| THE | ||
| HISTORY OF GEOLOGY | ||
| DIVISION | ||
| Volume 29, Number 3 | http://gsahist.org |
SEPTEMBER 2005 |
Table of Contents GSA — SALT LAKE CITY — OCTOBER 16-19, 2005 HISTORY OF
GEOLOGY DIVISION EVENTS GSA — SALT LAKE CITY — OCTOBER 16-19, 2005 HISTORY OF GEOLOGY DIVISION EVENTS Details on each given below SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2005 MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2005. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2005
The GSA History of Geology Division and the History of Earth Sciences Society booth #218 in the Salt Palace Convention Center exhibit hall is a place to meet and greet and view the latest issues of Earth Sciences History and other history of geology works (please tell Patrick Wyse Jackson wysjcknp@tcd.ie soon what you are bringing; space is limited. The booth is staffed by volunteers — the more the merrier — and is open during exhibit hours. If you can spare an hour or two (or more) during open hours and help "man the booth" let Patrick know ASAP (email address given above). We will all sing your praises! History of Geology Division-HESS Joint Reception for Students and Friends will offer free beverages, snacks, congenial company, and the ever-popular door prize drawing. Please donate a fun prize — a wonderful old book, geology or history related jigsaw puzzle, food gifts, handsome old prints or maps or photos, or whatever. Send Julie Newell a message jnewell@spsu.edu telling her what you will be bringing. History Division Lunch, Business Meeting, and Award Ceremony (lunch portion is a ticketed event, $28 on-site at GSA registration area). This year the Mary C. Rabbitt Award will be presented to Gerald M. Friedman, the citation having been prepared by Kennard Bork. Lee Flores, the Division’s Student Award winner, will also be introduced. Persons attending only the business meeting and awards may join us at about 12:30 pm. [TOC] SESSION DETAILS GENERAL SESSION: Monday, October 17, 2005; 3:30–5:30 PM; SPCC 257 Julie Newell and Gary D. Rosenberg, Presiding. Paper Start time 99-1 3:30 PM The Evolution of Illustration Practices in Geology Texts During the Golden Age of Geology (1788–1840). Renee M. Clary and James H. Wandersee. 99-2 3:45 PM Kansas Artistic Geologists and Illustrators. Daniel F. Merriam, William W. Hambleton, and John R. Charlton. 99-3 4:00 PM The Role of Communication in the Evolution of Thinking About Caves and Groundwater. Lee J. Florea and H. L. Vacher. 99-4 4:15 PM John Steward’s Geological Contributions from J.W. Powell’s 1871 River Trip. David B. Bieler. 99-5 4:30 PM Pioneering Geologic Studies of the Black Hills, Dakota Territory, USA. K. R. Aalto. 99-6 4:45 PM Nicolaus Steno, Visionary Anatomies, and the Metaphors of Nature’s Knife and the Earth as an Anatomical Theater. James H. Wandersee and Renee M. Clary. 99-7 5:00 PM The Long Record of Fusibility. Sally E. Newcomb. 99-8 5:15 PM Sir Karl Raimund Popper, Sir Harold Jeffreys, and Heuristic Simplicity in Science. Cyril Galvin. [TOC] TOPICAL SESSION: Tuesday, October 18, 2005; 1:30–4:00 PM; SPCC 251D Thinking about Fossils: The Emergence and Development of Paleontological
Thought Patrick Wyse Jackson and Stephen M. Rowland, Presiding. Paper Start time 1:30 PM Introductory Remarks. 182-1 1:45 PM Thomas Jefferson, Megalonyx, and the Status of Paleontological Thought in America at the Close of the Eighteenth Century. Stephen M. Rowland. 182-2 2:00 PM In Celebration of 100 years of Tyrannosaurus rex: Manospondylus gigas, Ornithomimus grandis, and Dynamosaurus imperiosus, the Earliest Discoveries of Tyrannosaurus rex in the West. Brent H. Breithaupt, Elizabeth H., Southwell and Neffra A. Matthews. 182-3 2:15 PM In Search of Ferdinand V. Hayden’s 1868 "Lost" Tracks: New Field Evidence for the Location and Description of the First Dinosaur Fossil Discovery in Wyoming. Jack E. Deibert and Brent H. Breithaupt. 182-4 2:30 PM Edward Hitchcock, Ichnological Nomenclature and Footprint-Maker Identification in mid-Nineteenth Century North America. Emma C. Rainforth. 