geotimes logo Earth on Exhibit
December 1997 Table of Contents Volume 42 Number 12

Geotimes Cover DEPARTMENTS

  • Letters
  • Calendar
  • About People
  • Classified Ads
  • Industry Watch
  • Benchmarks
  • Geologic Phenomena
  • Geologic Column
  • Geomedia
  • AGI Announces
  • COMMENT

    Something to Celebrate: Women in Geoscience Make Progress
    Catherine E. Cullicott and Christi A. Tarrant

    NEWS & FEATURES

    NEWS NOTES
    Janice O. Childress The road to Kyoto ... Cassini/Huygens heads to Saturn ... A flawed paradigm? ... Uncovering secrets of the deep ... Look out for landslides ... Arctic focus on global climate change ... More signs of a far-traveled West ... Depleting the SPR

    POLITICAL SCENE
    Where are the Declining Science Budgets?
    David Applegate

    Special Section

    Geotimes Guide to Natural History Museums

    With the guidance of museum consultant Robert Mac West, Geotimes presents a directory of outstanding natural history museums in the United States and Canada.

    Diamonds to Diamonds: A Tour of the Smithsonian's New Geology, Gems, & Minerals Hall
    by William G. Melson, Jeffrey E. Post, Michael A. Wise, Sorena S. Sorenson, Richard S. Fiske, James F. Luhr, Glenn J. MacPherson, and Timothy J. McCoy
    This major new exhibit offers a tour of Earth and solar system treasures that begins with the famous Hope Diamond and ends with the diamond dust of a now dead star. World-class specimens and interactive displays invite the visitor to linger and learn about the planet's origins and resources.

    Communicating With Congress -- Part I. The Nature of the Beast
    by Joseph A. Briskey
    Maintaining federal support of geoscience research will require convincing Congress and the public of the importance of this work. To do so effectively, we must understand the nature of electoral politics, the relative unimportance of policy, and the realities of surviving on Capitol Hill.

    The National Geologic Map Database: A Progress Report
    by David R. Soller and Thomas M. Berg
    Mandated by the National Geologic Mapping Act, this new database will allow users to locate maps produced anywhere in the nation via one central site on the World Wide Web. Work on cataloging maps as metadata and setting standards for producing digital maps is well under way.



    See the related press release describing the December issue.
    agilogo © 1997 American Geological Institute. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of the American Geological Institute is expressly prohibited.
    Cover photo courtesy of Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History.
    "The plate tectonics globe rotates in the Smithsonian Institution's new earth-science hall."

    Geotimes Ordering Information

    Geotimes Home Page | AGI Home Page | Education | GeoRef | Gov. Affairs | Members