piece-on-something-in-nevada-you-go-down-to-c-floor-deep-in-eart
speaking quoteslibraries quotesbig quotesopenstack quotesacademic quotespublic quoteslibrary quotessmall quotespleasure quoteswork quotespiece quotesnevada quotesc quotesfloor quotesdeep quotesearth quotesminer quotescall quotesremote quotesworking quotesface quotesfind quotes10995497s quotescard quotescatalog quotesonline quotescomputer quotesthought quotesinitial quotesnick quotesbook quotesknew quotesled quotesceiling quotesshelves quotesloaded quotesbooks quotesnevada quotespull quotestime quotessit quotesfloor quotessitting quotespile quotesfeet quoteshigh quotespoint quoteslate quoteshome quotesdinner quoteswalk quotesincomparable quotesboon quotesresearch quotesreason quoteslarge quoteslibraries quotesleft quotesworld quotes
A small cabin stands in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, about a hundred yards off a trail that crosses the Cascade Range. In midsummer, the cabin looked strange in the forest. It was only twelve feet square, but it rose fully two stories and then had a high and steeply peaked roof. From the ridge of the roof, moreover, a ten-foot pole stuck straight up. Tied to the top of the pole was a shovel. To hikers shedding their backpacks at the door of the cabin on a cold summer evening - as the five of us did - it was somewhat unnerving to look up and think of people walking around in snow perhaps thirty-five feet above, hunting for that shovel, then digging their way down to the threshold. [1971]
John McPhee
a-small-cabin-stands-in-glacier-peak-wilderness-about-hundred-yards-off-trail-that-crosses-cascade-range-in-midsummer-cabin-looked-strange-in-forest-it-was-only-twelve-feet-squar
small quotescabin quotesstands quotesglacier quotespeak quoteswilderness quoteshundred quotesyards quotestrail quotescrosses quotescascade quotesrange quotesmidsummer quoteslooked quotesstrange quotesforest quotestwelve quotesfeet quotessquare quotesrose quotesfully quotesstories quoteshigh quotessteeply quotespeaked quotesroof quotesridge quotesroof quotestenfoot quotespole quotesstuck quotesstraight quotestied quotestop quotesshovel quoteshikers quotesshedding quotesbackpacks quotesdoor quotescold quotessummer quotesevening quotesunnerving quotespeople quoteswalking quotessnow quotesthirtyfive quoteshunting quotesshovel quotesdigging quotesthreshold quotes1971 quotes
if-by-some-fiat-i-had-to-restrict-all-this-writing-to-one-sentence-this-is-one-i-would-choose-the-summit-mt-everest-is-marine-limestone-john-mcphee
the-summit-mount-everest-is-marine-limestone-john-mcphee
When the climbers in 1953 planted their flags on the highest mountain, they set them in snow over the skeletons of creatures that had lived in the warm clear ocean that India, moving north, blanked out. Possibly as much as twenty thousand feet below the seafloor, the skeletal remains had turned into rock. This one fact is a treatise in itself on the movements of the surface of the earth. If by some fiat I had to restrict all this writing to one sentence, this is the one I would choose: The summit of Mt. Everest is marine limestone.
John McPhee
when-climbers-in-1953-planted-their-flags-on-highest-mountain-they-set-them-in-snow-over-skeletons-creatures-that-had-lived-in-warm-clear-ocean-john-mcphee
climbers quotes1953 quotesplanted quotesflags quoteshighest quotesmountain quotesset quotessnow quotesskeletons quotescreatures quoteslived quoteswarm quotesclear quotesocean quotesindia quotesmoving quotesnorth quotesblanked quotespossibly quotestwenty quotesthousand quotesfeet quotesseafloor quotesskeletal quotesremains quotesturned quotesrock quotesfact quotestreatise quotesmovements quotessurface quotesearth quotesfiat quotesrestrict quoteswriting quotessentence quoteschoose quotessummit quotesmt quoteseverest quotesmarine quoteslimestone quotes
A quarter-horse jockey learns to think of a twenty-second race as if it were occurring across twenty minutes--in distinct parts, spaced in his consciousness. Each nuance of the ride comes to him as he builds his race. If you can do the opposite with deep time, living in it and thinking in it until the large numbers settle into place, you can sense how swiftly the initial earth packed itself together, how swiftly continents have assembled and come apart, how far and rapidly continents travel, how quickly mountains rise and how quickly they disintegrate and disappear.
John McPhee
a-quarterhorse-jockey-learns-to-think-twentysecond-race-as-if-it-were-occurring-across-twenty-minutesin-distinct-parts-spaced-in-his-consciousness-john-mcphee
quarterhorse quotesjockey quoteslearns quotestwentysecond quotesrace quotesoccurring quotestwenty quotesminutesin quotesdistinct quotesparts quotesspaced quotesconsciousness quotesnuance quotesride quotesbuilds quotesrace quotesopposite quotesdeep quotestime quotesliving quotesthinking quoteslarge quotesnumbers quotessettle quotesplace quotessense quotesswiftly quotesinitial quotesearth quotespacked quotescontinents quotesassembled quotesrapidly quotestravel quotesquickly quotesmountains quotesrise quotesdisintegrate quotesdisappear quotes
the-doctor-listens-in-with-stethoscope-hears-sounds-warpath-indian-drum-john-mcphee
Travel by canoe is not a necessity, and will nevermore be the most efficient way to get from one region to another, or even from one lake to another anywhere. A canoe trip has become simply a rite of oneness with certain terrain, a diversion off the field, an art performed not because it is a necessity but because there is value in the art itself.
John McPhee
travel-by-canoe-is-not-necessity-will-nevermore-be-most-efficient-way-to-get-from-one-region-to-another-even-from-one-lake-to-another-anywhere-a-john-mcphee
i-used-to-sit-in-class-listen-to-terms-come-floating-down-room-like-paper-airplanes-john-mcphee
On the geological time scale, a human lifetime is reduced to a brevity that is too inhibiting to think about deep time. ... Geologists ... see the unbelievable swiftness with which one evolving species on the Earth has learned to reach into the dirt of some tropical island and fling 747s across the sky ... Seeing a race unaware of its own instantaneousness in time, they can reel off all the species that have come and gone, with emphasis on those that have specialized themselves to death.
John McPhee
on-geological-time-scale-human-lifetime-is-reduced-to-brevity-that-is-too-inhibiting-to-think-about-deep-time-geologists-see-unbelievable-john-mcphee
geological quotestime quotesscale quoteshuman quoteslifetime quotesreduced quotesbrevity quotesinhibiting quotesdeep quotestime quotesgeologists quotesunbelievable quotesswiftness quotesevolving quotesspecies quotesearth quoteslearned quotesreach quotesdirt quotestropical quotesisland quotesfling quotes747s quotessky quotesrace quotesunaware quotesinstantaneousness quotestime quotesreel quotesemphasis quotesspecialized quotesdeath quotes
On a certain scale, it does look like I do a lot. But that's my day, all day long, sitting there wondering when I'm going to be able to get started. And the routine of doing this six days a week puts a little drop in a bucket each day, and that's the key. Because if you put a drop in a bucket every day, after three hundred and sixty-five days, the bucket's going to have some water in it.
John McPhee
on-certain-scale-it-does-look-like-i-do-lot-but-thats-my-day-all-day-long-sitting-there-wondering-when-im-going-to-be-able-to-get-started-and-john-mcphee
