WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

The founders of Economic Geology were young, idealistic and fast talkers; they convinced 80 colleagues to purchase stock in a publishing company by agreeing to no profits and no stock trading. They sought recognition for an emerging area of science. They could hardly have guessed how successful they would be.

In 1905, the founding year, most economic geologists were government employees or academics. Geologists in industry were rare beasts. Papers in the new journal were especially diverse, ranging from semantics about structures and design of scientific curricula, to Lindgren's depth-temperature classification, and processes of coalification. World War I focused the profession more closely on metals and the challenge of finding new sources. The first place to look was around known giants. Classic papers on the complex structures of deposits such Broken Hill, Homestake, Hollinger, and Kalgoorlie appeared—all parts of successful attempts to find more ore. Technological advances during and after World War II led to an explosion of lab techniques, such as stable isotopes, fluid inclusions, and micro analytical methods. Geochemical studies of mineral deposits boomed. The chemistry of hydrothermal solutions, a mystery for centuries, revealed its secrets. Concomitantly, radiometric dating and tectonic studies, particularly plate tectonics, led to an increasingly sophisticated understanding of topics such as metallogenic epochs and provinces. There is much still to be learned. Economic geologists are beginning to marshal data for the big task ahead--development of exploration programs to locate the giant deposits that lie hidden beneath a kilometer or more of barren cover. The profession is changing because growing demands require ever faster discoveries. Provided that we don't lose sight of the fact that the future lies in the science of economic geology, and in communication of the science, the journal can be just as influential in the second century as it was in the first.