182-5 2:45 PM Tracking Fossil Footprints in the First 60 Years of American Journal of Science. Diane Baclawski. 182-6 3:00 PM The Mysteries of Western Exploration—so Many Names and so Few Types: The White River Group Discoveries and Decisions of Evans, Shumard, Meek, and Hayden. Joseph H. Hartman and Emmett Evanoff. 182-7 3:15 PM Beyond Cope’s Bible: Some Specimens of Fossil Mammalia from E.D. Cope’s Vertebrata of the Tertiary Formations of the West (1883) and W.D. Matther’s Heretofore Unpublished Plates of Tertiary Mammalia and Permian Vertebrata (1915). Jane P. Davidson. 182-8 3:30 PM Ermine Cowles Case: Turn-of-the-Century Master of Permo-Carboniferous Terrestrial Life. Robert H. Dott, Jr. 182-9 3:45 PM Mary Anning: The Greatest Fossilist the World Ever Knew. Erin E. Saupe, Kelly M. Fox and Larry E. Davis. Editorial comment: hero first class award for Gary Rosenberg as the Division’s Joint Technical Program Committee representative this year. He had to formulate the program twice, first as a single marathon session and then as two more specialized ones. He also had to negotiate with GSA staff and the JTPC chair to eliminate conflicts with other Division functions. Thanks, Gary! [TOC] Election of Division Officers
Chair: Gary Rosenberg Nominations will be accepted from the floor, but nominees must agree to serve if elected before being placed on the ballot. The election will take place at the luncheon meeting. Charlie Byers (Past Chair) and William Brice (Secretary-Treasurer) also serve on the Division’s Executive Board, according to the Division Bylaws. Suggestions for nominees for next year’s slate and the name of anyone volunteering to serve as an officer will be forwarded to the nominating committee for 2006. [TOC] NOTE FROM BILL BRICE "I will be teaching in the Pitt Semester-at-Sea program during the fall term and will be at sea, literally, from mid-August until mid-December (nice way to end a 45-year teaching career). So Michele Aldrich and Alan Leviton have volunteered to do the current and after-meeting newsletters for me while I am slaving away on the voyage as the ship circumnavigates the globe. Thanks, Michele and Alan. So, please contact Michele at maldrich@smith.edu." [TOC] AWARD NOMINATIONS NEEDED Student Award: GSA’s History of Geology Division is soliciting proposals for a student award in the amount of $500 for a paper to be given at the 2005 GSA Annual Meeting. This award, established in 2004, is made possible by a bequest from the estate of Mary Rabbitt. Consideration will be given to both undergraduate and graduate students. While both oral and poster presentations are acceptable, oral presentations are preferred. Faculty advisors may be listed as second author, but not as the lead author of the paper. The proposed paper may be: (1) A paper in the history of geology, or (2) A literature review of ideas for a technical work or thesis/dissertation, or (3) Some imaginative aspect of the history of geology we have not thought of before. The award consists of $500 to be applied to student expenses to attend the national GSA meeting and present a paper in the History of Geology Division disciplinary session. It is open to all students regardless of discipline, provided the proposed paper is related to the history of a geological idea/person/etc. After the applications have been received and reviewed by the Award Committee, the winner will be notified. The winner should then register for the GSA Annual Meeting and present his or her paper at the History of Geology Division disciplinary session. A ticket to the History of Geology luncheon will be provided. The $500 award will be presented at the time the paper is presented, and the student will also be recognized at the annual luncheon. If there are multiple authors, the cash award will be presented to the senior author and further distribution is up to that person. Proposal guidelines and