Geometry.Net - Basic S Books: Speleology General

In 1925 the geological connection between Flint Ridge and Mammoth Cave was proved when dye placed in a Flint Ridge spring showed up in Echo River at Mammoth Cave.

That tantalizing swirl of dye confirmed speculations that were to tempt more than 650 cavers over half a century with the thrill of being the first to make human passage of the cave connection. Roger Brucker and Richard Watson tell not only of their own twenty-year effort to complete the link but the stories of many others who worked their way through mud-choked crawlways less than a foot high only to find impenetrable blockages.

Floyd Collins died a grisly death in nearby Sand Cave in 1925, after being trapped there for 15 days. The wide press coverage of the rescue efforts stirred the imagination of the public and his body was on macabre display in a glass-topped coffin in Crystal Cave into the 1940s. Agents of a rival cave owner once even stole his corpse, which was recovered and still is in a coffin in the cave. Modern cavers still have a word with Floyd as they start their downward treks.

Brucker and Watson joined the parade of cavers who propelled themselves by wiggling kneecaps, elbows, and toes through quarter-mile long crawlways, clinging by fingertips and boot toes across mud-slick walls, over bottomless pits, into gurgling streams beneath stone ceilings that descend to water level, down crumbling crevices and up mountainous rockfalls, into wondrous domed halls, and straight ahead into a blackness intensified rather than dispelled by the carbide lamps on their helmets.

Over two decades they explored the passages with others who sought the final connection as vigorously as themselves. Pat Crowther, a young mother of two, joined them and because of her thinness became the member of the crew to go first into places no human had ever gone before. In that role, in July 1972, she wiggled her way through the Tight Spot and found the route that would link the Flint Ridge and Mammoth Cave systems into one cave extending 144.4 miles through the Kentucky limestone.

In a new afterword to this edition the authors summarize the subsequent explorations that have more than doubled the established length of the cave system. Based upon geological evidence, the authors predict that new discoveries will add another 200 miles to the length of the world’s longest cave, making it over 500 miles long.

Not really entertaining
This book is written by cavers for cavers and if you're not a fanatic caver it will probably be a little boring. After the first pages , the description of expeditions look all the same and it is easy to loose interest. To keep a non-caver entertained would have been a hard task even for very talented writers and these authors do not seem to stand above the average.
The most interesting part is the first appendix, which narrates the history of past Mammoth Cave expeditions (back to ancient times). As stated also in the preface of the book, it is better to read this appendix first to have a better picture.
3 stars.

Key documentation of caving history
This is a good book for the events it documents.However, it tends to drag on at times, just like the exploration did, and can be hard to follow if you're not familiar with the area.Of course the big connection moment is incredible and you won't be able to put it down."Beyond Mammoth Cave" is much more fast paced and entertaining overall.A must read for cavers either way.

WOW!You will LOVE this book! Waiting for a MOVIE!!!
The Longest Cave is a book which will hold you spellbound and wishing it would never end! Roger Brucker and "Red" Watson were young men 50 years ago when they first toured what was then known as Floyd Collin's Crystal Cave.This book is the story of how they and so many others dedicated days, months and years to seek out new passageways deep underground. In the case of Roger and Red, they dedicated decades and continue to work to preserve the very fragile cave environment.

This book has everything that you would want not only in a book but in a feature blockbuster movie!Adventure, Suspense, Humor, Friendship, Excitement, Discovery, Danger, and around every corner lurks the Unknown which would leave any movie-goer on the edge of their seat! All this without the gore and crime which seems to be the standard in so many books and movies today.

I HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone of any age!!! What makes this even more amazing is that this is a true story.

What these men and women accomplished is the equivalent ofclimbing Mount Everest in the DARK and without ever having seen a map of it! This is the American Dream of hard work, dedication, comraderie, and perseverance.

We have movies of Everest and Space Exploration and I look forward to the movie based on this book!
Without a doubt "The Longest Cave" will far surpass any movie on the above-mentioned topics.

Thanks Roger and Red for an AWESOME book!

A fascinating tale of cave exploration limits
I bought this book about 15 years ago while visiting Mammoth Cave National Park.I still enjoy rereading it from time to time. It is the sort of book one hates to see end.

The book narrates the history of the discovery that Kentucky's Flint Ridge-Mammoth Cave system of caves is by far the world's longest known series of continuously-connected caverns. The writers and their many cohorts are not only daring adventurers, but a collection of cavers who deeply appreciate the mystery, beauty and science of caves.

