November 30, 2021

How deep are the presents?

November 30, 2021/ Matt Hall

As December rolls around again, thoughts turn to the Advent of Code, I mean Christmas, Jul, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ōmisoka, Newtonmas, Solstice, Dongzhi, or whatever you like to celebrate at this time of year. The end of 2021 is arguably sufficient cause for celebration on its own. Just don’t let your guard down in 2022!

Now, wherever you are, light the fire, chill out in the shade, pour yourself a glass of what you fancy, and check out this list of nerdtastic gifts for your favourite geoscientist, retired geoscientist, or geoscientist-to-be.

Actual rock

When giving to a geologist, you can’t go wrong with actual rock. Henk Kombrink and Kirstie Wright have been preparing and shipping beautiful pieces of North Sea core for several years now. These things cost millions of dollars to bring to the surface! Seriously useful for teaching, but also just lovely to look at.

You also can’t go wrong with soap. Geologists are filthy.

Look up not down

Geologists usually look down, but I got myself a telescope this year and I love it. I really appreciate the quiet focus of picking my way around the night sky, and the mind-bending experience of gazing at a galaxy of 100 billion stars whose photons have been traveling through space since the Oligocene. Highly recommended for any scientist! But the question is… out of the 100 billion different telescopes out there, which one do you get?

I think I’ll write a more detailed post about this soon, but for now I’ll keep it brief. If you can afford to spend more than about $250, get a simple reflector (aka ‘Newtonian’) telescope with a 6- to 10-inch (150 mm to 250 mm) mirror on a simple, non-motorized alt-azimuth mount. This combo is often called a ‘Dobsonian’, or Dob for short, and I think it offers the best value, and the best experience, for the beginner. Here’s one (right).

On the other hand, if you’re looking to spend less than about $250, get binoculars instead — something like 8×42 or 10×50 is ideal. Or split the difference with these very nice Nikon Prostaff 5 10×42. The beauty is that when geologists are allowed back in the field again, these bins can double as field glasses.

Why are scientists always pictured with glasses?

I don’t know but I do know that I love these laboratory-inspired drinking vessels from PTWare and these even more authentic-looking (not to mention somewhat cheaper) ones from a restaurant trade site.

You can also go with the novelty look, like this stratigraphic glass — or this one on the right featuring women of science, including the astronomer and (callback!) first female salaried scientist, Caroline Herschel, and none other than (segué!) rock botherer Mary Anning.

The obligatory books section

There is no shortage of books about Mary Anning, but this new picture book for kids stood out. I have not read it, but judging by its reviews, people like it a lot: Mary Anning by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara & Popy Matigot. It is one in a new series of factual children’s books from Francis Lincoln books called Little People, Big Dreams — there are lots of scientists in the list along with Anning.

For the grown-ups, there are a lot of interesting-looking new books on my watch list. It seems geology books are hot again!

How the Mountains Grew: A New Geological History of North America, by ex-USGS geologist and astronomer John Dvorak (Pegasus, 2021). Rated 4.4 on Goodreads and 4.3 on Amazon.
A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters by Harvard natural history professor Andrew Knoll (Custom House, 2021). Rated 3.9 on Goodreads and 4.5 on Amazon. 🤷
Song of the Earth: Understanding Geology and Why It Matters, by geoscientist and educator Elisabeth Ervin-Blankenheim (OUP, 2021). This looks really nice but it only came out on Friday so no reviews yet.
Atlas of the Invisible: Maps and Graphics That Will Change How You See the World, by James Cheshire & Oliver Uberti (WW Norton, 2021) is not a geology book, but it’s about maps and therefore awesome. I have their previous book, Where The Animals Go, and it’s both beautiful and fascinating.
A Natural History of the Future: What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species by ecologist Rob Dunn (Basic Books, 2021) — and the winner of the Longest Subtitle For A Book That Did Not Need A Subtitle But Everyone Has Them These Days award. Good cover though.

Last thing

I know it’s very 2021, but don’t you dare buy anyone an NFT. Those things are ridiculous.

Okay. You made it to the bottom, did nothing grab you? Here’s a hundred more ideas…

As usual, if you want to share something wonderful you think a discerning geologist would enjoy, please let us all know about it in the comments!

Unlike most images on agilescientific.com, the ones in this post are not my property and are not open access. They are the copyright of their respective owners, and I’m using them here in accordance with typical Fair Use terms. If you’re an owner and you don’t like it, please let me know.

November 30, 2020

Rock, paper, scissors: the perfect gift

November 30, 2020/ Matt Hall

It’s winter festival time again. Pat yourself on the back for showing 2020 that it’s going to take more than a global pandemic, environmental chaos, and geopolitical instability to see you off. Hold your dear ones near and let’s all look forward to no more of whatever the heck this year was.

