This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Early naturalists were obsessed with the idea to collect and to describe all the secrets of earth, many unusual and strange things were therefore displayed - for education and amusement - in "Wunderkammern" or "Cabinets of Curiosities". Following this tradition I will try to present on a regular basis my own "online cabinet of curiosities", where I will share links and stories related to the history of earth sciences.
As this is the first post of the (so I hope) coming series there is also a contest:
I would like to introduce you to this cute chamois (artwork by illustrator and artistTricia Arnold and used here with permission) which I would like to use as a mascot for the blog.
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As I´m searching still a name for it - if you get a good proposal let me know at <history_of_geology@yahoo.com> , use in the header the tag "Chamois" and include in the e-mail body the name and maybe a short explanation or drawing* why you think the name would be fitting - by doing so you will get also a chance to win a geology-related textbook (*for some inspiration visit the "making of…" post on Tricia's Obligatory Art Blog!) - deadline for the contest will be November 30.
This Week Geohistory:
November 1, 1755: The city of Lisbon is destroyed by one of the worst earthquakes in European history
November 1, 1880: Birthday of meteorologist Alfred Wegener, "the father of continental drift"
October 29, 1831: Birthday of paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh
October 30, 1938: The radio-dramatization of "War of the Worlds", reporting the invasion of Earth by Martians, scares millions!
This Week Geonews:
The Accretionary Wedge #60 is hosted at the Geosphere-blog and dedicated to "momentous discoveries in geology"
The oldest depiction of a volcano found in the Turkish site of Çatalhöyük? Well, the depiction is not so unequivocal…
"Seismograph" a new song by earth-science inspired music group The Amoeba People
Tectonic stress causes real stress in humans? Animals sensing earthquakes is not a new claim, but until now there is no evidence we can use behavior (or other) to predict earthquakes
For the very first time the original jaw of Megalosaurus (descibed in 1824 by William Buckland) was shown outside the U.K.
Alfred Russel Wallace´s forgotten Voyage
Plants can help to find ore deposits, but at high costs
The characteristic sediment of the Anthropocene will be waste
The celebration of All Hallows' Eve in this week prompted a lot of awesome geology-posts
I see dead paleontologists: Othniel Charles Marsh (died March 18, 1899) und Edward Drinker Cope (died April 12, 1897) are still fighting who discovered more dinosaur species
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble... the perfect recipe for a geological-magical potion - you just will need a Toadstone, the Devil´s Fingers, Bones of Giants and a Philosopher’s Stone to do the transmutation. If you like you can also add some Snakestones
Halloween special: Lovecraft and the Mountains of Madness
The haunting mummies (however I don´t think they are petrified, you see still soft tissue, seems more dried corpses) from Lake Natron
This Week Geopapers:
Open access review of "Dinosaur doctor: The life and work of Gideon Mantell" (2010) by Edmund Critchley
Open access paper "A risk society? Environmental hazards, risk and resilience in the later Middle Ages in Europe" by C.M. GERRARD & D.N. PETLEY
Paywall paper on "Mary Anning's legacy to French vertebrate palaeontology" by V. PEGGY, published in the Geological Magazine
You can find this links - collection also on facebook or on twitter.
