And now for something completely different

[Hydrozoan]

Well, not completely: exploration of a sea of sand!

I’ve just been re-reading ‘Libyan Sands: Travels in a Dead World' (1935), by Ralph A Bagnold, a delightfully understated account (IMO) of exploration in the Libyan desert using Model T Fords in the 1920s and 1930s. For a summary and some atmospheric photographs (not in my edition of the book), and more about Bagnold’s life and work, see here: http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/168046/.

Bagnold (see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Alger_Bagnold) went on to found and lead the Long Range Desert Group in WWII, and also undertook seminal research on sand and sediment transport (e.g. The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes , 1941).

I suspect that the preparations for the trips, the difficulties encountered and the navigational issues, as well as the subject matter in general, may well be of some interest to those who normally read about adventures at sea, and do not already know the book. I offer it here hoping that I am not mistaken. Oh, and readers of The English Patient will also find it interesting ...

 

[bikedaft]

looks great ,thanks. links interesting.

 

[Metabarca]

Got it from Abebooks, thanks for the tip!

 

[Hydrozoan]

looks great ,thanks. links interesting.

Thanks - I had not seen them before, and the first was particularly interesting to me, too.

Got it from Abebooks, thanks for the tip!

Well, I hope you won't be disappointed - and that the copy you get is a bit tidier then mine, a 1942 edition which belonged to my father. I think he must have had it when in (what was then) Palestine with the RAF, as it had pressed desert flowers and shrubs between the pages, which have left their mark. I really must get The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes sometime.

 

[bikedaft]

as it had pressed desert flowers and shrubs between the pages, which have left their mark.

what a great memento