Former St Cross Master Releases Three Books

Former St Cross Master Professor Andrew Goudie has recently published three books: Desert Landscapes of the World with Google Earth, Geological Pioneers of the Jurassic Coast (co-written with Denys Brunsden), and The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology: Volume 5: Geomorphology in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century (co-edited with T.P. Burt and H.A. Viles). 

Professor Goudie, who served as Master of St Cross from 2003 until he retired from the post in 2011, is a distinguished physical geographer and has held positions such as President of the Geographical Association, President of Section E of the British Association, Chairman of the British Geomorphological Research Group, President of the International Association of Geomorphologists, and Director of the China Centre, Oxford. 

His achievements as a physical geographer have earned him honours such as a Royal Medal from the Royal Geographical Society (1991), the DSc from the University of Oxford (2002), and the Prize of the Royal Belgian Academy for 2002. 

Desert Landscapes of the World with Google Earth

Desert Landscapes of the World with Google Earth provides an introduction to desert landscapes that is based on annotated Google Earth images, accompanied by text explanations about their origin, their location, and their features. It also includes ground images taken by Professor Goudie. He believes the Namib Desert, which stretches across more than 2,000 kilometres along the Atlantic coasts of several nations in Southern Africa, is among the most impressive areas of desert.  

I was gripped by deserts for the first time when I visited the Namib in 1967. The Namib is extraordinarily beautiful, and I have returned there many times since.

Geological Pioneers of the Jurassic Coast

Meanwhile, Geological Pioneers of the Jurassic Coast is a record of the lives and the achievements of groundbreaking Jurassic Coast geologists, palaeontologists, and geomorphologists. As well as its detailed overview and analysis of Jurassic Coast scholarly literature, the book also includes more than 100 colour illustrations, with many of them showcasing the coast’s unique landforms.  

Of the Jurassic Coast pioneers covered in the book, Professor Goudie is particularly fond of anecdotes about a former Dean of Westminster, who graduated from Oxford University in the early nineteenth century. 

“I am always amused by the stories of William Buckland, who is said to have eaten his way through the animal kingdom,” Professor Goudie said. “Also, when he was Rector of Islip, near Oxford, he kept a bear that roamed around the village.” 

The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology: Volume 5

Finally, The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology: Volume 5: Geomorphology in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century (co-edited with T.P. Burt and H.A. Viles) is the fifth edition in a series that dates back to 1964.  

“My two co-editors are people I have worked with before, and we carefully selected an international set of authors that we knew we could rely upon,” Professor Goudie said.  

“The editorial staff at the Geological Society of London were also very helpful. Thus, the process was relatively painless. I had also been involved with the previous volume in the five-volume series and so knew what to expect.  

“That said, the first three volumes were edited by two remarkable figures for whose scholarship and humour I have the deepest respect.” 

The newly published volume in the series, covering the latter half of twentieth century, offers detailed coverage of the changes in approach to geomorphology, with the first section focusing on the changes in approach method, the second exploring changes in ideas, and the third and final section detailing advances in research on landforms and processes. 

Reflecting on the process of writing the books, Professor Goudie said, “I love writing, and it has given me something very rewarding to during ‘retirement’ and lockdown; it also forces me to try and keep up with the latest literature.  

“With the internet, Google Scholar, online library resources, digitised images, and word processing, it has never been easier to put a book together.”