Fall in love with a Faller

Chapter 6 : Locked Up

Jennie's Point of View

Origins In Prehistoric Times

The origins of the Earth sciences lie in the myths and legends of the distant past. The creation story, which can be traced to a Babylonian epic of the 22nd century BCE and which is told in the first chapter of Genesis, has proved most influential. The story is cast in the form of Earth historyand thus was readily accepted as an embodiment of scientific as well as of theological truth.

Earth scientists later made innumerable observations of natural phenomena and interpreted them in an increasingly multidisciplinary manner. The Earth sciences, however, were slow to develop largely because the progress of science was constrained by whatever society would tolerate or support at any one time.

Antiquity

Geologic sciences

Knowledge of Earth composition and structure

The oldest known treatise on rocks and minerals is the De lapidibus (“On Stones”) of the Greek philosopher Theophrastus(c. 372–c. 287 BCE). Written probably in the early years of the 3rd century, this work remained the best study of mineral substances for almost 2,000 years. Although reference is made to some 70 different materials, the work is more an effort at classification than systematic description.

In early Chinese writings on mineralogy, stones and rocks were distinguished from metals and alloys, and further distinctions were made on the basis of colour and other physical properties. The speculations of Zheng Sixiao (died 1332 CE) on the origin of ore deposits were more advanced than those of his contemporaries in Europe. In brief, his theory was that ore is deposited from groundwater circulating in subsurface fissures.

Ancient accounts of earthquakesand volcanic eruptions are sometimes valuable as historical records but tell little about the causes of these events. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) and Strabo (64 BCE–c. 21 CE) held that volcanic explosions and earthquakes alike are caused by spasmodic motions of hot winds that move underground and occasionally burst forth in volcanic activityattended by Earth tremors. Classical and medieval ideas on earthquakes and volcanoes were brought together in William Caxton’s Mirrour of the World (1480). Earthquakes are here again related to movements of subterranean fluids. Streams of water in the Earth compress the air in hidden caverns. If the roofs of the caverns are weak, they rupture, causing cities and castles to fall into the chasms; if strong, they merely tremble and shake from the heaving by the windbelow. Volcanic action follows if the outburst of wind and water from the depths is accompanied by fire and brimstone from hell.

The Chinese have the distinction of keeping the most faithful records of earthquakes and of inventing the first instrument capable of detecting them. Records of the dates on which major quakes rocked China date to 780 BCE. To detect quakes at a distance, the mathematician, astronomer, and geographer Zhang Heng (78–139 CE) invented what has been called the first seismograph.

Knowledge of Earth history

The occurrence of seashells embedded in the hard rocks of high mountains aroused the curiosity of early naturalists and eventually set off a controversy on the origin of fossils that continued through the 17th century. Xenophanes of Colophon (flourished c. 560 BCE) was credited by later writers with observing that seashells occur “in the midst of earth and in mountains.” He is said to have believed that these relics originated during a catastrophic event that caused the earth to be mixed with the sea and then to settle, burying organisms in the drying mud. For these views Xenophanes is sometimes called the father of paleontology.

Petrified wood was described by Chinese scholars as early as the 9th century CE, and about1080 Shen Gua cited fossilized plants as evidence for change in climate. Other kinds of fossils that attracted the attention of early Chinese writers include spiriferoid brachiopods (“stone swallows”), cephalopods, crabs, and the bones and teeth of reptiles, birds, and mammals. Although these objects were commonly collected simply as curiosities or for medicinal purposes, Shen Gua recognized marine invertebrate fossils for what they are and for what they imply historically. Observing seashells in strata of the Taihang Mountains, he concluded that this region, though now far from the sea, must once have been a shore.

Yan yung nakasulat sa libro. Hindi ako naboring sa kababasa Diyan though it is one of my favorite subject. I look at my watch and Hindi ko namalayang 5 pm na.

Palabas na ako ng library but nakita kong nalock na nung librarian yung pinto at umalis na.

Ano na gagawin ko?

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Hi po sorry for the very very short chapter, kasi po wala na akong maisip na kadugtong eh. May naisip po ako but hindi tutugma dito sa title ng chapter. Hehe sorry  po talaga. Sana nagustuhan niyo itong chapter 6! By the way, 2 parts po pala tong locked up bat may kasama yung next chapter.

Enjoy reading!

See you to the next chapter!