Tag: geology

Six-minute summary: Marie Tharp

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 →

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 Two

Hello readers! In the last post, we dived into a Victorian science textbook: Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology, from 1830. We explored the state of the geological sciences 200 years ago, and acquainted ourselves with the intellectual battle between the vulcanists and neptunists (which was a lot less science-fiction than it sounds, and fought with … Continue reading Learning from old science books: Part Two →

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 →

Clayton Calculates: Lava-water interactions in video games

Hello readers! This is an old post that I unearthed while tidying up the blog, so I have streamlined the structure and removed the spelling errors in order to share it once again. These calculations come from June 2023, and were originally tied to a post that discussed the properties of lava. At the time, … Continue reading Clayton Calculates: Lava-water interactions in video games →