If you click on the Google Doodle – the graphic change of the logo on the Google homepage – you will be surprised with an interactive video slideshow. Google honors geologist and cartographer Marie Tharp, who was honored on November 21, 1998 as one of the most important cartographers of the 20th century.
What is new is that Google tells the story of an important person through interactive slides. For example, users are asked to correctly connect the dots by clicking to help the cartographer.
In the first image above, the American is shown sketching a map in her office. A large map can be seen in the background and a bookshelf can be seen on the left of the photo.
When Tharp began her work in the 1950s, most of the world’s countries had already been mapped, but the oceans were missing. They wanted to use sonar to explore and map it as well. Sonar is a technique that uses sound pulses to locate things underwater. But because women were not liked to be seen on ships at the time, the cartographer was completely dependent on the data of her colleague Bruce Heezen for her work.
From her drawings, she realized that the mapped area must be a canyon – this would be an indication of continental drift. Since scientists at the time weren’t all that enthusiastic about the idea of continental drift, Tharp had to start from scratch. When a fracture was clearly visible on the second attempt, she teamed up with her colleague Howard Foster.
Foster had studied earthquakes in the same region. As the two stacked their cards, they realized that the patterns matched. This argument then also convinced Bruce Heezen and they started to present their results in lectures.
The last skeptical voices were then convinced through underwater imagery that has recently become possible – because they also proved the existence of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Rift Valley.
This Google Doodle joins a slew of historically relevant women — barely recognized as such at the time — that Google has honored in recent months.
(ann)
Source: Blick
I am Ross William, a passionate and experienced news writer with more than four years of experience in the writing industry. I have been working as an author for 24 Instant News Reporters covering the Trending section. With a keen eye for detail, I am able to find stories that capture people’s interest and help them stay informed.
