the mythic stories of Oz

"Who are we? The answer to this question in only one of the tasks, but the task of science."....
Erwin Shrodinger, Science and Humanism

Paul Gaugin, "D'où venons nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous?", 1898

D'où venons nous?	Where Do We come from?
Que sommes-nous?	What Are We?
Où allons-nous?	Where Are We Going?

Where Do We come from? What Are We? Where Are We Going? These questions such have fascinated people of all cultures. Increasingly, we are aware of the importance of such questions as we contemplate questions related to the sustainability of our current activities. While answering these questions is the task of sciene, we might not think that we should seek those answers in the rocks beneath. Yet, to address the questions of sustainability and to understand who we are we must understand where we have come from and our place in our landscape. To do this we must understand the record of life on Earth and the origins of our landscape, and the rocks beneath provide this understanding.

The geologic record provides a multitude of compelling stories that inform us about the evolution of our planet, its biosphere and our species - stories that provide a rich tradition that emphasize the connectedness of all things. These stories empower us to address the moral questions that we must face if we are, as a species, to ensure future generations will enjoy the wonders of our planet in the way we currently take for granted.

Australia is rich in such stories, and these pages provide a brief introduction to some of these uniquely Australian stories together with some illustrations, highlighting the contribution of Australian Earth scientists to the extraordinary lexicon that documents the history of our planet and our place in it.

ps. This is very much a work in progress (indeed, its infancy)!

the timeline for the stories of Oz

Geological time in millions of years (myrs)