"Effectively illustrated and thoroughly footnoted, with an extensive bibliography and a complete index, the book provides an intelligent readership with an appreciation for the temporal and technical aspects of early petroleum geology."—W. C. Peters, CHOICE
"As oil became more difficult, more expensive, and riskier to find, investments in the training and employment of professional geologists made economic sense to practical oil men bent on creating global scientific knowledge of the best places to explore. Finding Oil is an excellent introduction to this fascinating history."—Joseph A. Pratt, Journal of American History
"Finding Oil deserves a secure place on the bookshelves of oil history scholars and buffs. But it should also appeal to anyone interested in the history of the natural sciences, the relationship between nature and culture, and the intersections between business, technology, and the environment."—Tyler Priest, Annals of Wyoming
“Elegant, thoughtful. . . . Intelligent, well-written. . . . [Frehner] provides a detailed case study of the transition from local, contingent, traditional ways of knowing nature to universal scientific and managerial knowledge in the early twentieth century.”—Kathryn Morse, Pacific Historical Review
"[Finding Oil] expands considerably our understanding of oil development in the southern plains."—Brian C. Black, Journal of Southern History
"Frehner has found a story worth telling and has told it well."—John W. Stockwell Jr., Leading Edge