"THE SAN ANDREAS is the grinding, growling interface between two great pieces of the earth's crust, each moving its separate way. This is the fault that has cleaved volcanoes, opened seaways, and split mountains. And yet, driving south of Paicines on California Highway 25, I wasn't sure just where it was".

So begins Michael Collier's quest to see and understand the San Andreas Fault, the legendary geologic reality that looms large in the lives of all Californians, try as they may to keep the knowledge of its power at a remove from their daily activities. Join him on his journey, and meet the fault and the people who study it. This book will give the reader a new appreciation for science's practical applicability as well as nature's authority.

Michael Collier is a freelance writer and photographer based in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he is also a family-practice physician. He has contributed photographs and essays to numerous publications including National Geographic Traveler, Sunset, and Pacific Discovery. Among his previous books are Water, Earth, and Sky: The Colorado River Basin (1999), Arizona: A View from Above (1990), and The Geology of Death Valley (1990).