I agree! personally I am ever so grateful for all the data collected by gazers and all the knowledge you have all shared with me ( a wanna be). Because of many generous gazers I have met while waiting, I have caught the love of geysers! I also have become quite lucky at catching them :) Thanks so much for sharing the joy!<br>
Peggy Treat<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 26, 2011 at 9:13 PM, Stephen Eide <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:stepheneide@cableone.net">stepheneide@cableone.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div>Greetings and Salutations,</div><div> </div><div>I too have enjoyed the discussion on gathering geyser stats. But several people have said something I feel I must disagree with. They said some variation on "collecting data on geyser activity probably not important or has no use in the long run". Science lives and dies on proper data collection. And science has many instances where old "useless" data is later found to be very useful and even essential. Of course, it also may turn out to have very little benefit in the future, but no one knows one way or the other. I believe it is important to collect the data as accurately as possible because I do not know when, where, or how it may be useful in the future (or present) but there is always the chance it will be. But it can only be useful if it is collected and recorded. I am quite sure when the first bacteria were pulled out of Mushroom Pool no one had any idea the effect it would have on genetic research. All data is essential for the progress of science.</div>
<div> </div><div>Which brings me to the other reason why the data should be recorded. For the same reasons we record all of history. Ten years from now I (and I am sure others) be interested in what the activity was in 2010 at Fan and Mortar, Grotto, Jet, Bead, or what ever geyser you can name A hundred years from now will there be people who would want to know about the eruptions of Fan and Mortar in 2010? I hope so, I do believe geyser geeks will live on. And I think the same will be true a thousand years from now. Beyond the realm of science the data would be important to record if just for the historical information it contains. Historians always moan about the huge amounts of information that has been lost forever because no one thought it was important to record at the time it was happening. If you spend much time looking into the history of a geyser or thermal area I think you will be amazed by how little of the "commonly known" data was recorded for posterity. If I am dismayed by that loss of past data, then I must have a duty to help record and preserve the current data. </div>
<div> </div><div>Of course, this is just my personal credo. </div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div> </div><div>Stephen Eide</div>
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