Thursday, August 5, 2010

Imagine What We'll Know Tomorrow...

Graduation inches ever closer! Soon I will be a Geologist with a degree to prove it. A geologist, like any other scientist, is someone who is searching for truths in the world around them. The only problem with scientific truths is that they are liable to change. It reminds me of a quote from the movie Men in Black:


"Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow." 


My seventh grade science teacher had another way of putting it. She said that science was the search for "little 't' truths". Science is always changing, and the field of geology is no different. In 1938, a ceolacanth, a fish believed to have been extinct for 80 million years, was caught off the coast of South Africa. In the 1960's the theory of plate tectonics revolutionized the way that geologists think about the planet. Just recently, Pluto was relieved of its status as a planet. All these discoveries and theories and ideas changed the science of Geology. The truths that we know today, may not be the truths we know tomorrow.


Because of its ever-changing nature, science is an imperfect discipline. That doesn't mean that it's not important or not exciting and fun. In fact, because it is always changing and new discoveries are always being made, science is very fun and exciting. The future of science and geology is filled with limitless possibilities. There are new discoveries waiting to be made every day. With new discoveries comes new knowledge, and like Agent K from Men in Black said, imagine what we'll know tomorrow.




This week I went on a trip to Nine Mile Canyon, not on purpose though. I was just out driving and saw a sign that said, this way to nine mile canyon. I thought, why not? I had no idea that I was on my way to see a bunch of awesome petroglyphs and enjoy a pretty awesome drive. Anyway, you can see my pictures from the trip right here.

1 comment:

Jakeson said...

Wow, optimism from Lambson? Now I have to get more cheerful, or I'm going to be labeled as the gothy one of the group. Can't have that now...