# Annals of the Former World by John McPhee

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Annals of the Former World by John McPhee and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A long, lyrical anthology about North American geology that makes the deep history of the land readable and vivid, and inspires readers to look at rock formations on their travels.

## Why people recommend it

- Lyrical prose that makes geology engaging (1 comments): "It's essentially a 700 page-long ode to geology, using scientific terms for their prosody as much as their meaning." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46865429))
- Inspires geology-focused road trips (1 comments): "may inspire circuitous road trips involving many stops dangerously examining road-cuts on busy interstate highways" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46858797))
- Highly recommended anthology by McPhee (1 comments): "I highly recommend John McPhee's anthology "Annals of the Former World."" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46857415))
- Described as wonderful (1 comments): "from the wonderful Annals of the former world" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342242))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/g-del-escher-bach.md): 47 recommend
- [Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-fast-and-slow.md): 17 recommend
- [Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-in-systems.md): 17 recommend
- [The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins](https://hackerapproved.com/p/selfish-gene.md): 14 recommend
- [Cosmos by Carl Sagan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmos.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374708460?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780374708467) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Annals of the Former World by John McPhee", https://hackerapproved.com/p/annals-of-the-former-world/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).