The shaping of the Great Lakes, in an hour

The History Channel's new series, "How the Earth was Made," is mostly just scientific enough for me today, as I'm fighting a low fever, and wanted to stare at something educational without spraining too many neurons. Today I sat down with Hulu and watched an episode about the creation of the Great Lakes.



I knew some of it, such as the glacial history, but hadn't known about the igneous origins of the floor beneath Superior and Ontario. The series is presented in steps, giving evidence for theories (with a bit of the History Channel's typical "but that's not all" and "there's more they didn't know," and "but still, mystery remained" drama), then before each ad, recapping the bits. I appreciated those, it helped me knit the story in stages before going on to the next chapter in the story.

As it turns out, I had no idea how fast Niagara Falls was receding. Do you know? What would you guess? Watch the show and see. I was a tad stunned.

(If the Hulu.com video expires, you can find the video for sale at the History Channel website, with a few clips and full episodes still available.)

Army Street, San Francisco

Then and Now: South Van Ness at Army Street, 1953
Originally uploaded by Telstar Logistics.

This is the sort of thing that eats my brain. Someone on livejournal asked where Army Street got its name. It's been 15 years since the name was changed to Cesar Chavez, but a lot of locals still think of it as Army Street, just as there are parts of Martin Luther King Bl. in the east bay that I'll always call Grove Street, just because I was living near there, or knew someone who lived near there, or shopped there, when it was Grove. I have nothing against Chavez or King, it's just that I'm old, and my brain settles into patterns.

At any rate: Now I'll be digging half the day looking for the origins of the name Army Street, because it's the sort of thing I can't let go, and I have things to do, and don't have time.

If you know, please help out here, or on livejournal at the link.

Thanks!


Edited to add:

Found by @silvercrone on twitter:

"As for Army, Loewenstein says it was named by John and Robert Horner, who bought two ranches in the area for $200,000. They named the street to honor the military. There was also a Navy Street, but it did not survive. Its name was changed to a number."

So far, the only relevant Horners I've found were in San Francisco in the 1860s. They did have ranchos, were they the Horners? Probably. Still searching.

They really don't make flags like they used to

Wikipedia says: "The Benin Empire or Edo Empire (1440-1897) was a pre-colonial African state of modern Nigeria. It is not to be confused with the modern-day country called Benin." In Nigeria, Benin City still sits to mark the region, a central part of the slave-trading region of the 17th century.



I want to learn more of the kinds of world history I missed in middle and high school, either because it just wasn't taught (where do kids learn about the Benin Empire in high school history?) or because in all my moving around (five high schools, really and truly) in my youth, I missed out on some curriculum.

This is the sort of thing I've missed.

(Thanks to Boing Boing for the pointer

Adventure for its own sake ... and for science

Neil Armstrong After Apollo 11 EVA.

Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind. ~plaque left by Apollo 11

When I was a little girl, we would lie out in the back yard, or on the hood of the car, and stare at the moon, trying to see lunar landers. Mom never told us it was ridiculous for us to try to look, that we'd never see it. She never pretended she saw it, or tried to give us false hope. She just allowed it. She patiently listened as we came in to tell her our stories, sure we'd seen it. She ignored bedtimes, when Apollo missions were working. She made sure that we got to watch them on TV, every single time, every launch, every moon landing, every splashdown in the ocean at the end. It was part of the fabric of my childhood.

I hope we never stop adventuring for the sake of science ... for the sake of adventure, either. But for science.

This picture of Neil Armstrong after his first Apollo moonwalk, or EVA, on July 20, 1969, is one of my all-time favorite astronomy-related photos. Look at his face: It is glowing with rich delight.

(.... One small step for a man ....)

Burakumin children fleeing an angry mob (and modern context, too)

Contribution to Foodist Colony 2
Originally uploaded by palindroam.

According to an AP story, Google included some old David Rumsey-archived maps of Tokyo in Google Earth's recent historical maps layer, including those that showed historic Burakumin.

The Burakumin were (are, in some minds) a very low caste of people who traditionally worked in fields that were related to death, such as grave-digging and tanning leather.

