Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
236
Figure 7.13. From a drift on
the Lowry Massif, a lone
figure surveys the scene.
across Byrd Glacier stands
Mount McClintock, the
highest point in the Britan-
nia Range.
nauts who brought back samples of rock, rocks dated with ages older than any on Earth.
In the ensuing decades we have imaged the moons of Jupiter, landed rovers on Mars, cap-
tured the dust of comets, and focused our orbiting telescopes on the very boundaries of
the universe.
In concert with the revolution in rocketry has been the revolution in computing.
From the giant computers with names like Eniac and Univac, we have created ever-
smaller and more powerful machines, which, when linked to the Internet, reach into
every aspect of our daily lives. Global positioning systems tuned to an array of orbiting
satellites can tell us to within millimeters the place we stand, at a price that makes it an
aVordable option on any new SUV, and at an accuracy beyond the dreams of surveyors of
the IGY. Today anyone with a personal computer can go to GoogleEarth and count the
swimming pools down the block, or count them as easily in Katmandu or Timbuktu.
Terrestrial exploration of Earth has reached its logical limit. The frontiers of the un-
known have shifted to the depths of the oceans and the surface of Mars, to the intricacies
of genetic codes and the underpinnings of subatomic particles, to the very boundaries of
the universe. Those who probe the mysteries of these realms are a privileged few, report-
ing back to nonscientists the wonders that they have beheld. In this way, perhaps, they are
no diVerent from the geographical explorers of yore (Fig. 7.13).
