AustLit

'By the age of thirty Reg had discovered the oldest fossils in the world and some of its deepest under-sea canyons. He had worked at Australia's first two uranium mines and searched for material to construct the world's first atomic bomb. By the time he was forty he had helped found SANTOS and discovered the great Cooper Basin oil and gas fields - Australia's largest on-shore petroleum province; he had set up the largest private geological consulting firm in the country; built his own boat and diving chamber; and mastered the primitive art of scuba diving. By the time he was fifty he had driven the first vehicle across the Simpson Desert and crossed the continent from north, south, east and west. He had also launched Arkaroola Wildlife Sanctuary, one of Australia's first eco-tourism resorts. The rest of his life he would devote to the unlikely bedfellows of mining and conservation, and to his insatiable love of geology. Oil; uranium; geology; conservation; these are the catch-cries of our times and the life of this intrepid, determined and oft-times irreverent pioneering Australian, renowned as one of our nation's greatest geologists, embodies them all. Written in a lively narrative style, Rock Star will make you laugh and cry and introduce you to a fascinating world that you never knew existed and won't easily forget.' (Publication summary)