But that was centuries ago, right? According to modern leaders of communities of Burakumin descendants, having their historic neighborhoods visible in Google Earth is discrimination, or at least, facilitates it:

[Google] is now facing inquiries from the Justice Ministry and angry accusations of prejudice because its maps detailed the locations of former low-caste communities."
[...]
Castes have long since been abolished, and the old buraku villages have largely faded away or been swallowed by Japan's sprawling metropolises. Today, rights groups say the descendants of burakumin make up about 3 million of the country's 127 million people.

But they still face prejudice, based almost entirely on where they live or their ancestors lived. Moving is little help, because employers or parents of potential spouses can hire agencies to check for buraku ancestry through Japan's elaborate family records, which can span back over a hundred years.

An employee at a large, well-known Japanese company, who works in personnel and has direct knowledge of its hiring practices, said the company actively screens out burakumin job seekers.

"If we suspect that an applicant is a burakumin, we always do a background check to find out," she said....

Lists of "dirty" addresses circulate on Internet bulletin boards. Some surveys have shown that such neighborhoods have lower property values than surrounding areas, and residents have been the target of racial taunts and graffiti. But the modern locations of the old villages are largely unknown to the general public, and many burakumin prefer it that way.

Google Earth's maps pinpointed several such areas. One village in Tokyo was clearly labeled "eta," a now strongly derogatory word for burakumin that literally means "filthy mass." A single click showed the streets and buildings that are currently in the same area.

Google posted the maps as one of many "layers" available via its mapping software, each of which can be easily matched up with modern satellite imagery. The company provided no explanation or historical context, as is common practice in Japan. Its basic stance is that its actions are acceptable because they are legal, one that has angered burakumin leaders.

Much more detail is available at the link.

Google has, with the help of David Rumsey, removed information about these neighborhoods from the current updates for Google Earth.

It was Rumsey who worked with Google to post the maps in its software, and who was responsible for removing the
references to the buraku villages. He said he preferred to leave them untouched as historical documents, but decided to change them after the search company told him of the complaints from Tokyo.

"We tend to think of maps as factual, like a satellite picture, but maps are never neutral, they always have a certain point of view," he said.

Rumsey said he'd be willing to restore the maps to their original state in Google Earth. Matsuoka, the lawmaker, said he is open to a discussion of the issue.

I find myself wishing I'd re-installed Google Earth after I re-installed Windows a few weeks ago. I figured I would as soon as I wanted to use it, but now I want to look without updating, and see the older maps. Maybe a poke around David Rumsey's site would do the trick.

Still: I want to see it as a layer, in context, but perhaps, as the Japanese hope, with historical context given as well. Every modern nation has some history that needs a better light shined its way, Japan included.

women in science - geology

Florence Bascom (1862-1945)
Originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

This portrait of geologist Florence Bascom is part of the fabulous Women of Science set in the Smithsonian's flickr stream.

There are some photos in there with names and some description, but not enough information. The Smithsonian is requesting the help of flickr users in gathering more information about the scientists in the pictures.

It's more complicated than that

I don't know enough to know if there's a "right" and "wrong" in the Middle East anymore, beyond my strident belief that theocracy hurts people, but I think people do forget that it's more complicated than it appears on the surface, these days. The first half of the twentieth century is often forgotten.


This is a long video, nearly half an hour, about someone who was there at the time. I think it's important.

quickie - SF after the big quake

Strangemaps shows San Francisco immediately post '06 quake. I love comparing old geography to modern geography, to see how humans have changed things. Look how China Basin once had so much water, and is now mostly filled in.

The epicenter (long thought to be at Olema, at the neck of Point Reyes) was actually a bit left of where the P in "Pacific Ocean" is, on this map, just offshore where the San Andreas goes into the sea near the Daly City/SF line.

Earthquakes simultaneously fascinate and terrify me. I can read just so much about them, and then I have to stop. Seismology is one of my favorite hobby fields, but I don't think I could study it as a focus in geology without becoming a gibbering mass of anxiety.