In 1883, America’s foremost hydrologist feared life on the Mississippi was nearing extinction. Judging by what silt had done since the Civil War, he averred the mighty waterway must have shrunk 99.9%, losing over a million miles in the last eon alone. Mark Twain immortalized this milestone in environmental modeling by remarking "There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact."
-snip- more on frogs, geysers, HG Wells, and social events in Calaveras County. Note: writer is a physicist. |