[meteorite-list] Main mass pics of Emsland, Erxleben and Bremervoerde

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2009 16:43:40 +0100
Message-ID: <005c01c9893a$da5ce7c0$177f2a59_at_name86d88d87e2>

Hello,

because pictures of the main masses of these three historic meteorites are
difficult to find,
here they are, enjoy!
http://kuerzer.de/erxemsbre

Unfortunately in a sad context:
the university of Goettingen, housing one of the oldest meteorite
collections of the World, which can traced back to the year 1777,
is forced to beg for money in public to get a few bucks from private
persons,
as they even can't afford to buy showcases for their specimens!

That is Germany as research location!
A shame.

To see something like that, makes me so sad, that I really can't be silent
anymore.
So forgive...

Cause not better at all is the situation of the famous collections in
Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Vienna, Copenhagen - not to mention the Australian
collections.

Partially they haven't anymore the means to preserve their collections
and their combined budgets for acquiring new meteorites rivals the budget of
the not sooo worldwide known chamber-pot-museum in Munich.
Unfortunately that is no polemics, but reality.

These collections are only still growing and diversifying by - and the main
material they do their research on is - the desert finds handed in by
private parties and private donations of material.

The group around H.Chennaoui, Schmitt, McCoy, C.Smith and J.Zipfel
are at present agitating to inhibit the private traffic of the desert finds
completely.
These finds regarding the interesting rare and scientifically most
significant types outnumber the Antarctic finds by the number of different
finds and by their weights.

Chennaoui and Smith spread wrong information, regarding the traffic of
meteorites especially from Morocco, in telling, that the removal would be
illicit, although on the Casablanca conference it was stated as a result,
that there exist no laws in Morocco about ownership and export of meteorites
at all.
Smith continues to vilify in the media private collectors and commercial
dealers, who meanwhile supply the main share of research material,
as participants of a "black market" and in these press articles they are
lumped together with drug and weapon dealers.

(On the other hand her attitude doesn't seem to hold her off from buying
from private collectors - I remember the main piece of Ivuna recently.
Whether she serves the aims and purposes of the meteorite collection of BMNH
or the objectives of the Paneth foundation with that conduct - I doubt).

They spread the myth, that meteorites became unaffordable for science
because of the private activities, although the opposite is correct
and proven.
- the meteorite prices of the recent 200 years are known and published,
as well as the expenses for the acquisitions of meteoritic material the
institutions had done throughout the centuries,
as well as the costs and the find quotes of "official" scientific
expeditions including those to Antarctica.

If they achieve, that the traffic with meteorites, especially from the
desert countries will be restricted and will be laid off solely to the
universities,
we will experience a similar and complete breakdown of the find numbers like
it happened in Libya and in Australia.

(Mrs Smith should know the situation there, on her expedition, she found two
ordinary chondrites (the sum to be spent for such material on the market
wouldn't have paid their plane tickets) - these two chondrites account
already for 29% of all new Australian finds of the last 10 years).

Nobody will search for meteorites anymore.

And in consequence all research institutes, which are not involved in the
Antarctic programs will face more or less the cessation of their research
work.

Mrs.Zipfel knows well, that the main and almost sole problem in meteoritics
is the drastic underfunding of the collections and institutes, especially if
compared to the neighbouring scientific subjects.
   
She very closely experienced the shut-down of the renowned meteoritic
departments of the Max-Planck-Institutes in Heidelberg and Mainz.
She was responsible for the transfer of the supposedly largest meteorite
collection from these institutes to the Nat.Hist.Museum in Frankfurt, where
a part of it should be on permanent exhibition. With the latter undertaking
she failed.

I kindly would ask these ladies and gentlemen not to ignore any longer the
experiences already made in countries with restrictive laws, to read and to
understand the basic statistics and to learn the historic facts.
Afterwards they might be able to rethink their position,

whether their agenda really does serve the needs of research and science
and what for consequences it would mean for the work of their colleagues.

And whether it couldn't be more conducive to care for the most urgent
problem in modern meteoritics, the historically unseen underfunding of the
institutes, museums and universities of these very years - especially in
those countries, which can't afford to take part in the expensive Antarctic
campaigns.

Don't let the Dark Force prevail!
Martin
Received on Sat 07 Feb 2009 10:43:40 AM PST