Department of Geography, Geology, & Planning
Missouri State University
901 S. National Ave.
Springfield, Missouri 65897
Office: 369-A Temple Hall
Telephone: (417) 836-5590
Lab: 355 Temple Hall
Lab Telephone: (417) 836-3231
Fax: (417) 836-6006
Email: kevinevans@missouristate.edu

Spring 2007 Courses:
GLG 171 Environmental Geology [2 sections]
Pistol Team Faculty Advisor

Page maintained by Kevin Evans
Last update: May 3, 2007

Copyright ? 2007
Board of Governors,
Missouri State University
URL: http://courses.missouristate.edu/KevinEvans/

Visitors since October 2006

  F O U R   N O B L E   T R U T H S  O F    G E O L O G Y

(...with apologies to His Holiness the Dalai Lama)

1. The Earth is dynamic.

2. The Earth is very old.

3. Life has evolved on Earth.

4. Humans exist in a perilous geological environment.

A few years ago, half a dozen books got soaked from watering plants on my bookshelf. Spreading the books out to dry, I noticed my copy of the "The Four Noble Truths" was damp. I'm not a Buddhist (not a practicing one anyway), but it struck me that if truths are transcendant, are there truths we recognize in geology?

Scientists commonly express the most highly probable relationships as laws or principles, but there must be truths as well. I have seen these ideas mentioned in other terms, but these seem succinct and relevant.