[meteorite-list] Tom Phillips Gallery listing on MT and Goodbye Tom

From: John.L.Cabassi <John_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 18:14:55 -0800
Message-ID: <004c01cb8d0f$b87062b0$a166fea9_at_anitak9bz49jy2>

G'Day Paul, Ruben, Dennis and List
You have all pretty well summed up what Tom represents. It's such a
shame that another passes by, when will this end? The funny thing about
this, I was actually sitting in Tom's shoes when I first signed on to
the Met List and he gave me encouragement and it never stopped there.
Now we are good friends. I would not have had a microscope without Tom's
generosity, let alone thin sections. He recommended me for the IMCA and
he's never looked back. I owe him a lot, that I could never repay. One
thing I do have is a continuing friendship and continual correspondence
with one hell of a guy. It's just a shame that it has to come to this
but I know Tom, he's tough, he's resilient and he will come back
regardless.

I have more images of Tom's work than I have images of my family, that's
not to say I don't like them but Tom has produced some excellent stuff
and it's not only close up which I love but he's offering the total
concept of the meteorite. He just keeps stripping the layers off and
gets closer and closer. I could offer up a lot of emails but they're
personal. Tom puts in a lot of time, offers up plenty with nothing in
return.

Well at least I've made a good friend and I'm going to benefit with
knowledge and years and years of experience with a microscope. That to
me, is a huge plus.

Tom, you rule mate. Come back with a vengeance!

Cheers
John



-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Paul
Harris
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 7:57 PM
To: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: [meteorite-list] Tom Phillips Gallery listing on MT and Goodbye
Tom


Dear List and Carl,


To Carl:

In reply to your statement.

"I noticed that MT no longer displays a link to Tom's web site. What is
up with that MT?"

Let me help you find the link we have to Tom's Gallery on
Meteorite-Times. On the right side of the page is a column with groups
of links. One of these groups is called "Meteorite Resources". If you
look down the list you will see "Meteorite Pictures / Collections /
Museums". If you click on this link you will see the listing to Tom's
Gallery.

http://www.meteorite-times.com/meteorite-pictures/



To Everyone:

It's truly sad that Tom Phillips is no longer on the m-list, nor will he

be sharing his amazing images with us anymore. All Tom wanted to do was

share cool beautiful views of meteorites in a way that we would have
never seen without him...

Below is an email I wrote to Tom. I've removed the name and subject but

the involved parties will know.


     Hi Tom,

     I've been mulling this around this morning because I don't want
     meteorite.com or your gallery to be caught up in any controversy...

     The fact that I've been thinking about this and you're writing me
     again
confirms that we are both on track knowing that these statements will
     indeed bring us into the conflict.

     My decision is to just present your wonderful images without the
     controversy. I'm much to busy to be involved in WWIII.

     If ******* wants statements about ^^^^^^^ included then maybe
******* can post them.

     Please let me know your thoughts...

     Paul


Tom was both used and condemned by members of this list who acted a
judge, jury and executioner. And what was Tom guilty of? Tom was
guilty of being non-political and having the insane notion that we would

be interested in seeing images of meteorites with questions.

On this Thanksgiving maybe we should all reflect back on all the joy and

wonder Tom's images brought us. Thank you Tom for the thousands of
hours you spent at eyepiece to bring us those incredible sights.

Maybe next time we can walk a few steps in other person's shoes before
we impale them with our deadly keystrokes...

Paul








On 11/24/2010 9:03 AM, cdtucson at cox.net wrote:
> Dave,
> To answer your question without using a back door approach to sell
> my thin section. Yes, thin sections are a very important part of the
> classification process. They give the viewer the ability to optically
> determine what the mineralogy is within the rock. That said, if you
> have a good Scanning Electron microscope this can be done with or
> without a thin section in some cases. The microprobe is an additional

> tool that tells the Scientist what he or she is looking at as well
> but in a much more modern and accurate way. Keep in mind Thin sections

> at one time were all we had until the advent of the SEM Scanning
> Electron Microprobe. It should be clear what Tom Phillips offers is
> not and never was intended for classification purposes. He is an
> artistic genius of sorts and offers us a wonderful perspective of a
> different World if you will. Please read Tom's statement in his own
> words below;
>
> " I have often said that you would not use my images for
> classification. As I am examining known material, I don't think that
> matters. I show things others do not. In ways most have not even
> tried. It does not get any easier to increase magnification and still

> maintain the lighting control and clarity. Then there are the high
> magnification reflected light shots like what was posted on NWA 5363,
> who else shows what the material really looks like at that
> magnification. I have no problem with acknowledging the lack of
> traditional classification usefulness but what does bother me is the
> dismissing of very interesting and unexplained structures my images
> reveal as useless just because the viewer is unfamiliar with what they

> are looking at."
>
> I would like to add that sometimes Scientists do find subjects within
> meteorites that require such high magnifications (look at ALH84001)
> but if you want to see a great variety and extremely interesting
> images . Well, Tom Phillips is simply the best at what he does.
> Period.
>
> Tom has been insulted and attacked now enough times that he is likely
> to be calling it quits. I'm not sure he even reads this list anymore?
> I noticed that MT no longer displays a link to Tom's web site. What is

> up with that MT? This is indeed a sad day for our wonderful Meteorite
> community and this great met-list. I hope that this community embraces

> Tom and encourages him to continue in spite of some recent unwarranted

> attacks of him for NO good reason.
>
> Carl
>
> Carl or Debbie Esparza
> Meteoritemax
>
>
> ---- Dave Myers<whitefalcons007 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Hey Tom and list!
>>
>> Sorry for all the miss-spelled words!
>>
>> like "Top Phillips".........ment Tom,
>> I find myself lately trying to type faster then my pay-grade!
>> ......LOL
>>
>> you all take care!
>>
>> dave
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Dave Myers<whitefalcons007 at yahoo.com>
>> To: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> Sent: Tue, November 23, 2010 4:21:14 PM
>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Question, Thinn sections
>>
>> Hi List,
>>
>> I list I have a question about thinn section photos, Like the great
>> photos Top Phillips takes.
>>
>> Those who study meteorite or classify them, Can they tell just by
>> looking at the photos, if the thenn section is from a meteorite?? Can

>> they tell if it is a Lunar or Martian meteorite from the thinn
>> section photo?? Or do they need the thinn section in hand to put
>> through a type of spectrometor??
>>
>> And is that even enough to tell, or does all the other testing have
>> to be done to tell if it is a meteorite, is a Lunar or martian.
>>
>> Thanks for any info.
>>
>> dave
>>
>>
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> Visit the Archives at
>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
>> Meteorite-list mailing list
>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> Visit the Archives at
>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
>> Meteorite-list mailing list
>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>>
> ______________________________________________
> Visit the Archives at
> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>

______________________________________________
Visit the Archives at
http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Received on Thu 25 Nov 2010 09:14:55 PM PST