W Kenneth Hamblin

W. Kenneth Hamblin earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, and throughout his distinguished career he taught at the University of Kansas, the University of Georgia, and Brigham Young University. Ken was the author of numerous textbooks, scientific articles and has been active in various scientific societies. Thousands of students have been introduced to the fascinating worlds of geology through his textbooks and laboratory manuals. The style and development of ideas in his books has...See more

W. Kenneth Hamblin earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, and throughout his distinguished career he taught at the University of Kansas, the University of Georgia, and Brigham Young University. Ken was the author of numerous textbooks, scientific articles and has been active in various scientific societies. Thousands of students have been introduced to the fascinating worlds of geology through his textbooks and laboratory manuals. The style and development of ideas in his books has been influential in shaping the way that introductory geology was taught to a generation of students. He loved photography, especially from an airplane and many of the oblique aerial photographs are his. He had an eye for capturing a photo that was not just pretty, but could illustrate fundamental geologic principles--and he visited all seven continents in his efforts. His focus was on the fundamental features of the landscape, the rock sequence, their structure, and the geologic history these features record. He photographed for geologic information, not simply for aesthetic beauty, although many of his photos are beautiful. In addition to his teaching and research, he participated in geologic studies in the Great Rift Valleys of East Africa, the diamond fields of West Africa, the Alps, Siberia, and the Canadian Arctic. He was a guest lecturer at various universities in South Africa, Switzerland, and France. Dr. Hamblin spent much of his career studying the tectonic geomorphology of the Colorado Plateau; one of his passions in life was to understand and capture the beauty of the landscapes of the Grand Canyon. His other books include Beyond the Visible Landscape: Aerial Panoramas of Utah's Geology, andAnatomy of the Grand Canyon: Panoramas of the Canyon's Geology. He was devoted to his family and to his wife, Sally, who appears in several of the photographs in the book and helped with many aspects of Ken's work as an author, scientist, and photographer. Although Ken died a few years ago, his contribution to the ideas, words, and photographs in this new book are honored by his inclusion as an author. It memorializes his inspiration of others, his keen eye, sharp wit, and vast insight. See less