Truth and Beauty

Truth and Beauty

A Colorful Selection of Geological Maps from the Yana and Marty Davis Map Collection

Located downstairs in the Museum of the Big Bend.

This exhibit features some of the most colorful geology maps from the Yana and Marty Davis map collection. Truth and Beauty showcases both the scientific data mapped by geologists, paleontologists, cartographers and other scientists, and the natural beauty of such colorful maps. The exhibit includes the first ever scientific geological map of Texas (Roemer, 1849), a couple of maps showing the increased knowledge about geologic features of the United States over time (Hall, 1857 and Hitchcock, 1878), two of the earliest geological maps of West Texas (Blake, 1854 and Udden/Hill, 1904), and even a geology map of Texas during the first year of the oil strikes in the Permian Basin (1920).