Page 54 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 54
stone narratives
2014, p. 94), is to misrepresent it. The general picture of rocks and minerals in modern ge-
ology is not one of restriction, passivity, statics and inert resistance to decay. The stone of
modern science is not the opposite of »the Renaissance and early modern stone« which
»participated in an animated natural dance« (Wiseman, 2014, p. 94). Present-day geolo-
gy, on the contrary, vividly resembles the Renaissance and early modern view of rocks by
its dynamic and metamorphotic view. Nothing is static and definite in present-day geol-
ogy; only motion is perpetual. Igneous rock is being transformed into sedimentary rock
and into metamorphic rock in a perpetual rock cycle (or ‘natural dance’, to use Wiseman’s
term). True, rocks are no more animated in modern science but their movement and trans-
formations are nevertheless so rich and diverse that essentialist notions of rocks and stones
are no longer viable in geology. Elementary introduction into geology must first question
commonsensical notions of what rock is: Are rocks hard? Not necessarily. Are rocks solid?
Well, some are far from being completely solid. Are rocks natural? Not entirely. Are rocks
made of minerals? Many are not.7 Some stones can be really hard and rigid, but the notion
of the stone has to be flexible. As one geologist quipped, »Everyone knows what a rock is,
until you ask what it is exactly«.
References
Bachelard, G. (1948). La terre et les rêveries de la volonté. Paris: Librairie José Corti.
Bacon, F. (1663 [1627]). Sylva sylvarum, or a Natural History. London: William Rawley.
Electronic copy: http://www.archive.org/details/sylvasylvarumornOObaco. Ac-
cessed: 4, 27, 2015.
Beckwith, M. (1970). Hawaiian Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Beckwith, M. (1972). In The Kumulipo: A Hawaian Creation Chant. (Translated and
edited with commentary by Martha Warren Beckwith.) Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press.
Burne, C. S. (1996[1914]). The Handbook of Folklore. London: Senate.
Camus, A. (1999). American Journals. New York: Marlowe & Co.
Evans, G. E. (1956). Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay. London: Faber.
Feller, C. & E. Blanchart. (2010). »Rock-stone« and »Soil-Earth«: Indigenous Views
of Soil Formation and Soil Fertility in the West Indies. In Landa, E. R. and C.
Feller (eds.), Soil and Culture. Dordrecht etc.: Springer, pp. 277–286.
Ficino, M. (2001). Platonic Theology. Volume I, Books I–IV. Cambridge, Mass and Lon-
don: Harvard University Press.
Kinney, H. W. (1913). The Island of Hawaii. Hilo: Hilo Board of Trade.
Newman, W. R. (2009). Geochemical concepts in Isaac Newton’s early alchemy. In
Rosenberg, G. D. (ed.), The Revolution in Geology from the Renaissance to the En-
lightenment. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America, pp. 41–49.
Niehoff, A. & J. (1960). East Indians in the West Indies. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Mil-
waukee Public Museum.
Piaget, J. (1929). The Child’s Conception of the World. London: Routledge and Kegan
Paul.
7 Andrew Alden, What is a Rock? http://geology.about.com/od/rocks/a/whatisarock.htm. Accessed 12 Februa-
ry 2015.
52
2014, p. 94), is to misrepresent it. The general picture of rocks and minerals in modern ge-
ology is not one of restriction, passivity, statics and inert resistance to decay. The stone of
modern science is not the opposite of »the Renaissance and early modern stone« which
»participated in an animated natural dance« (Wiseman, 2014, p. 94). Present-day geolo-
gy, on the contrary, vividly resembles the Renaissance and early modern view of rocks by
its dynamic and metamorphotic view. Nothing is static and definite in present-day geol-
ogy; only motion is perpetual. Igneous rock is being transformed into sedimentary rock
and into metamorphic rock in a perpetual rock cycle (or ‘natural dance’, to use Wiseman’s
term). True, rocks are no more animated in modern science but their movement and trans-
formations are nevertheless so rich and diverse that essentialist notions of rocks and stones
are no longer viable in geology. Elementary introduction into geology must first question
commonsensical notions of what rock is: Are rocks hard? Not necessarily. Are rocks solid?
Well, some are far from being completely solid. Are rocks natural? Not entirely. Are rocks
made of minerals? Many are not.7 Some stones can be really hard and rigid, but the notion
of the stone has to be flexible. As one geologist quipped, »Everyone knows what a rock is,
until you ask what it is exactly«.
References
Bachelard, G. (1948). La terre et les rêveries de la volonté. Paris: Librairie José Corti.
Bacon, F. (1663 [1627]). Sylva sylvarum, or a Natural History. London: William Rawley.
Electronic copy: http://www.archive.org/details/sylvasylvarumornOObaco. Ac-
cessed: 4, 27, 2015.
Beckwith, M. (1970). Hawaiian Mythology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Beckwith, M. (1972). In The Kumulipo: A Hawaian Creation Chant. (Translated and
edited with commentary by Martha Warren Beckwith.) Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press.
Burne, C. S. (1996[1914]). The Handbook of Folklore. London: Senate.
Camus, A. (1999). American Journals. New York: Marlowe & Co.
Evans, G. E. (1956). Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay. London: Faber.
Feller, C. & E. Blanchart. (2010). »Rock-stone« and »Soil-Earth«: Indigenous Views
of Soil Formation and Soil Fertility in the West Indies. In Landa, E. R. and C.
Feller (eds.), Soil and Culture. Dordrecht etc.: Springer, pp. 277–286.
Ficino, M. (2001). Platonic Theology. Volume I, Books I–IV. Cambridge, Mass and Lon-
don: Harvard University Press.
Kinney, H. W. (1913). The Island of Hawaii. Hilo: Hilo Board of Trade.
Newman, W. R. (2009). Geochemical concepts in Isaac Newton’s early alchemy. In
Rosenberg, G. D. (ed.), The Revolution in Geology from the Renaissance to the En-
lightenment. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America, pp. 41–49.
Niehoff, A. & J. (1960). East Indians in the West Indies. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Mil-
waukee Public Museum.
Piaget, J. (1929). The Child’s Conception of the World. London: Routledge and Kegan
Paul.
7 Andrew Alden, What is a Rock? http://geology.about.com/od/rocks/a/whatisarock.htm. Accessed 12 Februa-
ry 2015.
52
