In this text, Richard Fisher blends autobiography with science to the basics of volcanology and to the volcanoes he has studied. Following his travels from descending into the steaming crater of the Soufriere Volcano, to his research on lava flows on the desolate shores of the Island of Hawwaii, and his struggles to understand the explosion at Mount St Helens. The text involves his work on pyroclastic flows and surges - the hurricanes of gas, molten lava, and volcanic debris. Fisher tells of a historic scientific problem at Mount Pelee, where 29,000 people were killed in a pyroclastic flow. And also offers a volcanologist's view of the explosion of Mount Vesuvius that devestated Pompeii and Herculaneum. He writes about the cultural rewards and the challenges of conducting isolated researches in countries as Argentina, Mexico and China.