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 Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence. More
Lewis H. Lapham talks with John Strausbaugh, author of City of Sedition: The History of New York City During the Civil War. More
Lewis H. Lapham talks with Maya Jasanoff, author of The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World. More
Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World. More
Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War. More
Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the coauthor of The Dawn of Everything. More
