Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, November 3, 2003 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Robert M. Thorson

"Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History in New England's Stone Walls"

ABSTRACT -- Stone walls are ubiquitous in New England. At one time, these walls could have encircled the globe 10 times. The mass of stone used is greater than that from all the remaining ancient monuments in the world. Robert Thorson relates a scientific as well as a sociological history of the walls. He views these walls both as architectture and as landforms, much like the coral reefs of Florida or the caves of Kentucky. Beginning with the Ice Age formation of the stones, Thorson explains that by clearing away old growth forests, colonial farmers enabled the stones to emerge from the ground. Farmers found that they could efficiently clear the stones by stacking the them into low-rising walls. Thorson examines the environmental impact of this practice, as well as the construction, function, and structure of the different types of walls that were built. Finally, he examines the demise of stone walls and the structures that replace them today.

SPEAKER -- Robert M. Thorson -- scientist, teacher, writer -- is Professor of Geology & Geophysics at the University of Connecticut, with a joint appointment in the Department of Anthropology (Archaeology). Originally from the upper Midwest, he received a B.S. from the Bemidji State University in Minnesota, an M.S. from the University of Alaska, and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. He then spent five years with the U.S. Geological Survey, working principally in Alaska and Washington State, contracted to the National Geographic Society and the National Park Service, and taught at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Alaska. After moving to Connecticut, he has held visiting appointments in history, geography, and civil engineering at Yale University, Dartmouth College, and the Universidad Tecnica de Federico Santa Maria in Valapariso, Chile. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholar and elected to the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. He lives in Connecticut, where his hobbies are reading, cooking, walking beaches, and growing pumpkins.