application forms are available from the Division web site, or if there are any questions about the award, please contact the Division Secretary-Treasurer. All applications and proposed abstracts should be forwarded to the Division Secretary-Treasurer: Professor William Brice, Geology and Planetary Science, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Johnstown PA 15904 wbrice@pitt.edu. Due date for proposals and application is May 1, 2006, so that the proposal content can be reviewed and the selection made for the award in time to meet the official GSA deadline. Also in this way, the GSA abstract, perhaps, can be refined. Previous Awardees: 2004 Michael C. Rygel; 2005 Lee Flores. The Mary C. Rabbitt History of Geology Award: The Mary C. Rabbitt History of Geology Award is presented annually by the Geological Society of America’s History of Geology Division to an individual for exceptional scholarly contributions of fundamental importance to our understanding of the history of the geological sciences. Achievements deserving of the award include, but may not be limited to, publication of papers or books that contribute new and profound insights into the history of geology based on original research or a synthesis of existing knowledge. The award, established by the History of Geology Division in 1981, consists of an embossed certificate and a pewter Revere bowl. The deadline for receipt of nominations by the selection committee is February 1st each year. Nominations should be sent to Bill Brice, Secretary-Treasurer; address is given below. Former History of Geology Division Awardees: 1982 George W. White; 1983 Claude C. Albritton, Jr.; 1984 Mary C. Rabbitt; 1985 Cecil J. Schneer; 1986 Ursula B. Marvin; 1987 Martin J. S. Rudwick; 1988 Stephen Jay Gould; 1989 Albert V. Carozzi; 1990 Gordon Y. Craig; 1991 William A. S. Sarjeant; 1992 Michele L. Aldrich; 1993 Martin Guntau; 1994 François Ellenberger; 1995 Robert H. Dott, Jr.; 1996 Gordon L Herries Davies; 1997 Kennard B. Bork; 1998 Hatten S. Yoder, Jr.; 1999 David R. Oldroyd; 2000 Hugh Torrens; 2001 Walter O. Kupsch; 2002 Dennis Dean; 2003 Ellis Yochelson; 2004 Stephen G. Brush; 2005 Gerald Friedman. [TOC] MEETINGS OF INTEREST AND CALL FOR PAPERS History of the
Evolution of Geological Thinking about the Appalachians We invite your participation in a session to explore the evolution of our understanding of Appalachian geology in such topics as geomorphology, structural geology and tectonics, stratigraphy, paleontology, petrology, and mapping. Although the rocks have changed very little in the last two hundred years, there have been major changes in the interpretation of those rocks by geologists involved in Appalachian studies. These changes have come in both the theories applied and in the methods of collecting and analyzing data. An example of a contribution to the session might be exploration of the application of successive techniques or ideas to the same question, and how it changed understanding of the problem. There was much work that was, and is still, synergistic, in that advances in one area can lead to reinterpretation of data from another discipline. A paper tracing such connections would be another interesting topic to explore. Notable geologists, some of whom are still working, have contributed to Appalachian studies. We welcome retrospectives of their careers and the ideas they espoused, which may have changed over their working lives. The Appalachians were a proving ground for vital institutions such as the Pennsylvania Geological Survey. Papers on the history of those institutions and their role, as well as the roles played by local politics and funding, are other possibilities. We encourage student participation at both undergraduate and graduate levels by way of the history of ideas they are exploring for a thesis or senior project. Session organizers: Sally Newcomb senewcomb@earthlink.net, and William Brice, wbrice@pitt.edu (his email will be inactive until Dec. 15).
