AW: [meteorite-list] Most important meteorite?

[GERALD FLAHERTY]

Excellent Point Walter,
Jerry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Walter Branch" <branchw at bellsouth.net>
Cc: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 10:41 AM
Subject: Re: AW: [meteorite-list] Most important meteorite?


> Hi Martin,
>
> Yes.  That is why I think ALH84001 is the most important meteorite to 
> date.
> Not because of the tangibles (the jury is still out) but because of the
> intangibles. ALH84001 made us all (meteorite enthusiasts or not) think of
> the origins of life and the definition of life, focused attention on rocks
> from space, focused attention on the planet Mars (and the upcoming Mars
> pathfinder mission) and heightened awareness of things outside this planet
>
> -Walter
>
> -----------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <martinh at isu.edu>
> To: "Jörn Koblitz" <koblitz at microfab.de>
> Cc: "Adam Hupe" <raremeteorites at comcast.net>; "Walter Branch"
> <branchw at bellsouth.net>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 8:48 AM
> Subject: Re: AW: [meteorite-list] Most important meteorite?
>
>
> Jörn kindly wrote:
>
>> Most important meteorite: ALH 84001 or NWA 3133?
>>
>> I think it is difficult to say and is always biased by the personal
>> preferences of the collector or scientist,
>> but there is a fairly objective measure (at least for scientific
>> importance): the number of publications on a specific meteorite.
>
> Hi Jörn and All,
>
> I struggled with this same question in my lastest column in Meteorite
> Magazine. I reviewed meteorite books counting the number of times 
> particular
> meteorites were referenced in their historical or scientific context. My
> focus was on those meteorites that were instrumental in changing our
> collective understanding of meteorites. I narrowed the pool further based
> upon significant contributions compared to supporting contributions. Sure,
> the list of suspects could be longer, but I doubt it could be any shorter.
>
> As for ALH84001, I believe the most important contributions it has made 
> are
> that ALH84001: 1) was the focus of a US Presidential p
> ress conference, 2) forced us to (yet again) adjust our collective
> understanding of evidence of life, and 3) definded a period of meteorite
> studies that involved widespread popular discussion that (my poetic 
> license
> here) had not been seen since L'Aigle.
>
> I did not mention the particular specimens in the article here. Sorry 
> about
> that, but that is what purchasing a subscription is all about
>
> Meteorite Magazine subscription info @:
>
> http://www.meteor.co.nz/
>
> Cheers,
>
> Martin H
>
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