history

Viewing the Sea Point migmatite through the lens of GigaPan

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It was five years ago when I first visited Sea Point, the outcrop on the coast of the Cape Peninsula where the Cape Granite (~540 Ma) intrudes the (meta-)sedimentary rocks of the Malmesbury Group. The outcrop is (a) beautiful and evocative, and (b) of historical importance, as Charles Darwin visited it while on the voyage … Read more

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World, by Andrea Wulf

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This is the second Andrea Wulf book I’ve read in the past month. It’s a biography of a great naturalist and popularizer of science and travel writing, who at the same time is largely forgotten in the modern English speaking world. Alexander von Humboldt’s intellectual impact is vast, Wulf argues, leading to everything from Darwin’s … Read more

Friday fold: Siccar Point video from BGS

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The British Geological Survey just came out with a new video on Siccar Point, featuring some excellent drone video of the site (in very good weather!). In addition to the unconformity, one of the things you will appreciate about the video is an excellent end-on view of a plunging synform exposed just above waterline: You’ll … Read more

Founding Gardeners, by Andrea Wulf

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I just finished this book, about the botanical and agricultural predilections of United States ‘founding fathers’ George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison. Three of these farmed and gardened in Virginia, one in Massachusetts. Some were federalists, others republicans who championed the rights of the states. Some were slave owners, others not. All … Read more

The Story of Western Science, by Susan Wise Bauer

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I have a great book to recommend today – a book that takes a “Great Books” approach to tracking the advance of western science through history. The book is called, straightforwardly, The Story of Western Science. Its author is Susan Wise Bauer, who writes with a confident erudition and a clear, solid style. She surveys … Read more

Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier

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I’ve been doing some reading lately to get some foundational ideas established in my mind for my upcoming summer trip to Europe. This trip has three goals: (1) to gather key digital imagery (GigaPans, 360° photospheres, video) for curriculum to teach geoscience concepts and give students everywhere with particularly instructive geology in Iceland, Ireland, the … Read more

Norman Bowen’s papers

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I got a special treat the week before last – one of my students this semester works at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, DC. During our unit on igneous rocks, he was prompted by the “Bowen’s reaction series” discussion to let me know that Norman Bowen’s notebooks were still extant at … Read more

Mirage, by Nina Burleigh

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My latest audiobook consumed during my commute was the story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s (why do we always call him by his first name?) ill-fated expedition to Egypt in 1798. Napoleon brought with him a corps of “savants,” natural historians, engineers, artists, and musicians, charged with documenting the history and natural history of Egypt, and helping … Read more

A History of the World in Six Glasses, by Tom Standage

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This week’s book was a survey of human history, from the dawn of civilization to the Cold War, of the various ways that societal, health, political, technological, and economic factors drove the adoption of various beverages, and how the presence of those beverages in human society generated ripples of cause and effect, propelling advances and … Read more

Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell

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Time for my book report: This week, I read (well, listened to) a fun history of the assassination of three American presidents. Yes, it’s simultaneously about political murder and is a fun read (well, listen). This is because of the author’s ideal mix of snark, intelligence, and obsession with the three stories discussed herein: the … Read more

The Revenant, by Michael Punke

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On the recommendation of my friend Troy Holland, I just finished reading Michael Punke’s novel about Hugh Glass. The book has been optioned as a film, and because it stars Leonardo diCaprio, it will doubtless be a hit. What got Troy’s attention, though, is the director: Alejandro González Iñárritu, the guy who gave us Babel, … Read more

Building stones of the Acropolis (Athens, Greece)

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As a follow-up to my post about the geology of the Acropolis klippe in Athens, Greece, and in the spirit of my post on the building stones of the Haghia Sophia in İstabul, Turkey, let’s turn our attention today to the various rocks that ancient Greeks used to construct the buildings of the Acropolis, such … Read more

Friday fold: Paw Paw Tunnel anticline

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As with last week, the Friday fold comes from my Field Studies in Geology class to Sideling Hill and the Paw Paw Tunnel. This is a view of the downstream (north) entrance to the Tunnel, with students highlighting the trace of bedding in the turbidites of the Brallier Formation: Can’t make it all out? Let’s … Read more

The Smithsonian Castle and the Seneca Quarry, by Garrett Peck

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The Smithsonian Castle is one of the most striking buildings on the National Mall in Washington, DC. One reason for this is its distinctive architecture, but a second reason is its color: a bright, deep red. This color comes from the rock from which the Castle constructed: the Triassic-aged “Seneca Sandstone,” a part of the … Read more

Coal: A Human History, by Barbara Freese

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Last week on the flight to and from Denver, I consumed (via audio book, freely downloaded from my public library system) the 2004 microhistory Coal: A Human History, by Barbara Freese. It’s light on the geology, and heavy on the historical implications of coal. As with many of these sorts of books, it’s basically a … Read more