Ted Nield on the ‘Ed Stone’ – what happened to it, what it cost and where it came from. Continue reading
Author Archives: Ted
‘San Andreas’ – a crack in the edge of credibility
Geoscientist Editor Ted Nield reviews the latest geology-related cinema release. A divorced search and rescue helicopter pilot (Ray, played by Dwayne Johnson) goes in search of his daughter in earthquake-hit San Francisco and is reunited with her and his ex-wife in the process. Yes, the Coast is toast – yet again. Continue reading
Never a Dahl moment
So farewell then, Gary Dahl (1936-2015) Gary Ross Dahl, who died on March 23, was an advertising copywriter and advertising agency owner who became a millionaire on the strength of a six-month fad dating from 1975. Those of us who remember that year, especially if we happen to be geologists, will recall the craze which … Continue reading
Was this the first Royal geology field trip?
Dick Selley has conducted what is possibly the very first Royal geological field excursion. Continue reading
A new version of Sopwith’s Buckland portrait?
Ted Nield writes: While visiting the private museum of Dorset fossil collector, preparator and author Wolfgang Grulke recently for a future article in Geoscientist, I saw a familiar image in a rather unfamiliar form. Continue reading
Earth Science Week geowalks: Gower journey
Gower was the UK’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is a popular destination for geological field excursions because of the wide range of interesting and instructive geological and related geomorphological phenomena displayed there, and all within a relatively compact area. Sitting at the southern edge of the South Wales … Continue reading
BGS centre announces geology’s key worth
BGS celebrates completion of a £25m investment that mirrors Earth science’s value to the nation, says Chief Scientific Adviser. The Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Sir John Beddington CMG FRS, opened the headquarters of the British Geological Survey in Keyworth, after its £25m makeover. Formerly named for former Director Sir Kingsley Dunham, the Nottinghamshire campus … Continue reading
All in a whorl
We knew we were in for it when we chose a picture library image of an unidentified ammonite for the cover of the November issue of Geoscientist. So far reactions have been of two kinds – compliments on the graphic design, and complaints regarding the lack of diagnosis. So, hoping to move on beyond the … Continue reading
Christmas gift idea!
Back in 2009, the cover of Geoscientist carried an image scanned from a fragment of Paesina Stone from Tuscany – a silty limestone formed during the Cretaceous Period and marked with a fine network of cracks through which groundwater has diffused, bringing colourful oxides of various minerals. This stunning image had been created by Richard … Continue reading
What a carve-up!
Not far from Burlington House stands Economist Plaza, home to the famous magazine of that name, and known to architects as the first building in the UK to be faced with the Portland Roach. That’s the limestone full of distinctive hollows created by dissolution of mostly gastropod and bivalve shells – leaving their body cavity infills behind … Continue reading
