Her Boss Called it ‘Girl Talk’

Her boss called it “girl talk.” She had just discovered the largest geological feature on Earth, a 10,000-mile mountain range running down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Marie Tharp mapped 70% of our planet from a basement lab at Columbia, using sonar readings, a ruler, and India ink. She wasn’t allowed on the research ships that collected her data. Her work became the evidence for plate tectonics. Next time you see a map of the ocean floor, any map of the ocean floor, you’re looking at her work. I didn’t know this history.