Category Archives: Biography

The Billion Year Discovery

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Ron Miksha

About a century ago, a college student figured out that the Earth has rocks over a billion years old. Until Arthur Holmes’ experiments at Imperial College in London, geologists could only guess at the age of various rock formations. Geologist … Continue reading →

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The Old Bird Sits Up

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Ron Miksha

Readers of this blog know that I have sometimes pointed at Emperor Lord Kelvin’s fragile suit of clothing. Although his early life was crammed with brilliant science, he was a fumbling troglodyte by age 50.  He became resistant to scientific … Continue reading →

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A Conversation with the Earth

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Ron Miksha

How many of us recognize the most important moment in our career? The instant when you realize exactly what you should work on, even if you don’t know where that might lead. It happened to a young theoretical physicist. He … Continue reading →

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Zero Degrees of Kelvin

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Ron Miksha

My book, The Mountain Mystery, is not kind to the great physicist Lord Kelvin. I feel a bit uneasy admitting that in my research on the brilliant fellow, I just could not get comfortable. I wouldn’t have been his friend. … Continue reading →

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Seismic Saves the World

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Ron Miksha

Remarkable that we haven’t blown the planet to bits with an atomic bomb.  Not yet, anyway. An atmospheric nuclear test ban went in effect August 5, 1963. Exactly 51 years ago today. And almost 20 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki … Continue reading →

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Boring Mountains

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Ron Miksha

You might think that “boring mountains” is an odd title for a blog that promotes the study of mountains.  But today marks the anniversary of the death of an engineer who supervised the first major boring of a mountain anywhere … Continue reading →

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The Death of Heezen

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Ron Miksha

The Des Moines Register described Bruce Heezen as a large man. This, they said, contributed to his early death at age 53, on this day in 1977. But when we look at photographs of Bruce Heezen, he doesn’t appear to … Continue reading →

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Doodling Mary Anning

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Ron Miksha

Today Google has a doodle honouring Mary Anning, one of palaeontology’s pioneers. The reason Google chose Anning on this day?  It remembers her birthdate – she would have been 215 years old today. Alas, she didn’t reach 50. Here is … Continue reading →

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It’s different

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Ron Miksha

Convicted of forgery, American attorney Amos Eaton spent five years in prison. Released at age 40, his law career ruined, and still protesting his innocence, he moved on. That was in 1815. Geology became his greatest interest and teaching was … Continue reading →

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The Dustbowl Oceanographer’s Birthday

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Ron Miksha

William Maurice Ewing was a Texas farmboy from the state’s desert panhandle. Somehow he became one of America’s greatest oceanographers. Today we remember his birthday (May 12, 1906) and remember a bit about what he did for the study of … Continue reading →

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