author
Donald E. Trimble
b. 1916
A geologist with a gift for explaining big landscapes in plain language, he wrote about the Great Plains in a way that makes deep time feel vivid and approachable. His work helped general readers see how ancient seas, uplift, and erosion shaped a huge stretch of North America.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in 1916, Donald E. Trimble was an American geologist whose writing brought Earth history to a broad audience. He is best known for The Geologic Story of the Great Plains, a nontechnical account published by the U.S. Geological Survey that explains how the region was formed and why its landscape looks the way it does.
Archival and obituary sources describe a long career in geology and fieldwork. He was born in Westhope, North Dakota, grew up in Toppenish, Washington, and studied at Washington State University and the University of Minnesota. Later records note that he worked extensively on the geology of the American West, including Colorado, Idaho, and Oregon.
What makes Trimble especially memorable for audiobook listeners is his clear, welcoming style. Even when he was writing about immense spans of geologic time, he aimed to make the subject understandable and engaging for non-specialists.