cover image Crop Circles: Exploring the Designs & Mysteries

Crop Circles: Exploring the Designs & Mysteries

Werner Anderhub, Hans Roth. Lark Books (NC), $14.95 (144pp) ISBN 978-1-57990-297-1

Crop Circles: Exploring the Designs & Mysteries is Werner Anderhub and Hans Peter Roth's intriguing account of their investigation into this phenomenon of geometric patterns. First appearing in crop fields in 1980s England, the figures have turned up in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Germany and other countries, causing some to think they are of metaphysical origin. Some theorize that they are the work of extraterrestrials, others that they are crafted by mere mortals (though how they could appear so quickly in that case has not been ascertained). Other groups suggest that geometry is the key to the universe, that these geometric figures are a kind of communication they began to appear after the 1970s launch of the Pioneer space probe, which carried the first geometric communication in the form of symbols and mathematical and chemical formulas. The authors include many fascinating photos of their discoveries.