[meteorite-list] Commercialization, meteorite coins and other ridiculous wastes of time

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 00:07:10 -0500
Message-ID: <06ce01c77677$1a81d2d0$0e2f4842_at_ATARIENGINE>

Hi, Thaddeus, List

> curation of specimens safeguards [them]

    Well, that's the assumption of those who "curate,"
but is it justified? Museums of today, great medieval
libraries, and all famed institutions of preservation have
the survival of knowledge in its physical form as their
justification.

    There are two possible strategies for survival. First,
consolidation in a fortress, a protective enclave dedicated
to their preservation, an ivory, stone, or steel tower. Or,
secondly, dissemination, spread the treasure far and wide,
to be possessed by as many hands as possible.

    We can look to history for a test of the two strategies,
used with two treasures of equal age and common origin:
Greek literature and Greek money, both arising in the 7th
century BC in the same lands.

    Money was (and always is) disseminated. There is
virtually no issue of Greek coinage of which we do not
possess, these millennia later, excellent examples, thousands
of distinguishable types, mintings, issues, a staggering
variety. Dissemination has preserved these objects well
from no other cause than their commercial value.

    Literature is the classic case of preservation by assorted
institutions, from the great Library of Alexandria down to
hundreds of other ancient repositories, and continued
"curation" by similar institutions dedicated solely to that
purpose for centuries.

    The result?

    I have seven plays by Sophocles; do you have a copy
of the other 116? The missing 73 plays of Aeschylus? The
lost 76 plays of Euripides? A "Complete Works" of the
great poet Archiochus? Even one complete poem? No?
Neither does anybody else...

    Keenly, someone will point out that coins are mechanically
produced and reproduced, but literature has not been, until
the printing press. This is not true, however. Manuscripts were
"manufactured" by vast factories, scriptoria employing direct
human industry, for many centuries, copies by the ton.

    The key difference between the two is how the attempt to
preserve them was conducted down through history. The method
of reverential "temples" of preservation failed; the method of
crass commercial valuation succeeded.


Sterling K. Webb
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message -----From: Thaddeus BesedinTo: Jake BakerCc: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.comSent: Sunday, April 01, 2007 10:21 AMSubject: Re: [meteorite-list] Commercialization,meteorite coins and otherridiculous wastes of timeJake,Indeed propaganda is important, but it should be provided at no charge if itis the preservation and dissemination of knowledge that is desired. Ameteorite coin is no better a fetish than a meteorite itself, accompaniedwith accessible information.In defense of academic repositories, the curation of specimens safeguardsscientifically-important materials from the fate of commodities; too badcommodification has been a necessary evil in permitting the accessibility weenjoy in our pursuit of possession of meteorites.-ThaddeusJake Baker <bakers5acres at frontiernet.net> wrote:I've read the messages about this subject bantered about.First I have a problem with 'scient
 ific' repositories and museums. I like tobe able to look closely at what I choose and not what some academic wants tospoon feed me. My mind can process more than a few 'selected' pieces oncertain subjects. If you ask to see a particular piece or subject the stockanswer is 'you'll have to make an appointment' or 'that is scheduled forMarch two years from now'. I may never get back to see it. In a lot of casesI helped fund it with taxes. It isn't right that a few employees andscientists are the only people 'allowed' to see, touch and experience thesewonders of our world. Yes institutes rescue and preserve items but for what?So the articles can sit in a drawer, box or bottle for years and thebuilding finally burns down and nothing is left? It's selfish and selfserving.I like the way that museums used to be. Everything they had was on display.I grew up in Iowa and as a child in the 1960s spent days in the Iowa StateCapitol Museum looking at everything from civil war relics, stuf
 fed animals,American Indian garments of the 17-1800s to Dr. Bean's one of a kind fossilplates. Dr. Bean was a dentist who spent years extracting crinoid (sp)colonies from limestone parent material. His works have a world widereputation. When we went to Iowa on vacation in 1999 I wanted to show myhusband Dr Bean's fossils but the answer was 'that's not available . . . .". I was truly disappointed there wasn't a single fossil on display.With the individual collector (or dealer) that doesn't happen. People areproud of what they have found, traded for or purchased. Most are more thanwilling to share their knowledge with adults and children. If you have seenthe wonder in a child's eyes when they look at crystals, meteorites, or evencommon rocks you know what I mean. Many children and adults who are curiouswill never make it to a museum or a big city. Many don't have the funds orphysical ability to get there. Many children have parents who just don'tcare or are chemically addicted
 . If a small meteorite is purchased or givento a rural grade school or an inner city school and ignites a passion in onechild and that child turns off the tv, violent video games or cell phone tofind a meteorite, rocks or get outside to learn about geology or nature -that's success. That's what sharing and education is about. If we want abetter world - we have to cultivate the minds of children as one cultivatesa garden. They will eventually be taking care of us.So - all of you who see this subject from the perspective of a largemetropolitan city dweller or a person of science who lives in anintellectual vacuum try and look at the subject and world from anotherperspective. Put your egos, opinions and bias aside and do what benefits themost people. You all have experience, education and knowledge to share.Leave the fertilizer in the garden.Barb BakerShow Low, Arizona(50 miles from Holbrook)______________________________________________Meteorite-list mailing listMeteorite-list
 _at_meteoritecentral.comhttp://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-listTV dinner still cooling?Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV.______________________________________________Meteorite-list mailing listMeteorite-list at meteoritecentral.comhttp://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Received on Wed 04 Apr 2007 01:07:10 AM PDT