 Enquiries: If you have any questions about Earth Science topics in general or specific queries about local or world geology, ask the Curator! You can contact her by 'phone, fax, email or post, but it is always best to try to come in to the Museum and ask in person, especially if you have specimens to be identified. There is no charge for this service, but although all care is taken, we accept no liability in regard to identifications or information given, and we do not undertake valuations or assays or commercial requests.
Maps: The full set of 1:250 000 geological maps, most with explanatory booklets, covering the geology of Western Australia is available for reference on site (not for loan), as well as maps on other topics, including a very large map of the geology of Australia. Factsheets for FAQs: Some of the topics most asked about are here as factsheets for you to download: see below. The files are pdf format and you will need to use Adobe Reader to open them. Again, although we have done our best to give correct information, we can accept no liability in regard to the content. Publications for reference: The Museum has postcards and some publications for sale as well as a library of useful reference booklets on geological topics including mines and mining, stromatolites, the Pinnacles, fossils of the Gingin, Albany and Geraldton areas, Rottnest, ancient life, plant fossils, granites, meteorites, tektites and so on, and information on prospecting and the geology of Western Australia. NEW!! Discovery Trails to Early Earth: a traveller's guide to the East Pilbara of Western Australia, published by the WA Geological Survey(see picture). Even if you are only vaguely interested in the Pilbara this book is a must. It's also got some careful and easy-to-understand info on geology generally and is beautifully produced - and only $25 (or as little as $14.85 each for 10 or more copies)! Lots of great photos and easy-to-understand explanations, together with timescales and an abundance of maps, make this a great buy.  The
Also still available: Geology and Landforms of the Perth Region, published by the WA Geological Survey. This excellent field guide details exactly what you will see at key Perth geological sites and tells you how to get there. Lots of great photos and easy-to-understand explanations, together with timescales and an abundance of maps, make this a great buy. Get this from this Museum or purchase copies direct from the Survey either at Mineral House or via ebookshop at: www.doir.wa.gov.au/ebookshop It costs $22 which includes GST, postage extra. Also highly recommended is a book covering many interesting Earth Science topics which is available from the Museum. Written by Dr John Glover who first came to UWA as a Geology student in 1942 and has been working here since 1955, and edited and designed by the Curator, it was published by the Geological Society of Australia (WA Division) in 2003. Contact the Curator for a copy ($10) and see below for details of its content.  Kimberley is famous for diamonds: where did the name come from? What are the Killer Lakes of Cameroon? How do we know which wine the Scorpion King of Ancient Egypt drank? Why was the world’s first nuclear reactor sited in Central Africa? What are lightning stones and where are they found?
Geological Journeys: from Artifacts to Zircon takes us on a whirlwind tour of some of the ways in which geology and humans are linked, in forty-one chapters that range through space and time. Copiously illustrated with 143 colourful maps and pictures, and with extensive references, it will entertain and suggest new fields of interest for the non-scientist and specialist alike. Since the beginnings of humankind, geology has affected everyone’s daily life. Myths and legends give us clues to natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in the remote past: science helps us to avoid the worst effects of such disasters today. Primitive artists were the first exploiters of our mineral wealth, and the rise and fall of civilisations can often be linked to their location on the Earth’s patchwork crust. The book also chronicles some important contributors to geological knowledge and others celebrated for their notoriety rather than their scholarship. It gives us fascinating geological insights into why certain battles were won, why criminals should fear flowers, and other quirky topics, taking us not only from artifacts to zircon, but from emeralds to earthquakes, and from Stonehenge to Captain Starlight, along the way. |
The Earth Science Museum has a pair of SEISMOGRAPHS which are linked by the net to Geoscience Australia in Canberra.
