A SHIFTING PLANET,
A BRAND-NEW THEORY,
AND A GYM BALL.
JOHN, THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
IS NOT JUST ABOUT BOOKS
AND PRINTED MATERIALS.
WE HAVE A PERFECT EXAMPLE
RIGHT HERE.
TELL ME ABOUT THIS.
WELL, OBVIOUSLY
YOU'RE LOOKING AT A GLOBE.
OKAY.
AND OF COURSE, YOU'RE LOOKING
AT A HANDMADE GLOBE.
AND THIS GLOBE IS PART
OF THE COLLECTIONS
OF THE LIBRARY'S GEOGRAPHY
AND MAP DIVISION.
AND IN 1957, MARIE THARP
AND BRUCE HEEZEN
WERE OCEANOGRAPHERS
AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.
AND THEY HAD BEEN HIRED
TO STUDY THE DEVELOPMENT
OF SOMETHING KNOWN AS
THE MIDATLANTIC RIDGE,
WHICH IS A MOUNTAIN RANGE
IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.
IN THE PROCESS OF DOING
THAT RESEARCH,
THEY WERE ABLE TO DETERMINE
THERE WAS SOMETHING
THAT WE CALL CONTINENTAL DRIFT.
AND THIS LITTLE GLOBE HERE
WAS PRODUCED BY THEM
TO SHOW FIRST WHERE THAT RIDGE
WAS LOCATED AND ITS RELATIONSHIP
THROUGHOUT THE OCEANS
OF THE WORLD
BUT ALSO TO PROVE
THAT THE CONCEPT
OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT WAS REAL.
WHAT DID THEY MAKE IT FROM?
DO WE KNOW?
WELL, THERE'S A LIGHT
PLASTIC MATERIAL
THAT THEY APPLIED
TO THE SURFACE,
AND THEN THEY CARVED IT OUT
TO FORM THE MOUNTAIN RANGES
AS THEY HAVE IT.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE A MOLD.
THEY HAD TO ACTUALLY
WORK THIS OUT THEMSELVES.
SO I HAVE TO ASK YOU:
WHY DIDN'T THEY USE A GLOBE?
WHY DID THEY HAVE TO START
ON A BALL
AND ACTUALLY BUILD IT UP
THEMSELVES?
I THINK IT'S MORE DRAMATIC.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU TOOK A GLOBE,
THEY'D JUST BE APPLYING
INFORMATION ON TOP OF IT.
IT WAS
AN ALREADY ESTABLISHED GLOBE.
AND SECOND, ON THIS,
THEY WANTED TO GIVE
SOME FORM OF RAISED RELIEF.
YOU CAN SEE
THE RAISED RELIEF IMAGERY.
YEAH.
THAT'S KIND OF DIFFICULT
TO FIND ON A COMMON GLOBE.
SO FOR THEM, IT PROBABLY FELT
A LOT EASIER
JUST TO MAKE IT THEMSELVES.
AND THIS, OF COURSE,
IS THE ACTUAL ARTIFACT
THAT THEY MADE.
THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY
ARTIFACT THEY MADE
OF THIS PIECE.
I'M JOHN HEBERT, CHIEF OF THE
GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION,
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.