This book examines three celebrated scientific landscapes: Adelaide's Hallett Cove, Lake Callabonna in the far north of South Australia, and the World Heritage listed Willandra Lakes Region of New South Wales. It offers philosophical insights into significant issues of heritage management, an original perspective on the relationship with Australian landscapes and the understanding of place, time, nation and science.
Glaciers in Adelaide, cow-sized wombats, monster kangaroos, desert dunes littered with freshwater mussels, bones, oases, inland seas are the subject of the book, an analysis of the way landscapes and landforms are interpreted to realise certain visions of the land, the nation and the past in the context of contemporary notions of geological heritage, cultural property, cultural identity and antiquity.