Join us for our International Symposium and Field Trips as we explore the mid-continent region of North America. There will be a daylong symposium of both oral and poster presentations on various aspects of the history of the international oil and gas industry, plus another daylong field trip to examine some of the fine oil and gas heritage sites in the region. On Friday evening we will be honoring selected members of the oil and gas industry for their long-time contributions. SCHEDULE OF PLANNED EVENTS FRIDAY, April 21, 2006 SATURDAY, April 22, 2006
The Great Rift Science Symposium will be a gathering of scientists, educators, and regional community leaders who share an interest in the unique landforms, biology, and history of the lava desert of Southern Idaho. Additional information: http://www.georgewright.org/greatrift.html. The contact person is: Emily Dekker-Fiala, Conference Planner, George Wright Society, efiala@georgewright.org.
Details of the conference are posted on the GSL= s web site: http://www.geolsoc.org.uk. This is the first time that the Geological Society has ventured into this area of research, and there are at least 14 papers promised. The session is being organized by the History of Geology Group of the Geological Society of London (our counterpart in the UK). Convenors: Drs. Cynthia Burek (UK) and Bettie Higgs (Ireland), and Professor John Maher.
Three sessions of interest to Earth Scientists: (1) Institutions and Ideas in 20th-Century American Paleontology, Sat., 5 Nov. 9–11:45 am (with Paul Brinkman, Joe Cain, David Sepkoski, Patricia Princehouse, Ron Rainger); (2) Solid Sources of History? The Reading of Fossils, 1250–1700, Friday, 4 Nov., 9–11:45 am (with Sherrie Lyons, Brian Ogilvie, Michael Kempe, Juliana Adelman, Martin Rudwick); (3) Resourceful Science and Mineral Resources: The Geology and Technology of American Mining, Friday, 4 Nov., 9–10:30 am (with Jeremy Vetter, Peter Shulman, Paul Lucier). Additional presentations relating to the Earth Sciences are to be found distributed among other more general sessions at the meetings. Presentors include Michael Friesen, Ki Won Han, Kevin Francis, Maria Lane, Amy Acherberg-Hastings, Michael Robinson, and Gina Runmore. For further details, visit the HSS website at http://www.hssonline.org or SHOT at http://www.shot.jhu.edu/Annual_Meeting. [TOC] BOOKS OF INTEREST Volcanoes of Hawaii. University of Hawai'i Press is pleased to announce a new title in Hawai'i natural history: Hawaiian Volcanoes, by Capt. Clarence Edward Dutton, Foreword by William R. Halliday. Hawaiian Volcanoes, written as part of the 1883 Annual Report of the U.S. Geological Survey, is the first comprehensive study of volcanism in Hawai'i. In addition to being of both scientific and historical interest today, it is a fine example of natural history writing. It takes the form of an entrancing nineteenth-century "roadside geology" of the Big Island and much of Maui, combining Dutton's clear, elegant writing style with his eye for color and line and meticulously accurate observations of Hawai'i's people and landscape, as well as its geological phenomena. A new foreword discusses the importance of Dutton's groundbreaking report and its influence on subsequent research on Hawai'i's volcanoes. The present volume also includes a colorful biographical sketch of Dutton, a discussion of his assignment to Hawai'i, and a list of his principal writings. A Latitude 20 Book, July 2005 ISBN 0-8248-2960-3 $22.00 (PAPER) History of Sedimentology. Robert Dott, Jr. reports that he received a copy of the History of Sedimentology by Hakuyu Okada and Alec Kenyon. Bob says this is the English version with many revisions of the Japanese title published by Okada a few years ago. Bob thinks it presents a comprehensive overview (but not necessarily the last word!) on the subject, with many useful references to historically important persons (with photographs). The book is published by Dunedin Academic Press Ltd of Edinburgh and is available for $US 85 from International Specialized Book Services in Portland, Oregon www.isbs.com. Impacts of Travels on Scientific Knowledge. A recently published volume by the California Academy of Sciences titled Impacts of Travels on Scientific Knowledge, edited by Michael T. Ghiselin and Alan E. Leviton, includes at least two articles of interest to