In the meantime, maybe you’re looking for a gift to brighten the life of your favourite geologist — or maybe you want to appreciate a favourite science teacher, or gear up for more home-schooling, or perhaps you just like nerdy things. Whatever the reason, I’ve got you covered for ideas.

Is this a diorite I see before me?

The only way geologists can really tell what anything is, is by getting really close… then licking it. But then they also want a really good look, and for that they’ll need a handlens. The best kind have triple lenses, and the most generally useful ones are 10x or 14x magnification. There are only three you need to know about:

Iwamoto Achromatic — Japanese tech, Japanese prices. USD ~110.

Bausch + Lomb Hastings — solid US–Canadian product. USD ~40.

BelOMO Triplet — based in Minsk, these get great reviews. USD ~30.

More instruments!

I don’t think most people realise they want a sundial… until they see one of these Präzisionssonnenuhr. Admittedly, they are pretty expensive at EUR1000, and they also take weeks to arrive, but maybe you can save up and plan ahead for 2021!

When it comes to geoscientific instruments, geophysicist and podcaster John Leeman has you covered. His workshop in Arkansas, USA, is capable of making more or less anything you can think of. He just started selling these awesome desktop sandboxes for making your own faultscapes. (Sand not included; I think you need about 2 kg to make a model.)

Outcrop in the kitchen

When Zane Jobe (Colorado School of Mines) tweeted about his trip to Denver Stone Collection, which included this beauty (below), most of the geologists on Twitter got very excited. The collection is online, check it out. There are no prices, but I think prices on the order of USD100 per square foot are typical. I’m sure some of these are double that.

Staying in the kitchen, how about…

Baking (e.g. cakes) is big among geologists. How ‘bout cookie cutters?
Try this a mineralogical tea towel for cleaning up afterwards.
These petrographic coasters are pretty… pretty.
You can’t go wrong with fossil chocolate from Time Bites.

Not inspiring enough? Wow, someone is lucky to have you selecting a gift for them! Here are 194 more ideas…

If you know about something even better than this mountain of awesomeness, let me know in the comments!

November 28, 2019

This post is the key to the presents

November 28, 2019/ Matt Hall

It’s that time when we celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of a new one with delicious edibles and the exchange of gifts. So here we are again with what to get the most significant geologist (or geologist-to-be) in your life for Christmas. (It’s the 10th edition! Amazing. And I’m going to keep it up until someone gets the hint about the Triceratops skull.)

Rock chips and dip

Want to get a compass but don’t know where to turn? I did some research for you and learned something in the process: compasses can be super-expensive. So decide on your budget, then try these on for size:

The famous COCLA compass from Breithaupt.

The Breithaupt Stratum compass, aka COCLA (right), is the compass sans pareil… but it costs USD1500. Breithaupt make lots of other awesome geological toys, including several other compasses.
The Brunton Axis Pocket Transit is a classic compass and tries to make it easier to measure dip and azimuth. It’s up there in price though: over USD 700.
A couple of German companies make more affordable units: Krantz makes all sorts of stuff for geologists, including the Geologists Compass, and Kasper & Richter make the Meridian Pro, a USD 180 compass.
The Chinese manufacturer Harbin makes a very good compass, the DQL-8, which you should find under USD 100.
The Silva Expedition S and Suunto MC-2 NH both feature a clinometer and cost under USD 100.

Cool stuff

Structural geologists will want to hone their intuition, and brighten up their desks, with one of these gorgeous wooden models from California geologist Kurt Burmeister. He makes choppig boards too! All very special, but still affordable.
They are made of wood not rock, but Scott Huebner’s unique creations look like tiny terraforming projects.
You don’t know you want a spherical rock, but you do.
Need some new field boots? These are perfect.
Groove Bags makes some geological shoes too, and bags, socks, and other random things.
Geologist-turned-artist Chris Taylor makes (mostly) tiny pewter geological trinkets.

A Burmeister block, a Groove bag, a Scott Huebner burl wood sculpture, and some awesome field boots.

Games

It’s the time of year for board games. But you don’t want to be stuck with yet another game of Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit. Get some geological games instead! Sticking with the structural geology theme, let’s start with the eartquake-related games. They all focus on the Bay Area of California. In 1906 San Francisco and Aftershock (due out any day now), you must rebuild the great city, hampered by cashflow and… aftershocks! There’s also an Age of Steam expansion board for the San Andreas Fault, if you’re into that.

If volcanos are more your thing, there are lots more to choose from… On the theme of volcanos you have Fuji, which looks beautifully designed, as well as Taluva, Haleakala, and Triassic Terror, which also involves dinosaurs, so...

Books

All these new-in-2019 books have lots of pictures, which is my main prerequisite for a book.

