Fokus: Erde : Focus: Earth

To commemorate the 25-year anniversary of the Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum on Telegrafenberg in Potsdam, an exhibition at the the Haus der Brandenburgisch-Preußischen Geschichte traces the development of the geosciences over the last 150 years. The accompanying publication is illustrated with both historical and current visual material that spans from the establishment of the geosciences on Telegrafenberg to the 21st century international science park. The site is distinctive to this day due to its location and buildings. The book’s three sections document a path from the wooded hill and wooden telegraph mast that gave the site its name in 1832; to the birth of modern seismology; and finally to the research center with numerous geoscience institutes high above the roofs of Potsdam. More than 40 authors review how the geosciences have changed: While the data of geodesic surveying was evaluated at the “Institut für höhere Meßkunde” on Telegrafenberg 150 years ago, today’s earth scientists conceive satellite missions and examine polar ice masses. As different as these methods of research may be, then as today, geoscientists continue to travel around the world in order to take measurements of our planet.