Sir, – Earth scientists will be encouraged that despite the decision to make geography an optional subject in the Junior Cycle syllabus, media commentators are embracing the vocabulary of the geosciences: epicentres, fault-lines, landscapes, seismic, tsunamis, and more. It is worth noting, however, that most of these terms are applied in the field of geohazards.
As for “drilling down”, geologists rely on small samples from boreholes in attempts to interpret the wider subsurface. In the Earth sciences, data are usually imperfect: a good metaphor for everyday life. – Yours, etc,
GEORGE SEVASTOPULO,
Howth,
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Dublin 13.