History of Science Lecture Series: Sophia Roosth

The rocks beneath Oman archive the Ediacaran Period, which began 635 million years ago and spanned 94 million years. Sophia Roosth will discuss her recent trip to Oman with the Ediacaran Subcommision, a group that travels the world seeking particular rocks that might be reliable markers for subdividing Earth's history. Roosth will consider how geologists and geobiologists are rethinking periodization by suturing peripheral sites into something that is not spatially centralized, but temporally synchronized. She will examine the tension betwen timekeeping in geobiology and recent modernist approaches and conclude by considering how efforts to carve up the geologic record echo problems of periodization that plague historians.

A wine and cheese reception will precede the talk at 4:30 p.m.

This lecture is part of the History of Science Lecture Series, curated by Myles W. Jackson, Professor in the School of Historical Studies. For more information about the series and a list of upcoming lectures, click here.