[meteorite-list] Total Number of Meteorites?
From: Alexander Seidel <gsac_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Dec 7 18:16:28 2005 Message-ID: <31710.1133997382_at_www83.gmx.net> > We'll find it perhaps out in discussing Zelimir's pos? > Martin Surely not all subscribers of the former "Meteorite" magazine are/were collectors, but may be quite a solid majority. Definitely not all subscribers of "MAPS" are collectors, these are very probably only a clear minority, small by percentage. I suspect a big majority of subscribers of this list are collectors, including some dealers resident here (...yes, of course, there goes the saying that many collectors are also being dealers and vice versa, whoever may like that or not...:-)). I also suspect most buyers of Kevin Kichinka?s recent book, and the more popular books e.g. from the Nortons are collectors, while the more technical literature (Wasson et al) is devoted more to students and scientists of the field (...who may also be collectors - privately or institutional) Many of Zelimir?s guests at the annual Ensisheim show certainly are collectors, but surely by far not all of them. The same holds for all the other meteorite (and mineral) shows. MetBase ((c) Joern Koblitz) holds a section of private collectors and institutions collecting meteorites, but does not nor could it ever claim a certain degree of completeness. ....and so on... It is very difficult, or should I better say, impossible, to arrive at a somehow realiable figure regarding the number of collectors worldwide, as first of all one should have to define who may be called a collector and who not - and even at this crucial point all the trouble begins. With a somewhat spongy definition of the term "collector", addition of very uncertain estimates from different sources (see above), which by themselves are not independent from each other and intermingle, would result in a very rough, very biased figure of estimated collectors worldwide, and this is fruitless. You won?t even get a clear figure for the high rollers in meteorite collecting, since I suspect, as people?s nature is, that some of them are shy and prefer to hide in the dark of anonymity, while others are quite the opposite and blow their horn at every opportunity..! Though I believe, if you restrict your question to the real big ones, you will get a much more reliable figure than talking of "the collector" in general. I think another question would be much more worth thinking about and striving for an answer. While meteorites are falling worldwide, disrespecting our national boundaries, there seem to be quite different degrees of personal interests in "the field of meteoritics", if you compare the countries by each other. This certainly has to do with the cultural history and heritage of each country in question, but is it all about this? The great French nation, for example, has a big "affinity" to everything related with meteoritics, reflecting itself in quite a number of dealers and, oh well, collectors. I won?t talk about my country (Germany), which my dealer (and collector) friend Martin has done from a little polarized perspective, in my view. What about the United States, surely influenced by the great work of Nininger and others in this respect, what about other countries and their approaches to meteoritics..?? Any input? Best wishes, Alex Berlin/Germany Received on Wed 07 Dec 2005 06:16:22 PM PST |
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