This is Throwback Thursday #131. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc ...), please sent them to [email protected]. Thanks!
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Polished snowflake obsidian, formed through the inclusion of cristobalite crystals
25 Years Ago - October 1997
- The topic of the general meeting was "The Role of Minerals in Fossil Fuels in the Illinois Economy" by Viju C. Ipe of the ISGS.
- The Junior group was learning about geiger counters and radioactive minerals.
- The Paleontology study group was discussing the Mississippian Period and where to find Mississippian fossils in Illinois. Hint.. far southern and far western Illinois.
- There was a field trip to the Field Museum to see the Archaeopteryx exhibit on its last day - October 19th, 1997. This was the first visit to the US for Archaeopteryx.
- There was a report of the Maple Leaf Field Trip by Dave Bergmann.
50 Years Ago - October 1972
- There was no general meeting as the Annual Auction was held on October 13th, 1972.
- Mineralogy discussed Marcasite and calcite.
- Crater of Diamonds and surrounding land was sold to the State of Arkansas for a State Park.
- The Lapidary study group had Doris and Russell Kemp as guest speakers. Their topic was "JADE".
- Paleontology also had a guest speaker - J. Wallin, who was co-author of "Fossils for Amateurs" He discussed fossil preparation.
- ESCONI had 557 total members.
70 Years Ago - October 1952
- Elizabeth Farr reported on the success of the ESCONI exhibit at the Downers Grove Fall Festival in September 1952.
- The general meeting has a very large turnout due to the Downers Grove show presence. There was also quite a few new members as people were very interested in the Earth Sciences.
- There was a preview of the Wisconsin Dells field trip in the newsletter. Apparently, you should hurry to see the Dells as they might not exist in 500,000,000 years! It's been 70 years have you made it yet?!?
- The newsletter had a report of the American Federation Mineral Convention in Canon City, Colorado in June 1952. It's sounds like quite the affair with nearly 5000 attendees. There were dealers, lectures, and a swap table, but no field trips!
- Jay Farr poked fun at Pliny when he wrote that Pliny spelled Obsidian incorrectly as Obsidianus instead of Obsianus in honor of the discoverer Obsius. The French used Pliny's spelling which led to the modern name.
