Hello readers! It’s time for the final six-minute summary of 2025. We’ll be exploring the pioneering work of Marie Tharp, an American geologist and cartographer who created the first maps of the sea floor. She did this in the 1950s, without any computer assistance, by interpreting thousands of depth measurements collected by research ships. Her … Continue reading Six-minute summary: Marie Tharp
Tag: earth science
An 18th century map that changed science
Hello readers! It’s time for some more historical science. This week, we’ll explore how the creation of a map in 18th century France changed the way that scientists viewed the world. The map covered the Auvergne region, which contains the Chaîne des Puys – a line of conical hills that are now known to have … Continue reading An 18th century map that changed science
Learning from old science books: Part Three
Hello readers! This week is the final instalment in a three-part series on a Victorian science book: Principles of Geology, by Charles Lyell. In the last two posts we explored the chapters on climate and evolution, and discussed how our understanding has changed over the last 200 years thanks to technological advancements and conceptual breakthroughs. … Continue reading Learning from old science books: Part Three
Learning from old science books: Part One
Hello readers! Last week I read a Victorian geology book – possibly one of the most influential science books ever written. Principles of Geology by Charles Lyell introduced a relatively young field to a general audience, and solidified geology as a science in its own right, rather than as a mere rock collecting exercise. It … Continue reading Learning from old science books: Part One
Six-minute summary: James Croll
Hello readers! This week, I’m summarising the life of a lesser-known scientist. James Croll was once a big name in the British scientific community, exchanging ideas with contemporaries such as Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin. He was a physicist, geologist, and mathematician – but when he published his first paper, he was employed only as … Continue reading Six-minute summary: James Croll
Six-minute summary: Henry Cavendish
Hello readers! It’s time for another six-minute summary of a historical figure. This week, we’ll explore the life of Henry Cavendish, an eighteenth-century scientist best known for discovering hydrogen and measuring the density of the Earth. However, Cavendish kept many of his findings private, and much of his pioneering research only reached public attention decades … Continue reading Six-minute summary: Henry Cavendish
Six-minute summary: Inge Lehmann
Hello readers! Today’s six-minute summary is about Inge Lehmann, the Danish scientist who discovered that our planet has a solid inner core. I thought this summary would be somewhat topical following the recent media coverage of ‘giant blobs’ in the lower mantle, now proposed to be the remnants of an ancient collision with another planet … Continue reading Six-minute summary: Inge Lehmann
Clayton Calculates: The Death Mountain lava lake
Hello readers! After the success of my lava calculations last month, I have been inspired to devote an entire blog post to pulling apart the physical inaccuracies of fantasy worlds. It turns out that the water hydrants in Tears of the Kingdom are the least of its lava-based problems (if you missed it, see: Is … Continue reading Clayton Calculates: The Death Mountain lava lake
Six-minute summary: Alfred Wegener
Hello readers! Thought I'd try something different again today (nothing like a bit of consistency to keep the audience engaged). You might have noticed that the title utilises an arbitrary amount of time in order to attain alliterative flow, from which it is embarrassingly obvious that I needed a snappy name for a new type … Continue reading Six-minute summary: Alfred Wegener
C. W. Clayton 