Geology Activity Book looks like a nice way to keep creative kids busy.
Info We Trust by RJ Andrews, which I just started reading, is an interesting addition to the data viz collection. It’s quite philosophical (a couple of passages are worthy of Pseud’s Corner) but cleverly illustrated and interesting to read.
As you may know, I’m a big fan of graphic novels, and there are two great scientist stories out this year. Each has its own style, but both of them look like beautiful books: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt by Wulf & Melcher, and Darwin: An Exceptional Voyage by Grolleau & Royer. Spoilt for choice!

That’s all I have. Best of luck finding something for that special rockologist. Don’t panic — geologists are actually really easy to please. Most of them will be happy with a pair of dry socks, some coloured pencils, a new bobble hat, or a cold bottle of beer. If you find anything extra-special while you’re out shopping, please share it in the comments!

PS Still out of ideas?? No problem, I have 171 other suggestions…

You’re welcome.

November 30, 2018

I’m dreaming of a blueschist Christmas

November 30, 2018/ Matt Hall

The festive season is speeding towards us at the terrifying rate of 3600 seconds per hour. Have you thought about what kind of geoscientific wonders to make or buy for the most awesome kids and/or grownups in your life yet? I hope not, because otherwise this post is pretty redundant… If you have, I’m sure you can think of <AHEM> at least one more earth scientist in your life you’d like to bring a smile to this winter.

I mean, here’s a bargain to start you off: a hammer and chisel for under USD 15 — an amazing deal. The fact that they are, unbelievably, made of chocolate only adds to the uses you could put them to.

If your geoscientist is on a diet or does their fieldwork in a warm country, then obviously these chocolate tools won’t work. You could always get some metal ones instead (UK supplier, US supplier).

Before you start smashing things to bits with a hammer, especially one that melts at 34°C, it’s sometimes nice to know how hard they are. Tapping them with a chocolate bar or scratching them with your fingernail are time-tested methods, but the true geologist whips out a hardness pick.

I have never actually seen one of these (I’m not a true geologist) so the chances of your geoscientist having one, especially one as nice as this, are minuscule. USD 90 at geology.com.

Hammers can be used around the house too, of course, for knocking in nails or sampling interesting countertops. If your geoscientist is houseproud, how about some of Jane Hunter’s beautiful textile artworks, many of which explore geological and geomorphological themes, especially Scottish ones. The excerpt shown here is from Faults and Folds (ca. USD 1000); there are lots of others.

If textiles aren’t your thing, these hydrology maps from Muir Way are pretty cool too. From USD 80 each.

Topographic maps are somehow more satisfying when they are three-dimensional. So these beautiful little wooden maps from ElevatedWoodworking on Etsy, which seem too cheap to be true, look perfect.

There’s plenty more for geoscientists on Etsy, if you can look past the crass puns slapped clumsily onto mugs and T-shirts. For example, if geostatistics get you going, start at NausicaaDistribution and keep clicking. My favourites: the Chisquareatops shirt and the MCMC Hammer cross-stitch pattern.

I like statistics. Sometimes, not very often, people ask my where my online handle kwinkunks comes from. It’s a phonetic spelling of one of my favourite words, quincunx, which has a couple of meanings, but the most interesting one is a synonym for a Galton board or bean machine. Galton boards are awesome! Demonstrate the central limit theorem right on your desktop! From USD 10: a cheap one, and an expensive one.

Oh, and there’s a really lovely/expensive one from Lightning Calculator if your geoscientist is the sort of person who likes to have the best of everything. It costs USD 1190 and it looks fantastic.

Let’s get back to rocks. You can actually just give a rock to a geologist, and they’ll be happy. You just might not see much of them over the holiday, as they disappear off to look at it.

If your geologist has worked in the North Sea in their career, they will definitely, 100% enjoy these amazing things. Henk Kombrink and Kirstie Wright are distributing chunks of actual North Sea core. The best part is that you can choose the well and formation the rock comes from! We gave some resinated core slabs away as prizes at the hackathons this month, and the winners loved them.

Traditionally, I mention some books. Not that I read books anymore (reasons). If I did read books, these are the ones I’d read:

Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World, by Marcia Bjornerud, Princeton University Press. (Who doesn’t want to save the world?)
The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands, by Huw Lewis-Jones (ed), University of Chicago Press. (I like maps.)
Beyond Weird: Why Everything You Know About Quantum Physics is Different, by Philip Ball. University of Chicago Press. (Not geoscience, but I’ve enjoyed Philip Ball’s books before.)

That’s it for this year! I hope there’s something here to brighten your geoscientist’s day. Have fun shopping!

PS In case there’s not enough here to choose from, you can trawl through the posts from previous years too:

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