Comments on: The figure in the flagstone http://bit-player.org/2006/the-figure-in-the-flagstone An amateur's outlook on computation and mathematics. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:17:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on The figure in the flagstone by: Florian Walchak http://bit-player.org/2006/the-figure-in-the-flagstone#comment-796 Tue, 08 Aug 2006 20:51:34 +0000 http://bit-player.org/2006/the-figure-in-the-flagstone#comment-796 My understanding is that dendrites are branched deposits of black minerals (typically manganese oxides) that have been precipitated from water percolating through fissures or cracks in fine grained rocks. An intersting aside: In a speech before the American Association for the Advancement of Science on September 8, 1884 by Lester B. Ward (reported on in the January 30, 1885 issue of Science (Vol. 5, No. 104)) one learns that "Dendrite had long been known, and was then generally supposed to represent vegetable matter; but in the year 1700 Scheuchzer overthrew that doctrine, and established its purely mineral character." The title of the speech was "A Glance At The History Of Our Knowledge Of Fossil Plants". Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was a Swiss scholar born at Zürich in 1672. He made notable contributions to Swiss meteorology and geology. I have not been able to discover just how Scheuchzer made his determination with respect to dendrites. A little more research is in order. My understanding is that dendrites are branched deposits of black minerals (typically manganese oxides) that have been precipitated from water percolating through fissures or cracks in fine grained rocks.

An intersting aside: In a speech before the American Association for the Advancement of Science on September 8, 1884 by Lester B. Ward (reported on in the January 30, 1885 issue of Science (Vol. 5, No. 104)) one learns that “Dendrite had long been known, and was then generally supposed to represent vegetable matter; but in the year 1700 Scheuchzer overthrew that doctrine, and established its purely mineral character.”

The title of the speech was “A Glance At The History Of Our Knowledge Of Fossil Plants”.

Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was a Swiss scholar born at Zürich in 1672. He made notable contributions to Swiss meteorology and geology. I have not been able to discover just how Scheuchzer made his determination with respect to dendrites. A little more research is in order.

]]> Comment on The figure in the flagstone by: Frank Horowitz http://bit-player.org/2006/the-figure-in-the-flagstone#comment-774 Sun, 06 Aug 2006 21:17:48 +0000 http://bit-player.org/2006/the-figure-in-the-flagstone#comment-774 Somewhat unsurprisingly, in geology they are known as "dendrites" or "dendritic patterns", much like the usage in materials science. DLA is a common model for "explaining" dendrites in geology. Hope these buzzwords help you track down the answers you want... Somewhat unsurprisingly, in geology they are known as “dendrites” or “dendritic patterns”, much like the usage in materials science.

DLA is a common model for “explaining” dendrites in geology.

Hope these buzzwords help you track down the answers you want…

]]>