Editor’s Table……

We hope to see all of you at the upcoming GSA meeting in Portland in October. See detailed information below.

In July 2009, we marked the fortieth anniversary of humans’ first landing on the moon. I often think of those words, “We came in peace for all mankind.” If you were around then, it seems not so long ago. Astronaut Neal Armstrong commented recently about the large number of people who helped make the landing possible. My own father was one of them. He ran a petrochemical plant that made some of the rocket fuel, aka alcohol, that was used in the Saturn rockets. He was terribly proud of that.

Of course, 1959 was a landmark year in the fledgling space race. A Soviet satellite, Luna, took the first pictures of the back side of the moon.

In August, 1609, Galileo demonstrated his new telescope to the political leaders of Venice. In this same month Henry Hudson was exploring “new” territories here on this planet, including Delaware Bay, and in September 1609 the river that would later be named after him.

On October 10, 1809 Meriwether Lewis died under mysterious circumstances. And during this year Jean-Baptiste Lamarck published his Philosophie Zoologique in which he outlined his concepts of evolution.

          Jane P. Davidson, HOGD secretary/treasurer, newsletter editor.
          jdhexen@unr.edu  CFA 157

GSA Annual Meeting October 18-21 Portland, Oregon

It is not too early to be thinking about this year’s GSA meeting in Portland. We hope to see you there. The History of Geology Division is sponsoring three sessions this year. For information on the meeting and the sessions, see the GSA site at: http://www.geosociety.org

History of Geology Division events include:

    • Business Meeting and Awards Reception luncheon Monday Oct. 19, 12 noon to 1:30pm ICC F 149

    • Board Meeting: Tuesday Oct. 20 7:00-8:00 am Hilton Boardroom East

    • HoGD Friends and Students Reception: Tuesday Oct. 20, 5:30-6:30pm OCC F 149

And of course our sessions! See the GSA schedule for times and places.

Grave Matters:
GSA recently announced a project in which you might want to participate. Marble gravestones will be studied in order to obtain information concerning local climate change or weathering effects of pollution. You can help! While you are out ghost hunting, just bring a GPS device and a micrometer to check a given gravestone for weathering and note its location. If you are interested see www.goearthtrek.org/Gravestones/Gravestones.html for further information, or you can find a link at www.geosociety.org .

Love History of Geology? Want more?
You can find kindred souls in the History of Geology Group of the Geological Society, London. http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/hogg .

And for another resource on the history of geology, check your browsers for the site, “geoclio.”

This is a new account of the work in geology and paleontology of Arthur Lakes. Included is a CD with copies of Lakes’ publications and other information.

Douglas Brinkley. The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 2009. Just published, this account highlights TR’s establishment of Federal study and conservation of the environment.

Gary D. Rosenberg, ed. The Revolution in Geology from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. 2009, published by GSA. For more on how to order that one, go to www.geosociety.org .