[meteorite-list] Collecting Habits

From: Walter Branch <branchw_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:28:33 2004
Message-ID: <002201c39827$ebaaed60$76c69f44_at_wbranch>

Hi Martin and List,

>I would like to hear more of what you imagine took >place before the formal
discovery

As happens all too often these days, I put my little one to bed last night
and fell asleep before she did. Looks like no more late night ebay sniping
for me (he, he :-)

Anyway, back to meteorites.

After having run the gamut of everything from "one specimen of every
find/fall" to "I quit this hobby" I think I have settled on a few collecting
specialties (1) micromounts of rare and common material (2) micromounts from
Georgia (the State, that is) and moderate sized pieces that are
aesthetically pleasing to me (mostly the old guard ala Elton's post).

In keeping with all the above, I really like just plain old common
chondrites and octahedrites, particularly ones with stories like Beaver,
Valera, Plainview, Claxton, Canyon Diablo, Park Forest, etc. I have come to
appreciate the human story side to meteorites after I came to the
realization that (1) I would have to learn the science of meteoritics on my
own and (2) sometimes that is boring and tedious and I hate tedium.

So, back to your original question...

Martin (and anyone else who has made it thus far), indulge me for the next
few paragraphs and think of what I am about to say as an amalgamation of
meteorites in general, not a specific find or fall (and I realize I am
making all sorts of grammatical errors such as incorrect verb agreement but
like Indiana Jones, I am making this up as I go).

BTW, the Raiders trilogy came out of DVD today - yea!

Picture a rock in space, just soaking up cosmic ray tracks and being
bombarded by the solar wind for untold millennia. For whatever reason, it's
orbital path happens to cross that of the Earth and for a few short seconds,
as measured by humans, it becomes a meteorite. It lands somewhere,
anywhere. It really doesn't matter where.

Just think of all it has "witnessed," and eventually become a part of. Sort
of like a naturally occurring obelisk (ala, Arthur C. Clarke). The coming
and going of huge sheets of ice over the land, the extinction of entire
species, mass migration of humans, perhaps even the development of the
hominid species (okay I am stretching it here, but you get the point). And
all the while this was occurring, the rock from space just well, sat there,
on the ground. Seasons, and years, came and went. Perhaps the first human
to even lay eyes on the rock gave it little attention. Perhaps they stubbed
there toe on it. Eventually, maybe it was given a second glance but not a
second thought, but eventually maybe one of our ancestors gave it a second
thought and thought of a way to use the rock as an implement of some sort.
A tool. A mortar, an "anvil" a weight, whatever. This rock (and others)
suddenly has value. Not scientific value but practical, pragmatic,
help-me-meet-the-daily-struggle value.

Meteorites began to take on practical value to humans.

Meanwhile some of these rocks begin to take on symbolic meaning. Not just
as tools but as objects to be revered. They are placed in burial mounds and
passed from one generation to the next. Through the middle ages and
pre-industrial eras, "common" people knew what "scientists" could not
accept - these rocks fell from the sky and thus were special. Eventually the
scientists would come around to the "common" man's way of thinking.

Meteorites begin to take on meanings in terms of science and religion.

Eventually, someone hit upon the idea of collecting these rocks because they
were so special. Others did too. Specimens were traded, bought, sold,
maybe even bartered.

Meteorites began to take on financial value to humans.

And all the while this change is occurring, more rocks are falling, and
continue to fall.

I could go on with other scenarios but, you get the idea. So, in my highly
romantized view, the lowly single meteorite represents and has become
involved in, much of human history, a history which is still being written.
They really are messengers from space but much more than a simple messenger,
they have become part of the message, as befits our understanding of them at
any given time in our history.

So that little slice from that single stone represents a lot of human
history to me.

Besides, it's really neat to hold something from space that is 4.5 billion
years old! I will never get a chance to go up to space but in a very real
way, space has come to me - and it's sitting here on my desk!

Okay, now I have not lost all my senses and I have not been drinking (though
a Bud would sound good about now).

One last thing. What I really like most about meteorites is when you show
one to someone who has never seen one, and LET THEM HOLD IT, you can almost
see much of what I wrote in the paragraphs above in their eyes. They don't
know it and you might not be conscious of it yourself (unless you think like
I do, which admittedly is sort of strange). I gave a meteorite to a nine
year old this morning - a micromount of Delaware to be precise - and I could
see it in his eyes.

Well, I see my wife and daughter are back from dance class now, so...

Meteoritically Yours,

-Walter

------------------------------------------
www.branchmeteorites.com
Walter Branch, Ph.D.
Branch Meteorites
PO Box 60492
Savannah, GA 31420



----- Original Message -----
From: <martinh_at_isu.edu>
To: <Mikestockj_at_aol.com>
Cc: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2003 11:20 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Collecting Habits


> Hi Mike and Walter,
>
> Probably the more odd of all my esoteric collecting strands is my
arrowhead collection. I have a set of irons from different locations that
resemble Native American arrowheads. I have S-A, Taza, Canyon Diablo,
Henbury, Mundrabillia, Boxhole, Gibeon, and maybe a couple a couple others.
Some require a touch more imagination then others, but their forms are
surprisingly similar.
>
> Any other esoteric collecting strands out there? Actually, I know their
are because others have told me about them. It would be nice if you shared
them with the group. I know the Hupe' brothers collect main masses of
planetary meteorites, but for those of us mere mortals, even an alphabetical
collection is impressive.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Martin
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mikestockj_at_aol.com
> Date: Monday, October 20, 2003 5:07 pm
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Collecting Habits
>
> > Hi Walter
> > I have a nice collection of falls. What makes it interesting is
> > they must be
> > whole and w
> eigh around 5 grams and be 80+% crusted. I currently
> > have 12 pieces
> > plus a gorgeous Camel Donga (it's almost a fall). PF of course is
> > the newest.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> >
> > Mike Jensen
> > Bill Jensen
> > Jensen Meteorites
> > 16730 E Ada PL
> > Aurora, CO 80017-3137
> > 303-337-4361
> > Web Site: Jensen Meteorites
> >
>
>
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Received on Tue 21 Oct 2003 07:06:11 PM PDT