Episode 35
Ultima Thule (Episode 20) - The Faith, Facts, And Pseudoscience Of Meteorites (Parts 3 &4)
In the last episode we explored how meteors and meteorites have been intertwined with faith as far back as ancient Egypt and in to the modern day. But this fascination has a dark side - it creates large quantities of misinformation - both unintentional and intentional. In this episode we explore both kinds through looking at other possible historical meteorites including an alleged Nazi Tibetan meteorite statue, the Ephesian Artemis, and the original Magna Mater statue that was brought to Rome from Anatolia. We also follow the history of the earliest recorded meteorite recovery - Ensisheim. Through following the history of the Ensisheim meteorite we see how people tried to grapple with the idea that rocks fell from the sky as well as how both science and faith can both lead to errors in thinking. It took the brilliance of one man - Ernst Chladni - to put the first true theory together and become immortalized as the Father of Meteoritics. With many parallels to the modern world this episode can also help us reflect on our own consumption of information and the conclusions we choose to make. (20/29)
