Gordon Craig
PaleoGenesis Research
Mechanical Engineer, Scientist and Creator
What started as a hobby developed into a serious desire to understand how fossils were formed.
Our textbooks from K – 12, college and post graduate, have presented many different theories regarding the formation of the untold millions of fossils found around the globe. One very basic theory states that fish fossils for example require great pressure and heat to form. Interested in starting a new hobby, I designed a simple fixture capable of compressing a fish sample to several thousand pounds per square inch. The entire fixture was then heated to 500 degrees F. When I presented this first fish fossil to an experienced fossil hunter, he estimated the age at a minimum of 110 million years….. That’s when I realized I was onto something.
PaleoGenesis Research is a registered 501-(C)(3) non profit dedicated to research and education. My background is in Mechanical Engineering and Test Equipment Design. To provide expertise in Paleontology and Inorganic Chemistry, we have an advisory board of professors from several universities with expertise in Geology and Paleontology, and retired chemists to ensure I don’t blow myself up.
What started as a hobby, assembled in my shop and heated in my wife’s oven, is now used in the classroom to lead students through the scientific method to encourage them as young scientists and Paleontologists. The first two questions I ask is, “Who wants to be a scientist?” and “Who thinks they are smart enough to be a scientist?” To my surprise, only 1 or 2 kids will raise their hands at each question, and they are usually not the same kids. However, kids get excited about fossils and it has been so encouraging to see 6th graders calculate surface area, and compressive forces and resulting pressures. They bring in flowers, bugs, ferns, and leaves to fossilize in a mudstone matrix. In their next class they will break a stone cylinder apart to find their fossils. Now they know for sure, “I just followed the whole scientific method, and I am smart enough to be a scientist.” That is so exciting!
