[meteorite-list] Scientific American Archives 1845-1909 available until November 30, 2011

From: David R Childs <david.childs7_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2011 13:14:58 -0000
Message-ID: <7E9D4E32DCB84B74A2252D9161BC7B48_at_user85620c2ece>

No doubt that was cutting edge theory at the time!

David R Childs
----- Original Message -----
From: "karmaka" <karmaka-meteorites at t-online.de>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 06, 2011 12:09 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Scientific American Archives 1845-1909
available until November 30, 2011


> Dear Mark and list members,
>
> It's always interesting and amusing to read what people in the past
> thought about the origin
> of meteorites. Here some examples from 19th Century editions of
> 'Scientific American':
>
> In 1848 C.U. Shepard believed in the terrestrial origin of meteorites.
> Meteorites were believed to rain down from metallic meteoric dust clouds
> in the upper atmosphere because of the influence of magnetic storms.
> The dust clouds were thought to have formed from ashes and terrestrial
> matter which had 'mechanically' been 'elevated' by volcanoes and
> tornadoes.
>
> http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v4/n12/pdf/scientificamerican12091848-94b.pdf
> (Scientific American, 9 Dec 1848)
>
> In 1876 Proctor believed that iron meteorites were ejected from a sun
> during solar outbursts
> whereas Moigno believed them to be remains of ancient 'used-up worlds'.
>
> "It may be, as Mr. Proctor has suggested, that some of them,
> the siderites es?
> pecially, have been ejected from our own or some other sun,
> by some of those tremendous outbursts of solar energy
> which we occasionally observe with our spectroscopes ; or
> they may have originated, as Moigno argues, in the cracking
> to pieces of some old and used-up world."
> (from Scientific American, 19 August 1876 ;
> http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v35/n8/pdf/scientificamerican08191876-119a.pdf )
>
> 'Old worlds' indeed, but not 'used-up'...
>
> Unfortunately there is one truly 'used-up world' in the solar system ...
> our own.
>
> Furthermore, 19th Century comparisons are amusing, like these ones:
>
> white as chalk, black as coal aaaaand .... Orgueil is 'a mass of rather
> coherent garden soil'
>
> "The aerolite of Bishopsville, S. C., though covered with the
> invariable black crust,
> is internally almost as white as chalk, and as light as
> pumice ; that of Kold Bokkeveld,South Africa, on the other
> hand, resembles a piece of anthracite coal more than any?
> thing else; and that of Orgueil, a mass of rather coherent
> garden soil."
>
> Must be the most expensive 'garden soil' in the universe....
>
> Unfortunately many (carbonaceous) meteorites end up becoming soil when
> plowed under
> in the fields because they couldn't be found quickly enough.
>
> This might have happened to the potential Geislingen meteorites which my
> German meteorite friends and me were eagerly trying to find in January ...
> in vain. (Well, not 'in vain' actually because although we didn't find
> meteorites, we found new friends and experienced cooperation and community
> ... thus immaterial gratification ... priceless !!!)
>
> Too often meteorites are not found (on time) because important information
> does not flow freely to those (not primarily driven by the 'profit
> motive') enthusiasts who are willing to spend their time and energy on
> finding the freshly fallen specimens before planet earth's aggressive
> oxygen and humidity start their attack on the stony or iron 'aliens'.
>
> It's always an unbearable thought that freshly fallen meteorites in
> developed countries just rot away unnoticed because some people are not
> willing to cooperate for a 'higher meteoritic goal' ... but that is
> another never-ending story.
>
> Have a nice Sunday while scanning the archives for interesting articles!
>
> There is much more to be rediscovered...
>
> Martin
>
> Von: "Mark Grossman" <markig at westnet.com>
> An: <karmaka-meteorites at t-online.de>,
> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Scientific American Archives 1845-1909
> available until November 30, 2011
> Datum: Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:05:16 +0100
>
> Thanks so much to both Martins for the kind words in the two messages
> posted
> this evening.
>
> It's a pleasure doing the research and sharing the findings.
>
> If anyone finds any interesting or special articles in Scientific American
> that they would like to share, feel free to post a comment at the end of
> the
> Meteorite Manuscripts blog post.
>
> Thanks again for the nice words. And if you're interested in the
> Scientific
> American articles, remember - the articles are only free until the end of
> the month!
>
> Mark
>
> PS - I hope to be posting some manuscript letters again in the near
> future.
>
> Mark Grossman
> Meteorite Manuscripts
>
> http://meteoritemanuscripts.blogspot.com
> http://twitter.com/MetManuscripts
> http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Meteorite-Manuscripts/152949358073543?sk=wall
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> To: "Mark Grossman" ;
>
> Sent: Sunday, November 06, 2011 3:57 AM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Scientific American Archives 1845-1909
> available until November 30, 2011
>
>
> > Hello Mark,
> >
> > I think I can say this on behalf of many list members.
> >
> > Thank you once again for the valuable information you share with us.
> >
> > It is, as always, much appreciated!
> >
> > Keep up the good work!
> >
> > Martin
> >
> >
> > Von: "Mark Grossman"
> > An:
> > Betreff: [meteorite-list] Scientific American Archives 1845-1909
> > available
> > until November 30, 2011
> > Datum: Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:21:33 +0100
> >
> > If you would like to learn more about free access to Scientific American
> > articles, some of which are useful to those interested in the history of
> > meteorites, see the Meteorite Manuscripts blog by clicking on one of the
> > links below.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > Mark Grossman
> > Meteorite Manuscripts
> >
> > http://meteoritemanuscripts.blogspot.com
> > http://twitter.com/MetManuscripts
> > http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Meteorite-Manuscripts/152949358073543?sk=wall
> >
> > ______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >
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Received on Sun 06 Nov 2011 08:14:58 AM PST