October PGS: Pre-plate-tectonic Paleomag
"Heresy at Cambridge: Paleomagnetism before Vine and Matthews"
Gregory A. Good, Ph.D.
Director, Center for History of Physics
American Institute of Physics
Potomac Geophysical Society Meeting, October 15, 2009
The story of Fred Vine, Drummond Matthews, and sea-floor spreading is a well known part of the acceptance of plate tectonics in the 1960s. Vine and Matthews published their famous paper "Magnetic Anomalies over Oceanic Ridges" in Nature in 1963, but interest in paleomagnetism and continental drift in England started to rise as early as 1950 among a group of physicists and cosmologists there. These interlopers in geology -- Patrick Blackett, Teddy Bullard, and Keith Runcorn -- all had started in particle physics and cosmic ray research. How they ended up providing a basis for discovery in earth science traces an interesting tale of interdisciplinary research in the mid-20th century.
Greg is a historian of science who currently writes mostly about the history of geophysics and especially the history of geomagnetic research. He has degrees in both physics and in history of science and he taught in the History Department at West Virginia University from 1983 until 2008. He has been on the History Committee of the AGU since 1989 and is a member of GSA, the International Commission for the History of the Geological Sciences, and the History of Science Society. He has published many articles and two books, one on the geosciences at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the other an encyclopedia of the history of the earth sciences. He edited the journal Earth Sciences History for the History of the Earth Sciences Society for six years. He was named a Fellow of the GSA this year, having received the Mary C. Rabbitt Award of the GSA Historical Division in 2008.
More information at the PGS website.
Gregory A. Good, Ph.D.
Director, Center for History of Physics
American Institute of Physics
Potomac Geophysical Society Meeting, October 15, 2009
The story of Fred Vine, Drummond Matthews, and sea-floor spreading is a well known part of the acceptance of plate tectonics in the 1960s. Vine and Matthews published their famous paper "Magnetic Anomalies over Oceanic Ridges" in Nature in 1963, but interest in paleomagnetism and continental drift in England started to rise as early as 1950 among a group of physicists and cosmologists there. These interlopers in geology -- Patrick Blackett, Teddy Bullard, and Keith Runcorn -- all had started in particle physics and cosmic ray research. How they ended up providing a basis for discovery in earth science traces an interesting tale of interdisciplinary research in the mid-20th century.
Greg is a historian of science who currently writes mostly about the history of geophysics and especially the history of geomagnetic research. He has degrees in both physics and in history of science and he taught in the History Department at West Virginia University from 1983 until 2008. He has been on the History Committee of the AGU since 1989 and is a member of GSA, the International Commission for the History of the Geological Sciences, and the History of Science Society. He has published many articles and two books, one on the geosciences at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the other an encyclopedia of the history of the earth sciences. He edited the journal Earth Sciences History for the History of the Earth Sciences Society for six years. He was named a Fellow of the GSA this year, having received the Mary C. Rabbitt Award of the GSA Historical Division in 2008.
More information at the PGS website.
Labels: magnetism, meetings, pgs, plate tectonics
2 Comments:
Darn - if only the commute wasn't a little unrealistic, becuase I'd like to attend this. Palaeomagnetists had establised the reality of continental drift iby the early 1950s, but everyone ignored them. Probably because no-one understands palaeomag...
My office neighbor, Neil Opdyke was a student of Runcorn during the 1950's and was one of the first paleomagnetists and his work on the deep sea cores played a central role in plate tectonic theory. Unfortunately the quote by CJR 'nobody understands paleomag' is pretty true. Once you do understand it, it's truly wonderful.
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