A very interesting part of the book is the well-developed character sketches of the many explorers, a good number of whom participated in parts of the long, arduous struggle to discover the connections between five different large caves so as to make them one.

The overriding star of the show is the cave system itself, and the book contains many facinating portions about the beauty, danger, wonder, and history of the things found there by explorers dating back to prehistoric Native Americans, forward.

After a frustrating series of events, including an initial startling lack of interest/resistance by National Park personnel, progress begins to be made in leaps and bounds.When the Ohio cavers find that the Flint Ridge system is the longest then know, an effort is taken up to connect it with Mammoth Cave.

In a spine-tingling narrative about going past the "Tight Spot", a very small passage, the cavers eventually make the connection by going down in Flint Ridge and emerging in a well-known Mammoth Cave tourist gallery.The sense of truiumph and relief is overwhelming and excellently captured.

My size and age prohibit me from doing the things described in this book, and I have never done them.But I was captivated from start to finish by the story of these brave, resourceful people and the cave system they explored and charted.It is as if I am there myself.

My only quibble is that the photographs are limited and in black and white, but the excellent descriptive writing overcomes this factor.I love the book.Very, very highly recommended.

Captivating, awe-inspiring, and incredibly exciting
If you like adventure, if you like caves, if you like drama and suspense, or if you breath in and out regularly and have a pulse, you really ought to read this book. The story of the years it took to connect the FlintRidge/Mammoth cave systems, it sweeps the reader into the wonderfullyobsessive world of the Flint Ridge Cavers. A great book. Stronglyreccomended. ... Read more

24. Cavers, Caves, and Caving by Bruce Sloan
	Hardcover: 410 Pages (1977-05) list price: US$30.00 -- used & new: US$67.95 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0813508355 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan

26. A Man Deep in Mendip: The Caving Diaries of Harry Savory 1910-1921 by Harry Savory, John Savory B.Sc.Ph.D.
	Hardcover: 168 Pages (1990-02-01) list price: US$30.00 Isbn: 0809316234 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description Harry Savory is considered by many to be the finest photographer to have taken his camera underground. Here are almost 100 of Savory’s superb photographs, taken between 1910 and 1928most of them previously unpublishedcapturing in fine detail the extraordinary formations in the caves and the character of life above ground during the period. The caving diaries vividly recall the hardships of early exploration, as cavers found their way through intricate systems with only candles for light. Savory’s pictures show many beautiful formations that have long since been destroyed or discolored. Also included are plans of the caves and drawings Savory commissioned from his artist friend John Hassall. An informative introduction and commentary by Harry Savory’s son John provide the biographical background to the diaries, and Chris Howes’ preface sets Savory’s work in its historical and technical contexts. ... Read more

27. Caving: The Sierra Club Guide to Spelunking by Peggy Larson, Lane Larson
	Paperback: 311 Pages (1982-06-12) list price: US$10.95 -- used & new: US$93.76 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0871562464 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan

30. I Wonder Why Stalactites Hang Down and Other Questions About Caves (I wonder why series) by Jackie Gaff
	Paperback: 32 Pages (2003-03-17) list price: US$7.90 -- used & new: US$3.48 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0753408171 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description The best-selling I Wonder Why series has always been the perfect place for children to find the answers to their questions. With their quirky style and informative text, these books are great for gripping the imagination and for developing reading skills. Designed to amuse and intrigue the young reader, I Wonder Why Stalactites Hang Down and other questions about caves answers all sorts of fascinating questions that children ask about caves. Illustrated with stunning, high-quality artwork, a wealth of information is backed up with fun facts and lively cartoons. Where is the twilight zone? Why do oilbirds go click-clack? Which insects feed on bat guano? Who buried their dead in caves? - discover the answers to these questions and much, much more. ... Read more

33. Studies of Cave Sediments: Physical and Chemical Records of Paleoclimate
	Hardcover: 322 Pages (2003-12-31) list price: US$179.00 -- used & new: US$110.14 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0306478277 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description This book is for geoscience researchers and students withinterests in climate change, paleohydrology, and sedimentology.Studies of Cave Sediments is unique in that it is thefirst comprehensive volume on cave sediments, provides case-studiesfrom around the world, gives guidance on appropriate applications oftechniques, and their limitations, synthesizes methods that can beused to decipher complex deposits,and includes chemical deposits(speleothems) as well as clastic sediments. ... Read more

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