Goat Guru’s Women of Science: Mary Anning Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

GeoCrater: Greeting Goat Guru,

I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in the last reviewer note.

GeoCrater
Community Volunteer Reviewer for Geocaching.com
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Hidden : 12/31/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

A series of small size (pill bottle to Tupperware) puzzle caches just off of Old Archer Road. Some stealth may be required and some bush-beating may be required depending on the cache. There will eventually be 8 caches in this series.

Note: None of these caches can be accessed directly from Hwy 24 (Archer Road). Use Old Archer Road or the powerline access road.

The “Hard Sciences” (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, etc.) were for many years male-dominated fields of study. Yet there were dedicated women who also loved the sciences and made many discoveries and advances that are often overlooked in the history books. This series of caches is dedicated to those women in recognition of all they accomplished.

A comprehensive encyclopedia or a bit of searching on Wikipedia (visit link) or Answers (visit link) will yield any answers to the puzzle questions that are not found in the body of the text below.

Mary Anning (born May 1799) learned to collect fossils from her father, who was a cabinet maker by trade and a fossil collector by avocation. But when he died 1810 at the age of 44, he left his family destitute and having to rely on charity to survive. Despite a life of privation and hardship, Anning went on to become what one source called "the greatest fossilist the world ever knew."

At the time Anning made her discoveries, women in Britain were not allowed to vote, hold public office, or attend university, and the newly formed but increasingly influential Geological Society would not allow women to attend meetings as guests let alone become members. Although Mary knew more about fossils and geology than many of the gentlemen fossilists she sold to, it was always such gentlemen who published the scientific descriptions of the specimens she found, often neglecting to mention her name.

It was not until the last decade of her life that she finally received an annuity from the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The Geological Society of London collected a stipend for her and she was named the first Honorary Member of the new Dorset County Museum in 1846, one year before her death from breast cancer. Her obituary was published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society--an organization that would not admit women until 1904. And her eulogy, written by her friend Henry De la Beche, was read by him at a meeting of the Geological Society of London of which he was then president. Such eulogies were an honor normally only accorded to fellows of the society, and Anning's was the first ever given for a woman.

Today, Anning is credited with finding the first specimen of Ichthyosaurus acknowledged by the Geological Society in London. She also discovered the first nearly complete example of the Plesiosaurus; the first British Pterodactylus macronyx, a fossil flying reptile; the Squaloraja fossil fish, a transitional link between sharks and rays; and finally the Plesiosaurus macrocephalus. These findings played a significant role in the development of what became the science of paleontology.

To find the correct coordinates for this cache, answer the following questions:

A. How old was Mary Anning when she died?_______

Reverse the order of the numbers of her age and substitute for the “00” in the North coordinate.

B. Mary Anning is associated with the old 4-line tongue-twister. How many times does the letter “S” appear in the first line of this tongue-twister?_______

Substitute the answer for the second “2” in the West coordinate (for the "2" in the seconds).

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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