historians of Earth Sciences: "Travel as a Predictor of Scientific Innovation: The Corroborating Case of George G. Simpson," by Léo Laporte, and "The Impact of Travels on Scientific Knowledge: William Thomas Blanford, Henry Francis Blanford, and the Geological Survey of India, 1851–1889," by Alan E. Leviton and Michele L. Aldrich. Two other articles that may tempt the palette although they do not focus on the Earth Sciences exclusively are "The Role of Eighteenth Century Russian Expeditions in the Development of Natural History," by Edouard I. Kolchinsky, and "William Dampier: Pre-Linnean Explorer, Naturalist, Buccaneer," by Gary C. Williams. William Henry Jackson’s The Pioneer Photographer (first published in 1929), compiled, revised, and annotated by Bob Blair, Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 2005, 210 pages, $39.95. This is a re-typeset version, not a facsimile, incorporating Jackson's handwritten changes on his personal copy, preserved in the Rare Rook Room of the Harold Lee Library of Brigham Young University. The pictures are high quality and are reproduced from original photographs and drawings, not second hand copies from the 1929 book, and Blair provides much more detail in the captions than Jackson did. The book is important to historians of geology because over half of it is Jackson's account of his years with the Hayden Survey (1870–1878). [TOC] OTHER NEWS KUDOS: Ursula Bailey Marvin received the Sue Tyler Friedman award for her contributions to the history of geology from the Geological Society (London), on May 18, 2005. Request for assistance: GSA is restarting the program to publish short memorial notices of deceased members. During the time GSA was evaluating the program, a long list of potential subjects for memorials accumulated, published in the July 2005 issue of GSA Today (available online). A number of deceased members of the History of Geology Division are included (H. Stanton Hill, Walter Kupsch, John Rodgers and others), as are geologists already likely to have an important place in history (Michel Halbouty, Digbu McLaren, Hatten Yoder and others.) GSA asks for volunteers to write memorials for any of these persons they find deserving of a tribute. Journal of Geophysical Research/Solid Earth is interested in manuscripts in the history of geophysics of potential interest to its readers. Papers are peer-reviewed before acceptance. Inquiries in advance of submission are welcome; send to Patrick Taylor, Code 698, Planetary Geology Laboratory, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt MD 20771, Patrick.taylor@nasa.gov, 301-614-6454. The History of Earth Sciences Society has been an affiliate of GSA for several years, enabling it to share projects with the GSA History of Geology Division such as sponsoring sessions and having an exhibit booth. In August 2005, HESS also affiliated with the American Geological Institute, which brings a different set of benefits, such as access to the AGI policy and educational initiatives. HESS is the 43rd AGI affiliate (GSA has long been connected with AGI). In a press release announcing the HESS affiliation, AGI mentioned the benefits of a historical perspective on the geological sciences. [TOC] 2004-05 HISTORY OF GEOLOGY Division Officers Chair: Ed Rogers, PO Box 455, Poncha Springs, CO 81242 erogers@geology-books.com. First Vice-Chair: Gary D. Rosenberg, Department of Geology, Indiana University-Purdue University, 723 W. Michigan Street, SL118, Indianapolis, IN 46202; (317) 274-7468 (Office); (317) 274-7484 (Department); (317) 274-7966 (Fax); grosenbe@iupui.edu. Second Vice-Chair: Julie Newell, Social & International Studies, Southern Polytechnic State University, 1100 South Marietta Parkway, Marietta, GA 30060-2896; (678) 915-7481; Fax (678) 915-4949; jnewell@spsu.edu. Secretary-Treasurer-Editor: William R. Brice, University of Pittsburgh
at Johnstown, Geology & Planetary Science, Johnstown, PA 15904; (814) 269-2942; (814)
269-2022 (Fax); wbrice@pitt.edu. Past Chair: Charles W. Byers, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, Weeks Hall, 1215 W. Dayton Street, Madison, WI 53706-1692; (608) 262-8960 (Department); (608) 262-0693 (Fax); cwbyers@geology.wisc.edu. Web Master: Hugh Rance, 4310 Kissena Blvd, 11 H, Flushing, NY 11355; hughrance@rcn.com. [TOC]
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