The sciences do not try to explain, they hardly even try
to interpret, they mainly make models. By a model is
meant a mathematical construct which, with the addition of certain verbal interpretations, describes
observed phenomena. The justification of such a mathematical construct is solely and precisely that it is
expected to work (quote from John von Neumann;
Gleick, 1987, p. 273).
Chapter 1
Motivations and opportunities
Mt. Hillers, southern Henry Mountains, UT. The mountain is
cored by igneous rock and surrounded by upturned beds of
sandstone and shale. G. K. Gilbert coined the term
“laccolite” for these structures in the late 1870s and
proposed models for this process of mountain building based
on mechanical principles. Inset: Frontispiece from G. K.
Gilbert’s Report on the Geology of the Henry Mountains
(Gilbert, 1877). To the rear of this illustration the
sedimentary strata form the structural dome of
Mt. Ellsworth, and to the front the eroded remnant of the
dome represents the current topography of this mountain.
Photograph by D. D. Pollard.