Category Archives: history of science

Are “steady-state” systems ahistorical?

Posted on September 10, 2025 by Chris Rowan

I’m currently back reading “Earth’s Deep History” by Martin Rudwick, and once again I am being annoyed by what seems to me to be a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of what is meant by “steady state” in the context of Earth … Continue reading →

Categories: deep time, geology, history of science, past worlds, ranting

The unthanked shoulders we stand on

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Chris Rowan

Via Liz Hide on Twitter, a thought-provoking acknowledgement of the important role the in discovering and excavating the paleontological treasures in many museums’ collections. On a similar theme, I think of the story of Alfred Wegener and continental drift. The … Continue reading →

Categories: fieldwork, geology, history of science, society

Marie Tharp’s Adventures in Mapping the Seafloor, In Her Own Words

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Chris Rowan

Establishing the rift valley and the mid-ocean ridge that went all the way around the world for 40,000 miles…You can’t find anything bigger than that, at least on this planet. Lots of cool science history in this first-person account, but also … Continue reading →

Categories: academic life, history of science, tectonics