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“Charnockite: A Deep and Meaningful Granitoid Rock,” it says. This is part of Turnstone Geological Services’ rock of the month series. So far I’ve liked the Stibnite best.
I am a complete sucker for people who love their work.
Have you read Oliver Sacks' _Uncle Tungsten_, Teresa?
In addition to great stuff about Sacks' own early love of chemistry, it's about the doctor's family, which was heavy with enthusiastic wonkish types: Chemists, engineers, doctors, and such.
What Turnstone's site doesn't mention is the origin of the name "Charnockite". Any newly-proposed rock name has to have a type section, where the characteristics of the rock are best displayed. The rock now known as charnockite was one that deserved a type section.
Unfortunately, it was known only from cut and polished stones in Calcutta, and the English geologists who studied the rock didn't know where it came from. Their solution was to use one of the cut stones as the type section. They went to the European cemetery, found the grave of Jacob Charnock, an official with the East India Company, and named the rock after Jacob, with the type section being his tombstone.
Mike Clinch
re: "don?t understand how the publishing industry works, but who are unaware that they don?t understand it, and who resist all attempts at enlightment."
Would it be fair to say that once I learned I'd be getting a $5,000 advance for 90,000 words that I learned all I needed to know, namely that I could make more doing almost anything else and my odds of making big money were better in Vegas and that I could satisfy my ego gratification needs with a free weblog?
(visit my blog at http://mwowatchwatchwatchwatch.blogspot.com/ )
Mike, that is seriously cool.
Barney, I went and looked at your weblog; then, as seemed only appropriate, posted a comment about it on a different website.