[meteorite-list] What makes a hammer a hammer?

[lebofsky at lpl.arizona.edu]

Dave:

Johnny Carson also is responsible for one other "famous" phrase:

"billions and billions"

not Carl Sagan.

Larry

On Sun, January 4, 2009 9:29 am, Dave Gheesling wrote:

> Michael wrote: "Dave Gheesling was essentially correct in stating that

> The

> "word," "HAMMER" first appeared in a book by Niven and Pournelle,

> entitled, LUCIFER'S HAMMER, Fawcett Crest, 1977.

> (Ironically, in the book, this term is a misnomer, as the Astronomer who

> first views the object and predicts a Huge earth impact was named Hamner,

> and it was a "religious" figure that stated that "Lucifer's Hammer" Was

> going to punish the people of the earth"

>

> Actually, it was sort of an intentional, or perhaps Freudian, misnomer,

> ficticiously coming from Johnny Carson (well known for intentional

> Freudian

> slips).  Interviewing the ficticious astronomer, Tim Hamner, Carson said,

> "Tim, it's your comet.  Could HAMMER-Brown actually hit us?"  Hamner

> responds, "That's HAMNER-Brown."  Carson laughs, "Oh, what did I say?

> Hammer?  It would be a hammer if it hit, wouldn't it?"  Fun read, by the

> way, and the initial conditions are remarkably similar to a real H-B comet

>  that would arrive two decades later...

>

> Make it a great Sunday, everybody,

>

>

> Dave

> www.fallingrocks.com

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com

> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Michael

> L

> Blood

> Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 4:39 AM

> To: Steve Arnold dealer/Qynne; meteoritefinder at yahoo.com

> Cc: Meteorite List

> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] What makes a hammer a hammer?

>

>

> Steve, Robert, Dave, Walter, Mike, John et al,

> Several comments:

> (I would have responded earlier, but I was watching The Chargers KICK

> ASS!)

>

>

> 1) Any information listed on my hammer page

> http://www.michaelbloodmeteorites.com/Hammers.html

> Regarding Sylacauga is more accurately expressed by (THE REAL) Steve

> Arnold.

> I stand corrected by him on All accounts regarding this specific hammer.

>

>

> 2) Walter Branch's original page  can be seen at:

> http://imca.repetti.net/metinfo/metstruck.html

> His reference to "HAMs" he states, is a reference to "humans, animals &

> man made objects" and is unrelated To my coining the term, "Hammer" in

> reference to any Fall that resulted in a stone striking one of the above.

>

> 3) Dave Geesling was essentially correct in stating that The "word,"

> "HAMMER" first appeared in a book by Niven and Pournelle, entitled,

> LUCIFER'S HAMMER, Fawcett Crest, 1977.

> (Ironically, in the book, this term is a misnomer, as the Astronomer who

> first views the object and predicts a Huge earth impact was named Hamner,

> and it was a "religious" figure that stated that "Lucifer's Hammer" Was

> going to punish the people of the earth (much like The gobledgook vomited

> by the "religious" that state that AIDS is a punishment by God for the

> "sin" of homosexuality.

> I read this book 10 or more years before I got into meteorites But my use

> of the term "hammer" was, in fact, inspired To a degree from this book.

> However, I thought long and hard About the term I wanted to use before

> deciding to use "hammer." Since I was collecting them and determined to

> offer the largest Selection available of them, I felt a name was

> definitely called For and "hammer" it was.

>

> 4) When one coins a term, that person sets the parameters Of definition.

> Inevitably these parameters will change or Be refined over time. My use of

>  the term "Hammer" was In reference to a meteorite that "nailed"

> something - specifically Human, animal or human made, just as was made

> reference to In Walter's work.  Personally, I EXCLUDE roads and cultivars

> (varieties of

> hybridized fruit trees), though there are others who collect hammers that

> include them.

>

> 5) The entire fall is a "Hammer" fall and a specific individual that hit

> A

> specific object, animal or person is a "Hammer stone" (very, very Few

> irons)(the use of "hammer stone" was introduced by Adam Hupe. Though I

> originally debated his usage, conversations with him brought Me over to

> his side on this issue). Of course, one would always prefer THE hammer

> stone Of a fall or one of several.... For instance, I have 9 different

> Park Forest "Hammers" that

> include several houses, a car, a tow truck, A fire station, a baseball

> grandstand, fence, etc. However, in many cases The one or few hammer

> stones is not available (the guy in the boat Threw all that landed in his

> boat into the river, as they were clearly "evil"- Chiang-Khan) or the tiny

> Mbale stone that struck a boy.... I Have a

> photo of him holding it but no amount of research has resulted In finding

> ANYONE who can even say they have any idea of what Happened to that

> particular stone. As for Allende, Pultusk, Holbrook, etc, there is written

> documentation describing houses and patios, a train station being struck -

> I

> am working on a book that will cite a good deal of written records

> attesting to such events - the topic is far too extensive to include here.

