The Google Doodle on Monday 21st November 2022 paid respect to the famous cartographer Marie Tharp.
By releasing a Google Doodle on Monday, Google honored the life of Marie Tharp, an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer who contributed to the validation of the continental drift hypothesis. The unique animated Doodle offers a hands-on look into Tharp’s accomplishments in ocean mapping. The first ocean floor map of the planet was co-published by Marie Tharp. She was recognized by the Library of Congress on November 21, 1998, as one of the greatest cartographers of the 20th century. Tharp was the sole child of her parents when she was born on July 19, 1920, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in the United States.
Marie Tharp and her contribution
An interactive biography of Tharp is included in the current Google Doodle. Caitlyn Larsen, Rebecca Nesel, and Dr. Tiara Moore, three well-known women who are actively carrying on Tharp’s legacy by advancing in the traditionally male-dominated fields of ocean science and geology, give narration for her story.
Tharp’s father, who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, introduced her to mapping.
Given the dearth of women in science domains at the time, it is extremely striking that she pursued a master’s degree in petroleum geology there. She shifted to New York City in 1948 and operated as the Lamont Geological Observatory’s first female employee, where she first met geologist Bruce Heezen.
The Google Doodle
In 1995, Tharp gave the Library of Congress the entirety of her compilation of maps. She was acknowledged as one of the most momentous cartographers of the 20th century by the Library of Congress.
The google doodle is an interactive one with short minigames. It helps understand the contribution of Marie Tharp in discovering Continental drift in a step-by-step way. It recognizes the challenges she faced in the process, thus it indeed accomplished its purpose.
