Do you have a geologist (or several) in your family, and you’re not sure what to buy them for Christmas? Good news! The Georneys “What to Buy a Geologist for Christmas” (or Chanukah, Newtonmas, etc.) 2011 gift guide is here.
Update: Matt Hall over at the Agile* blog also has lists of good gifts for geologists, with a focus on geophysicists. Here’s the 2011 list and here’s the 2010 list.
Gift #1: Planet and Moon Ornaments:
I think these planet and moon ornaments from The Planetary Society are fantastic. My only complaint is that Saturn doesn’t have rings, which is sad.
Cost: $9 each
Gift #2: Plush Microbe Holiday Ornament Set:
For the geobiologist in your family, I recommend the Plush Microbe Holiday Ornament Set, which is going to adorn my own Christmas tree this year (thanks for the early Christmas present, mom!). Aren’t these little microbes extra cute when they’re all decked out for the holidays?
Cost: $20 / set
Gift #3: A Map from the USGS Store:
Did you know that the United States Geological Survey has an incredible online map store? When my geologist husband and I were furnishing our new apartment, we spent a few hours drooling over the gorgeous maps in this store. Geologists do love maps! I’m especially fond of the historical maps, such as the one above which is “A New and Correct Map of the World” from 1702. My husband and I decided to put this map in our living room, and it looks great!
Cost: Variable, generally $15 – $30
Gift #4: Knitted Dinosaurs:
Is your geologist also a knitter? Or are you a knitter? Then I recommend purchasing dinosaur knitting patterns and either giving the pattern to your geologist knitter or knitting one of the dinosaurs yourself.
There are actually several dinosuar knitting patterns on the market, but for a simple set of patterns I recommend ordering Jean Greenhowe’s book “Toy Collection,” which contains several dinosaur patterns. In the US this booklet can be ordered from Frugal Knitting Haus for about $10. If you crochet rather than knit, Frugal Knitting Haus also has a booklet containing dinosaur crochet patterns— on sale for only $5!
Cost: $5 – $10 (for the patterns)
Gift #5: Volcano Mug:
The volcano mug in the picture above with the knitted dinosaur was a gift from a friend a few years ago. Google informs me that this mug is the Hot Lava Java Volcano Mug. The mug has unfortunately been discontinued, but you can find the mug for sale on ebay.
Cost: About $20 – $30 on ebay
Gift #6: Paleontologist Barbie:
Another ebay gem is Paleontologist Barbie. Every geologist should own a geologist Barbie! I purchased my very own Paleontologist Barbie on ebay for about $30. If you’re on a budget or want to cater to a specific geology subdiscipline, find or buy an inexpensive Barbie and make your own geologist Barbie.
Cost: About $30 on ebay
Gift #7: Alvin Deep-Sea Subermsible Keychain:
The marine geologist in your family might enjoy a present from the online store of my home institution of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). From this online store you can order all sorts of neat WHOI gear, including T-shirts, mugs, and toys. One of my favorite items in the store is a keychain of the deep-sea submersible Alvin.
Cost: $7.95 (for the Alvin keychain)
Gift #8: Geology Jewelry from Surly-Ramics:
I recommended my friend Amy’s trilobite jewelry in last year’s gift guide, and I’ll recommend it again this year. I’ll also recommend her dinosaur jewelry and her Lucy fossil skeleton jewelry. Amy also has a variety of other scientific themed jewelry– be sure to browse her Etsy shop. Amy can also take special orders if there’s something particular you have in mind. Just send her an email.
Cost: $20 – $30
Gift #9: Kindle Touch:
Geologists generally travel fairly often. An ereader such as a Kindle is a great gift for the traveling geologist who wants some reading for the airplane or that field season. I just ordered myself a Kindle Touch as a Christmas gift to myself, and I’m extremely happy with it. I’ve never owned an ereader before, and I’m amazed at how many books I now have at my fingertips on the extremely lightweight Kindle Touch. Also, the battery seems to last a very long time– weeks, depending on use. I’m definitely going to take my Kindle with me on all my travels.
If you want to give a really great gift, load the Kindle Touch up with some geology-themed books. See some suggestions for books in my 2010 “What to Buy a Geologist for Christmas” lists.
Does your geologist already own an ereader? Then a perfect gift would be a waterproof cover that allows your geologist to take the ereader in the field even when weather conditions are less-than-ideal.
Cost: Kindle Touch– $99 – $149 ; Waterproof Case– $20 and up
Gift #10: Geologic Timescale Poster:
What geologist doesn’t want a poster of a detailed geologic timescale? That timescale is sure to come in handy when trying to remember those pesky geologic ages. Geologic timescale posters can be ordered from a variety of places. For example, the Subcommission for Stratigraphic Information of the International Commission on Stratigraphy has a few timescale posters for sale here.
For the past few years, I’ve been teaching myself how to knit. I don’t have too much time for knitting in the midst of travel and writing and working on my PhD, but I usually have a knitting project or two that I work on while watching a movie on the weekend. I’m not a very advanced knitter– I pretty much just knit scarves and hats. A few months ago I tried to knit slippers for my husband, but I ended up with three different size slippers. Oops. Recently, though, a friend of mine introduced me to the knitting patterns from Jean Greenhowe Designs. These designs are fantastic– all you have to know how to do is knit, purl, increase, and decrease. There are no complicated stitches or instructions, and there are hundreds of adorable little creatures and other knick-knacks. Since most of the items in the patterns are small, they knit up fairly quickly… unlike that sweater I started once and probably won’t ever finish. Some of the designs are a too cutesy for my taste– for example, the scarecrows and clowns. In fact, I’m sure that I won’t ever knit one of the clowns because clowns used to terrify me as a child. However, I do like many of the patterns, including some of the delightful Christmas ornaments and other decorations. For my first Jean Greenhowe project, I recently made two of the mini Christmas stockings (free pattern available here), and they’ve come out very well. I plan to use the mini stockings to decorate the first Christmas/Newtonmas/Saturnalia tree that my husband and I will have together.
Now that I’ve mastered the simple mini stocking, I plan to move onto more advanced Christmas decorations. Originally, I was going to move on to a Snowman or perhaps a Santa Claus. But then I discovered that Jean Greenhowe has DINOSAUR knitting patterns in her book “Toy Collection.” So, now I plan on knitting mini dinosaurs with Christmas scarves. I just ordered the pattern book, and I can’t wait for it to arrive. I think these knitted dinosaurs will make excellent Christmas decorations and also excellent Christmas gifts for my geologist friends.
I’ll post pictures of my own dinosaurs once I knit them, but for now here are some pictures taken from Jean Greenhowe’s website. I plan to try to knit all of these dinosaurs, scientifically inaccurate Cavemen friends and all! Meanwhile, can any paleontologists (maybe Brian Switek?) help me identify these knitted dinosaurs species? I think there’s a T-Rex and a Pterosaur, but that’s about all I can say.