>

>

> 6) I am amazed at the egocentric attitude of people who look down on

> others Who are "into" something that holds no interest for them. It would

> be like Me stating all NWA material is insignificant, regardless of rarity

> of type Because it is nearly all undocumented as to both date of impact

> and in The vast majority of cases, not reliably recorded as to specific

> location of find. While these statements may (or may not) have

> credibility, my personal Value system being applied is, relatively

> speaking, irrelevant.

>

> 7) Mike Gilmer asked why some falls were hardly ever referred to as

> "hammers" though they fit the description: Holbrook, Allende, etc. Yes,

> Mike, in those cases the fall, itself was so extensive and significant in

> Other ways that, though they included in any reasonable hammer collection,

>  That is not their only claim to fame.

>

>

> 8) What percentage of meteorite collectors specifically collect hammers?

> This would be an excellent polling question for the list. If people want

> to Email me off list, I will count up the responses and report to the

> list. I believe the list currently has about 900 members (it is impossible

> to know Because a significant number of people use more than one email

> address To receive posts). Regardless, we could get some idea. From

> conversations I have had with collectors, my GUESS would be about 10

> percent of all Collectors go out of their way to collect hammers (usually

> as ONE of their Interests in meteorites). However, a pole would be far

> more revealing, as Hammer collectors tend to contact me at a much higher

> rate than other Dealers, I am sure. When I opened my "Hammer Page"

> http://www.michaelbloodmeteorites.com/Hammers.html

> I started with about 28 offerings of different falls. I now have over 40,

> I

> Belive. Both figures far surpass any other source I have been able to find

>  Many times over.

> So, if people email me, I will report to the list. Here is how: Put

> ONLY "Hammer Collector" in the subject box (you don't even have to say

> Anything in the body of the text if you don't want to). Please DO NOT

> Include "Meteorite List" in the subject line - some days I get over 300

> Emails in one day - guess which ones don't always get checked out?

> (anyone who would get a specimen SPECIFICALLY Because of its status

> as a hammer) - Neither the size of your hammer collection nor the size of

> the specimens matter - just, do you collect them.

>

> 9) I will report back to the list the number of people who said they

> Collect

> hammers.

>

> 10) HAMMERS RULE!

>

>

> Best wishes, Michael

>

>

>

> on 1/3/09 11:59 PM, MeteorHntr at aol.com at MeteorHntr at aol.com wrote:

>

>> Hello Robert,

>>

>>

>> To answer your direct  question, no I have not seen the "Hodges's

>> stone."

>>

>> However, in Dr. King's  Meteorite Collection Catalog he listed the

>> source of his Sylacaga specimen as,  and I  quote:

>>

>> "Source: Alabama Mus. Nat. Hist., Douglas Jones"

>>

>>

>> Now, if anyone on the  list has access to the Hodges's stone to

>> examine, my hunch is that the core  would have been removed from the

>> bottom portion, as it is displayed, and the  hole was probably plugged

> with something and colored so

>> as to hide the fact that  a core was removed.   My memory is a bit

>> fuzzy,

> but

>> as I recall there  were some correspondence letters between Dr. King and

>> the Alabama Museum of  Natural History at the time leading up to the

> acquisition.

>> And there was a  concern that any examination would not hurt the

>> aesthetic appearance of the  stone.

>>

>> However, it might be easier to ask the Smithsonian if their  records

>>

> indicate

>> that any of their Sylacaga was traded to Dr. King.    But with the

> conflict

>> NASA (including Dr. King) had with the Smithsonian in the  1960's I

>> seriously doubt any trades were done with the Smithsonian.

>>

>> As  many of you know, we auctioned off the King Collection, and it

>> would make some  of you sick if you knew how cheaply that specimen sold

>> for.  I was surprised at the time, but then again, there were many great

>> specimens in the collection being sold, and most people had to

> budget where they spent their

>> money, so some things went a little lower than expected at that time.

> Since

>

>> then, the value has appreciated to more reasonable levels.

>>

>> I hope  this answers your question Robert?

>>

>>

>> Steve Arnold #1

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> In a  message dated 1/3/2009 10:11:11 P.M. Central Standard Time,

>> meteoritefinder at yahoo.com writes: Steve and List,

>>

>>

>> Steve, are  you absolutely sure the core came from THE Hodges's stone

>> (

>> the one that struck her) and NOT the McKinney stone??? I have not

>> actually seen  the Hodge's stone in person, and maybe you have, so you

>> MAY be right. But ... if  I may quote a few words from "one of our

>> illustrious members'" ( who I hope  doesn't mind me using them, and that

>> he will join in the discussion, too )  website that state:

>>

>>

>> "....There were two stones - the one that hit  the human and one

>> other. The one that hit the human is the centerpiece in a  local museum.

>> No one has ever had access to it. However,the second stone is

>> in  the Smithsonion and though the remainder has never been available to

>> the public,  it did have one core drilled in it. This core ended up in

> the collection of Dr.

>> King. After his death his widow allowed it to be cut into about 10

>> whafer slices all of which all ended up as primary specimens in private

>> collections."

>>

>> So have you seen THE  Hodges' stone in person  and saw that there

>> actually IS a hole drilled into THAT very one????

>>

>> Thanks,

>> Robert Woolard

>>

>>

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