So said the New York Times headline when geologist Marie Tharp discovered the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the gash in the earth that proved the theory of continental drift and helped establish the field of plate tectonics. Tharp made this discovery while producing the first comprehensive maps of the ocean floor. Author Hali Felt, who chronicled Tharp’s life in her book, Soundings, spoke to LQ about this remarkable and overlooked scientist.
Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The Last American Aristocrat: The Brilliant Life and Improbable Education of Henry Adams. More
Lewis Lapham talks with historian Miles Unger about the Florentine father of modern political science. More
“Lewis understood that without the past, we lose the ability to think productively or even understand the present.” More
Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move. More
Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. More
Lewis H. Lapham talks with the author of The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America. More
