"Why would you want to study rocks?" Part 4: History

I've long been fascinated by history.  In spite of my strong leaning toward the sciences when I was trying to find my path through life I seriously considered majoring in classical studies for a time.  I dreamt of spending my life studying Greece, Rome and other ancient civilizations in their prime, of reading and translating the great dramatists, philosophers, and poets and sharing their gifts with the world.  Given that I do not have a gift for languages my near decision to enter that career path is quite significant.

"Why would you want to study rocks?" Part 3: Variety

I've always found this comic by xkcd rather amusing.  To a geologist, the whole 'purity' argument that goes on amongst certain subsets of scientists seems so...wrongheaded.  We pride ourselves on research methods and areas of study that are derived from a large number of more basic fields and don't give a damn about how 'pure' our field is.

"Why would you want to study rocks?" Part 2: The Little Things

In part one of this series I put the big picture on display.  This time I'll be focusing on smaller things that make geology interesting.

Accretionary Wedge #44: Most Important Teacher

On one hand, I seriously considered passing over this Accretionary Wedge, feeling that I didn't have anything interesting or unique to contribute.  On the other hand, I've been dreaming of opening a blog and contributing to the Accretionary Wedge for four or five years.  Fortunately, I changed my mind because the answer to the question of who or what my most important teacher was, geologically speaking, hit me like a bolt of lightning.  Unfortunately, the path to realizing that my goal in life is to be a geologist was more circuitous than my path to entering the Wedge.

A visit to a harpsichord builder's workshop.

[NOTE:  For those of you who do not share my fascination with ancient instruments and may not be familiar with it, this is a harpsichord. I will provide a few links to YouTube videos at the bottom to help familiarize the curious with the sound of a harpsichord and with a limited selection of harpsichord repertoire.]

I have to admit to a bit of trepidation when I showed up at the door of Gerald Self's house/workshop.  Granted, the man had been very congenial when we exchanged e-mails about the possibility of a visit to his shop, sending me documents informing me of the do-it-yourself kits he sold and the models he built himself, assuring me that he would not try to sell me anything, and insisting that there would be no charge for the visit.  However, I was pretty certain he wasn't expecting a long-haired twenty-something year old to show up in jeans and a T-shirt. (My only excuse for being so under-dressed is that I have a large number of severe chemical sensitivities that make it extremely difficult to find dress clothes.)  I found myself arriving a bit early, too, which made me concerned about the possibility of throwing his schedule out of balance.  Fortunately, the personality that was revealed through e-mail very quickly asserted itself once he recognized me.

"Why would you want to study rocks?" Part 1: The Big Picture

This is the first in a short series of posts giving my response to a question that geologists often have to deal with:  What is it that is so interesting about rocks and why would anyone want to study them?

Please note that I intend to address this question in a manner that intentionally excludes economic and environmental/social reasons to study geology.  My goal is to demonstrate that geology is interesting in itself without factoring in economic or social issues that come into play in certain areas of the field.  There are a variety of geology bloggers out there who can and have written on the economic, environmental and social importance of geology and I don't feel it's necessary to add my voice to the chorus.

So, why do we want to study rocks?  I would like to start by illustrating the difference between what an average joe thinks of when they hear "rock" or "rocks" and what a geologist thinks of.