h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Geology is something that has never really enthused me. Yes, I am interested in it a bit. Probably even a little bit more than the average person would be, even. But it has never really fired me up with an appetite to learn everything about it.

But time after time, I have seen geologists go into fits of excitement about rock formations right on my doorstep. Not just local ones, but ones from all over the world.

I'd quite like to share their knowledge about why these things are so special in the world. I appreciate their importance as habitats, and as something scenic and beautiful in its own right, but I'd quite like to share in that little experience of religious ecstasy that it sends geologists into, as well.

They are places and things that I know very well indeed, but I am probably quite blind to the significance of it all.

I always felt a bit sorry for the Geological Museum in South Kensington. The Science Museum and the Natural History Museum are the two big draws, and even if you haven't been to the V&A, people who go to museums know of it, but the Geological Museum must be the most overlooked of the museums at the South Ken. complex (some say Albertopolis), and now it doesn't even exist in its own right any more - it's been absorbed by the Natural History Museum

Why yes, I did go there once.

Most geologists I've met or even heard about work in the oil industry around here. Although, I did print 30"x40" prints for an exhibit for the Houston Museum of Natural Science that displayed various examples and lessons about crystallography. It was a rush job. It was originally meant to be backlit transparencies on black backgrounds, but then they discovered how much the 30 light boxes would cost so they decided to make reflective prints. It was the most complicated printing job I ever did and I had to finish it all in 1 day. I was at the lab until 3am. I never did get around to going to the Museum to see the exhibit. I still regret that.

How did I know this subject would be a KB journal?

I...don't know what way to take that.

But you should have seen the journal I *didn't* write!

I recognised it straight away, too. Geology was something that was made as boring as hell at school. It wasn't till later, travelling around Europe, visiting Iceland and Sicily and sometimes doing guided tours in disused mines and caves with stalactites and things that I realised how interesting and relevant it could be and I wished I'd paid attention more (and had a better geography teacher).

Did you see this on the BBC website?

http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140617-swim-between-two-tectonic-plates

There is just too much world to learn. I want to know everything.

I think we can just rename h2g2 the polymath society and nobody would complain

You're probably right.

There would be bound to be complaints, mind you: even if everyone thought it was a great idea, somebody would complain that nobody else was complaining.

That's me out of the picture then. I'm crap at maths. Bob only knows what I'd be like at polymaths.

Does that count as a complaint?

If you have polymaths, you'll have to do two or more mathses at once. I can see your concern. It will be like quantum computing in your head. I'm against it! It must be stopped! And at Christmas, we will have to listen to Polly Mathis as well as Johnny Mathis.

This must be stopped! It's political correctness gone mad!

Oh dear Bob, is another schism? Two in the space of six months!

Hey, schisms are part of my cultural heritage. but to go geological again, you've just made me think of the similarity between the words "schism" and "schist" - a brittle rock prone to fracturing.

The good people at Scientific American are doing their best to fight the good fight and make people interested in geology:

Geology and Generals: How Geology influenced the Gettysburg Campaign

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/2014/06/30/geology-and-generals-how-geology-influenced-the-gettysburg-campaign-part-i/